LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Monday, October 29, 2018

Sexual Harassment - 3 reasons why the NYS sample policy is just not enough.

Yes, New York State provides a sample policy for sexual harassment prevention. Make no mistake this policy is a great start for employers, but to use this policy without more is a big mistake. Here are 3 reasons why the NYS sample policy is just not enough:

1. It does not address every other protected class under which an employer can be sued for discrimination (e.g., race, religion, color, national origin, sex [including pregnancy], military status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, genetic information, disability or any other personal characteristics considered to be a protected class under applicable federal, state or local laws)

Updating the policy matters because when sued for discrimination by a different protected class, you will be able to explain that everyone is protected in the workplace.

2. It does not list potential remedial measures (e.g., termination, suspension, probation, demotion, reassignment, etc.).

Updating the policy matters because employees who do not know the consequences are unlikely to care about changing behavior and, more importantly, without clear expectations an employer can be sued for arbitrarily applying their policy in a discriminatory manner.

3. It does not cause an employee to agree to its terms and to acknowledge written receipt of the policy and complaint form, which is required by law.

Updating the policy matters because without records you have nothing when faced with a Department of Labor audit or a prospective lawsuit. More so, you can justify termination for cause when an employee violates your policy, which they affirmatively agreed to follow.


Attention Brokers - What should you do if your prospective seller has a Lis Pendens on their property with public records?

Most importantly, a Lis Pendens does not necessarily mean that there is a foreclosure on the property. Instead, a Lis Pendens simply means that a lawsuit has been filed against the property. This lawsuit could be a foreclosure, but it could also be a lawsuit for partition, adverse possession, prescriptive easement, constructive trust, specific performance, as well as many other topics.

So, first and foremost don't assume that there is a foreclosure on the property, but instead make inquiry as to the Lis Pendens.

  • Step 1 - Ask the homeowner the nature of the lawsuit on the property.
  • Step 2 - Inquire if you can talk to the homeowner's attorney to learn whether the lawsuit will be an impediment to selling the property (e.g., a specific performance lawsuit by a prior purchaser can make it impossible to sell the house whereas a foreclosure lawsuit with a house with equity remains a viable sale and a foreclosure lawsuit with a house without equity can be sold as a short sale).
  • Step 3 - Assuming the lawsuit is a foreclosure, determine when the lawsuit was filed with the county clerk because if it was years ago its going to be very hard to sell the house before the auction (i.e., you can sell up until the auction as long as the seller can payoff the loan or if the lender takes a short payoff) and the homeowner likely defaulted on the lawsuit (i.e., they lost for inaction).
  • Step 4 - If it is a foreclosure, help the homeowner to order payoff letters from their lenders in order to ascertain the precise amount owed (i.e., its not just the loan, but also the penalties, interest and attorneys' fees that are owed when the property is in foreclosure).  
  • Step 5 - Workup a brokers' price opinion for the house as a distressed sale.
  • Step 6 - Calculate closing costs for your seller.
  • Step 7 - Determine if the seller has enough equity to close without dipping into their own pocketbook (i.e., compare the BPO with the payoffs and the closing costs). 
  • Step 8 - If there is enough equity, list the house fast; if not, advise the seller that you can only list the property as a short sale (i.e., subject to bank approval with a short payoff).
REMEMBER - the bank doesn't stop the foreclosure process when a short sale is being sought, so you must insist that your listing is subject to the seller fighting the foreclosure with a competent foreclosure defense attorney - otherwise you will likely waste your time / money on this listing.

The advantage of a short sale over a foreclosure is #1 avoiding a deficiency judgment (i.e., judgment that can be enforced for 20 years for the amount the property is underwater). 

To learn about foreclosure / short sales / Lis Pendens and more - take our CE course, Foreclosure & Short Sales ONLINE.


Thursday, October 25, 2018

Steven Siliato, Esq. Interviewed on Realife Radio 88.3FM (NPR)

Monday, October 22, 2018

BYOB Is Illegal: There’s Much to Consider When Opening a Restaurant

There are a ton of steps that you need to go through before your grand opening. You need to buy or rent space, make permit / zoning applications, renovate the space, enter into a ton of contracts, establishing an entity, creating banking relationships, enlist a credit card processor, hire staff, train that staff, establish vendor relationships, hire a chef, create a menu, establish an online presence, market, market and then do some more marketing.

Did you know that BYOB is illegal in the State of New York?

Friday, October 19, 2018

NY Employees Must Receive Sexual Harassment Prevention Training

State requires businesses to give annual training sessions to safeguard their workplace.

ALERT: New section 201-g of the New York State Labor Law provides that “sexual harassment prevention training shall be provided to all employees on an annual basis.”


Friday, October 12, 2018

Lights, Cabinets, Legal Action? Incredible Interior Designers Require Licensing

Unlicensed practice of interior design is punishable as a class E felony in NY.

In New York State, not just anyone can work as an interior designer. In fact, only a licensee, known as a Certified Interior Designer (CID), may prepare and administer “interior design documents (including drawings, schedules and specifications) which pertain to the planning and design of interior spaces including furnishings, layouts, fixtures, cabinetry, lighting, finishes, materials, and interior construction not materially related to or materially affecting the building systems” pursuant to Education Law §8303.

