BW INSIGHTS

COVID-19 Back-to-Business Limited Liability Act Awaits Governor’s Signature

Last week, the Iowa General Assembly passed Senate File 2338. The legislation includes the COVID-19 Response and Back-to-Business Limited Liability Act. The Act, which applies retroactively to January 1, 2020, provides liability protection from civil actions relating to COVID-19 exposure to certain “premises,” including real property serving a... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 10

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol Wednesday following an 11-week suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since they paused activity days prior to the second funnel deadline, most bills that did not pass the House or Senate, plus committee in the other chamber by the end of the day on Friday, June 5 are “dead” for the remainder of session. Tax,... Read More

Business Considerations for Those Impacted by COVID-19

While businesses have patiently awaited the lifting of closure orders associated with the pandemic, the uncertainty of business recovery looms as state and local governments begin easing closure restrictions. What will business look like in the post-closure world? How long will it take for business to recover? These are amongst the most pressing... Read More

COVID-19 As We Enter May: What Should Employers Be Thinking About?

While legal considerations will vary by business priorities, practicalities, and industry, we have seen several recurring topics on employers’ minds as we begin a new month in this coronavirus pandemic. Below, I’ve outlined a quick list of topics to make sure your company is on top of: Leave requirements under Families First Coronavirus Response... Read More

PPP Portal Opens to Small Lenders Only for 8 Hours

On Wednesday, April 29, the U.S. Treasury and Small Business Administration (“SBA”) announced that for eight hours, big banks will be prevented from accessing the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) portal. During this time, small lenders will have exclusive access to submitting applications for PPP loans. A lender with under $1 billion in assets... Read More

Making a big change to your business? We can help.

COVID-19 has drastically altered market demands and in response, some companies are temporarily changing their business models to manufacture products that are desperately needed. We have ethanol plants manufacturing hand sanitizer, clothing companies making surgical gowns, and plastic molding companies making face shields. One hurdle to making... Read More

COVID-19 Update: New Proclamation Restricting Northeast Iowa Activities

Today, Governor Reynolds announced additional restrictions in Northeast Iowa due to the heightened risk of COVID-19. Risk is based upon several factors, measured across 6 different geographic regions (as we’ve outlined before and depicted on the attached map), and ranked on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being highest risk). Today, region 6 (northeast... Read More

Federal Bank Regulators Issue New Guidance on Paycheck Protection Program Facility

Type of Action: Interim Final Rule Issued By: Department of Treasury Office of Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). Date issued: April 9, 2020 To provide a bit of background – on April 7, 2020 the Board authorized Federal Reserve... Read More

Is Your Business at Risk for Coronavirus Lawsuits, and What Can You Do NOW To Avoid It?

Whether you are a small business, large business or even a government entity, are you ready (or preparing your business) for the onslaught of lawsuits resulting from the pandemic? Google “coronavirus lawsuits” — over 300 billion hits. Unfortunately, a number of those hits are plaintiffs’ class action law firms asking people to submit information... Read More