On June 26, 2020, twelve more counties in Pennsylvania (some of which were hit the hardest by COVID-19) will be moving into the “Green Phase” of Governor Tom Wolf’s process to reopen Pennsylvania. This means all counties, with the exception of Lebanon County, will be “Green.” The Green Phase is the third of three phases […]

In February 2017, an incident involving a student and a teacher occurred on a school bus in the Easton Area School District. Interest in the incident sparked the Express-Times and lehighvalleylive.com to request a copy of a video that captured the incident under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law (RTK Law). The school district objected to […]

As many business owners are well aware, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) rules and guidelines regarding loan forgiveness are complex and carry a high compliance burden. In order to obtain PPP loan forgiveness, borrowers are required to complete a rather complicated forgiveness application that is then reviewed by the borrower’s lender. In response to  comments […]

  On June 15, 2020, the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas found in favor of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba (FLB) client Phoebe Services, Inc. and established on appeal that Phoebe Services, Inc. is not liable to the City of Allentown (the City) for business privilege tax. In late 2019, FLB Shareholder and Chair of […]

More than two months have passed since Governor Tom Wolf declared the closing of non-life-sustaining businesses. During these months of closure and stay-at-home, Governor Wolf introduced a phased reopening plan for Pennsylvania in which a three-phase approach (Red, Yellow and Green Phases) is used to determine when counties and/or regions are ready to begin opening […]

Following significant backlash from business owners, members of Congress, accountants, academics and others, yesterday, Congress passed H.R. 7010, otherwise known as the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, and is expected to be signed into law by the President, today, June 4, 2020.  H.R. 7010 is a bill that modifies the CARES Act in […]

In the estate planning world, people often wonder whether their assets should be held in a Trust.  The answer, as is often the case with legal matters, is “it depends.”  Trusts are a valuable tool for any estate planner.  In the right circumstances, establishing a Trust provides significant benefits for an individual and her family. […]

On May 21, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an Order declaring that the previously established judicial emergency in Pennsylvania will cease after June 1, 2020. However, the Court also ordered that previously entered judicial orders in the intermediate appellate courts and local courts shall remain in full force and effect until they expire by […]

As Pennsylvania re-opens for business, with all counties moving to the Yellow Phase by June 5 and some counties already in the Green Phase,  new guidance has been issued for businesses as they move through the phases, in addition to the Business & Building Safety Guidelines. For counties moving into green phase the following guidance […]

The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt throughout the economy, with a collapse of demand in basically every consumer-facing industry, including restaurants, hotels, airlines, gas stations, and non-grocery retail stores. These problems flow through the economic food chain, with businesses unable to pay landlords. Many businesses have questions about how to handle payments to […]