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All the latest firm news and industry updates from Whiteman Osterman & Hanna.
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Alexandra Becker Interviewed by WRGB and Featured on CBS 6 News Discussing the Upcoming End of to-go Alcohol in Restaurants
- Category: Featured Alcoholic Beverages
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna Partner Alexandra Becker was recently interviewed by WRGB and featured on CBS 6 News discussing the upcoming end of to-go alcohol sales in restaurants in April 2025. Read the full article here.
Read More ›REMEMBERING PAUL LEONARD GIOIA 1942 - 2024
Whiteman Osterman and Hanna LLP sadly announces the passing of Paul Leonard Gioia, Senior Counsel. Paul is remembered not only as a colleague and mentor but as one of the pillars of New York State’s energy architecture. His career encompassed diverse roles, beginning with serving as a prosecutor in Manhattan, followed by positions as assistant counsel to three Governors and as First Assistant Counsel to Governor Hugh Carey. Paul also held the role of Chairman of the New York State [...]
Read More ›Recent Changes in State and Federal Freshwater Wetlands Laws
- Posted By: Terresa Bakner
- Category: Featured Firm News Municipal Land Use and Development Environmental
Terresa Bakner was a speaker at this mornings Saratoga Planning and Zoning Conference held at the Saratoga City Center in Saratoga Springs. If you missed her this morning, click the link below to view the slide deck from her presentation.State Freshwater Wetlands Law.pdf
Read More ›RAISE THE BAR: MASTERING THE ART OF M&A TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING LIQUOR LICENSES
- Posted By: Alexandra Becker
- Category: Featured Business, Corporate and Commercial Alcoholic Beverages
Acquiring or selling a business can be a daunting task, even more so when the business holds one or more liquor licenses. To ensure a successful outcome, it is important for you to understand the threshold issues for transactions generally, as well as those unique to these types of transactions so you can hopefully avoid common pitfalls.Asset vs. equity purchaseFirst, the type of purchase – asset vs. equity (stock or membership interest) -- is not only the key to the structure of the [...]
Read More ›MICHELLE L. HASKIN APPOINTED TO STATEWIDE ADVISORY BOARD
- Category: Featured Family and Matrimonial Law
Michelle L. Haskin, a Whiteman Osterman & Hanna partner, has been appointed by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas, to serve as a member of the Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee of the New York State Unified Court System. The advisory committee includes distinguished representatives from both the bench and the bar. The Committee makes recommendations on legislative proposals as well as providing recommendations to the Chief Administrative Judge on pending legislative [...]
Read More ›FCC Takes Aim (Again) at Municipal Rights to Promote Faster Local Deployment of 5G Network
- Category: Municipal
New York municipalities beware. On September 4, 2018, in response to complaints from the telecommunications industry that local rules and regulations are a burden to the deployment of their facilities, the FCC announced that it will vote on September 25, 2018 on an Order that will speed deployment of new 5G network technologies across the country that will have an immediate impact on New York State municipalities. Approval of the Order appears to be a foregone conclusion. See [...]
Read More ›Why Employee Handbooks Are Crucial for Craft Brewers (and Other Small Businesses)
- Category: Articles Alcoholic Beverages
As a craft brewer, your focus is on making the best beer possible. However, being a craft brewer means you are also a small business owner, which means that you also have to focus on managing a successful business. As your brewery grows, it will inevitably lead to hiring employees. Being an employer can be incredibly rewarding, as the right employees can become valuable assets to your business.However, becoming an employer can also be scary at times because having employees [...]
Read More ›With immigration matters figuring so prominently in the news, one might wonder, how did we get here? Many of us might think that things were always difficult, that legal entry always involved a formalized process, and that our own ancestors surely did things “the right way” after the formation of the sovereign United States of America.There were no bars to U.S. immigration until 1875, when the first exclusionary law barred convicts and prostitutes from entry. In the decades that [...]
Read More ›USCIS Issues New “Notice to Appear” Policy, With Significant Impacts on Applicants for Immigration Benefits
- Category: Articles Immigration
On July 5, 2018, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) published new guidance regarding its procedures and policies for issuing Notices to Appear (NTA). An NTA is a charging document that is issued to foreign nationals, placing them in removal proceedings and directing them to appear before an immigration judge. The Department of Homeland Security has long relied upon its enforcement arm, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to handle the issuance of NTAs in most cases. [...]
Read More ›USCIS Updates Procedures on Issuance of Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny
- Category: Articles Immigration
On July 13, 2018, USCIS issued a policy memorandum, providing guidance to adjudicators regarding the discretion to deny an application, petition, or other benefit request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) if required evidence is not submitted with the initial petition/application package, or if the evidence in the record does not establish eligibility for the benefit sought. This guidance is effective September 11, 2018.This policy memo [...]
Read More ›“Not in my front yard!” is the battle cry for residents and battleground for municipalities across New York, as they prepare for the deployment of the next generation of wireless infrastructure 5G technology. Cellular services providers, with the assistance of federal law and FCC orders, have opted to deploy the latest technology - small cells and DAS systems - in municipal rights-of-way, much to the chagrin, in many cases, of local leaders and residents. By one [...]
Read More ›Robert Schofield Named to New York State Bar Association's Executive Committee
- Category: Firm News Labor and Employment Law Education
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna partner Robert Schofield was recently appointed to the New York State Bar Association's Executive Committee as Vice President, 3rd District. Robert is a partner with Whiteman Osterman & Hanna's Labor and Employment, Education, and Litigation, Aribitration and Mediation practice groups.
Read More ›Municipal Proactive Zombie Property Enforcement
- Posted By: Thomas Shepardson
- Category: Municipal Land Use and Development Environmental
Legislation amending the New York State Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (Zombie Property Law) now provides New York municipalities with a new and effective enforcement tool to address blight and to prevent further devaluation of homes in their communities. This law is aimed at addressing the “zombie” property phenomena by requiring banks and lenders to take, among other things, timely pre-foreclosure action to identify, secure and maintain abandoned homes. A lender faces [...]
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