BW INSIGHTS

IRS Issues Proposed Regulations for Long-Term Part-Time Employees

By BrownWinick | 11.29.2023

On Friday, November 24th, the IRS issued the long-awaited Proposed Treasury Regulations amending the existing Treasury Regulations for 401(k) plans and providing guidance relating to treatment of long-term part-time employees (“LTPTE”) within 401(k) plans. The LTPTE concept was codified by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement... Read More

Corporate Transparency Act Client Release

By BrownWinick | 11.28.2023

The burdensome new beneficial owner reporting requirements under The Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) take effect January 1, 2024, which is rapidly approaching. BrownWinick clients involved with a business entity in any respect (whether as an owner, director, officer, manager, member, employee, or otherwise) are encouraged to reach out to... Read More

BrownWinick Included in 2024 Edition of Best Laws Firms Ranked by Best®

By BrownWinick | 11.02.2023

BrownWinick is excited to announce the firm has been included in the Best Law Firms Ranked by Best® 2024 publication. Firms included in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms® list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality... Read More

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE - 10-12-2023

By BrownWinick | 10.16.2023

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”), comprised of a three-member panel (Kraig Paulsen, David Underwood, and Jennifer Acton), met Thursday (10/12/23) as part of its standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. A summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below, along with the linked spreadsheet distributed... Read More

Who Owns the Rights to Content Created by Artificial Intelligence Generators?

By BrownWinick | 09.21.2023

It is an open question as to who owns the rights to content that is at least in part generated by Artificial Intelligence. This could include a Large Language Model (LLM) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing LLM, and Google’s Bard, or could be an AI image generator such as OpenAI’ DALL-E 2 or DeepAI. While there is no easy answer, the bottom... Read More

Influencer Branding - Creators and Company Considerations

By BrownWinick | 08.08.2023

There is no doubt that social media has changed the landscape of how companies market their products. Now, one person can speak to thousands or millions of their followers to promote a specific product. However, influencer marketing has regulations much like its traditional counterpart. Influencers, or otherwise known as content creators, should... Read More

BrownWinick Wins Special Education Case before the Iowa Department of Education on behalf of Student with Disabilities

By BrownWinick | 07.05.2023

BrownWinick celebrates attorney Jack O’Brien’s success in advocating for the rights of students with disabilities before the Iowa Department of Education. For the past two years, Jack O’Brien has worked with his client the Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland (the “DRC”) to advocate for students in the Siouxland area with disabilities. One... Read More

Government Relations Update - 05-04-2023

By BrownWinick | 05.04.2023

The 2023 Iowa Legislature adjourned sine die Thursday afternoon, capping a 116-day session. The final gavel fell at 12:04 PM in the Senate and at 12:33 PM in the House. The final week of session concluded with the passage of a few remaining policy bills, including property tax reform (HF 718). Governor Reynolds plans to sign the property tax... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 16 Summary

By BrownWinick | 05.01.2023

The 110th day of the legislative session has come and gone with no adjournment. Conjecture is adjournment “sine die” will likely occur sometime next week. The House has issued a lengthy debate calendar for next Monday May 1 - signaling the House’s intent to finish. The Senate debated each day this week and passed 44 bills. This despite the fact... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 15 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.21.2023

The Senate continued its confirmation of the Governor’s appointees this week. Erik Helland, a lawyer and former Republican state representative, was confirmed as the new Chairperson of the Iowa Utilities Board. Sarah Martz, the engineering director of utilities at Iowa State University was confirmed as a new Iowa Utilities Board member. The IUB... Read More