Read the full article by Andrew Lieb, Esq. here


Thursday, October 11, 2018

Lieb at Law is Hiring a Junior Associate Attorney (Litigation & Compliance)

Lieb at Law, P.C. is seeking an associate attorney for its widely expanding litigation and compliance practice. Attorney will be expected to handle pleadings, discovery, motion practice, and court appearances for matters related to real estate, estates, corporate and employment law. 

Desired qualifications:
  • demonstrated proficiency in legal writing and oral advocacy;
  • dedicated and detail-orientated;
  • ability to prepare illustrative, engaging materials for compliance trainings;
  • digitally savvy, must be comfortable in paperless office with cloud based systems
Will consider 2018 Law School Graduates.
The firm’s practice areas include:
  • Litigation: Commercial Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, Real Estate Brokerage Litigation, Title Litigation, Plaintiff Personal Injury, Landlord/Tenant, Estate Litigation and more.
  • Employment Litigation, Compliance and Trainings: Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Wage and Hour, Restrictive Covenants, Family Medical Leave Act, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appeals; Employee Handbooks and Policies, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Training, Wage and Hour Audits & more.
  • Legal Compliance for Regulated Industries: Outside Compliance Counsel for regulated professions, Policy Drafting, Policy Implementation, Auditing, Corporate Compliance Trainings.
  • Estate Planning and Probate: Last Wills, Advance Directives, Trusts, and Probate Administration.
  • Transactions: Commercial and Residential Real Estate Purchase and Lease Transactions, Business Transactions and Negotiations.
Lieb at Law is different:
The law firm is a part-owner of a New York State Licensed Real Estate School, Lieb School, which offers in-class and digital courses throughout New York State and Connecticut for 7,500 + students. Lieb at Law, P.C. attorneys draft curriculum and teach at the school where they have the opportunity to establish themselves as topical experts and drive the future of the real estate brokerage industry.

The firm's sister company, Lieb Compliance is a national compliance company providing in-person and video trainings to fortune 500 companies.

About the firm:
The firm was founded in 1977. In 2009, Andrew Lieb acquired control of the firm and transformed its legal services from a general practice to a commercial litigation boutique focusing on real estate, employment and legal compliance for regulated industries.

The firm’s litigation practice is driven by leveraging informational imbalances to win cases. This is a substance first law firm where data drives decision making and strategy.

To achieve the firm’s information focused litigation culture, staff have access to cloud-based legal research platform so the latest cases are available to our legal team everywhere, including within the courtroom. Next, a secure, cloud-based case management system catalogs every thought and action on each client’s matter. As a result, case facts are readily accessible through the stroke of a computer key, instead of being locked away in one attorney’s memory or private paper notes in some desk draw. Finally, enterprise file sharing, storage and collaboration software is utilized to enable the efficient collaboration between attorneys where case strategy and document preparation benefits from fresh and innovative group think.

Lieb at Law’s latest research and collaboration tools extend to the firm’s transactional team, which ensures that contractual language is driven by our real life experiential learning from our contractual litigating practice.
Lastly, we publish and teach the law that we practice in order to always stay on the cutting edge. Lieb at Law’s work product is a derivative of embracing education and technology to provide a modern law firm that is at the vanguard of representation.

Tuesday, October 09, 2018

Sexual Harassment Prevention Trainings & Policy Required STARTING TODAY

Today is October 9, 2018

Employers are now required to have distributed a sexual harassment prevention policy.

Also, the 1 year clock to train your employees starts now!

Lieb Compliance already has users on our system - sexualharassmenttrainingny.com

We solve this compliance issue 100% and make it fun for your staff to be compliant.

Services include:

  • On-Demand,Web-Based & Interactive 
  • Presented by premier lecturer and employment law litigator, Andrew Lieb
  • Platform works on PCs, MACs, IPADs or TABLETS (full internet access required)
  • Custom & downloadable Sexual Harassment Policy & Complaint Form customizedto Employer
  • Digital signature acknowledgement of policy & training 
  • In-class note taking
  • In-class commenting
  • Interactive instructor communication
  • Security checkpoints
  • Randomized quiz questions
  • Certificate of completion 
  • Monthly user reporting for employers

Friday, October 05, 2018

NYREJ Announce Yankovich and Siliato join Lieb at Law

We are happy to be featured in the New York Real Estate Journal and are THRILLED that Mordy Yankovich and Steven Siliato joined Lieb at Law, P.C.

Read about them here! 

Monday, October 01, 2018

LEGAL UPDATE | NY Employers Must Provide A Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy BY 10/9/18

According to the Department of Labor "All employers must adopt and provide a sexual harassment prevention policy to all employees by October 9, 2018."

These policies must be distributed in writing or electronically. Employers are also encouraged to have employees acknowledge receipt of the policy and to post a copy of the policy where employees can easily access it.

If your company already has a sexual harassment policy, make sure that it meets or exceeds the newly required minimum standards.

Lieb Compliance provides custom policies and trainings that meet all standards. Contact us today at info@liebcompliance.com or 646.216.8038

http://www.sexualharassmenttrainingny.com/