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Spencer Fane’s Insights contain a wealth of information on our firm, our attorneys and our recent activities, as well as upcoming events. If you need further information please contact the marketing department.

Latest News

11.08.2019	Duo Dogs, Inc. of St. Louis receives Spencer Fane charitable grant to assist in providing service animals to people in need Spencer Fane LLP is pleased to announce Duo Dogs, Inc. as the recipient of the firm’s 2020-2022 charitable grant program in St. Louis.
11.05.2019	Spencer Fane Adds Associate Attorney to Denver Office Spencer Fane LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Erica Montague to the firm’s Denver office. She will serve as an associate in the Special Districts practice group after previously working as a summer associate and legal intern for the firm.
11.01.2019	Ryan Hardy Provides Insights on Developments in Bankruptcy Spencer Fane attorney Ryan Hardy recently presented at a Turnaround Management Association (TMA) seminar on recent developments in bankruptcy.
10.31.2019	Alissa Kelso Named to National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 Spencer Fane attorney Alissa Kelso was recently named to the National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2019.
10.30.2019	Andy Lester featured on KFOR’s ‘Flash Point’ Spencer Fane attorney Andy Lester recently participated as a panelist on Oklahoma’s News 4 (KFOR) weekly ‘Flash Point’ show.

Latest Publications

11.08.2019	Fluctuating Laws: DOL Announces Proposed Fluctuating Workweek Regulations By Helen Holden On November 5, 2019, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a proposal to revise regulations governing the fluctuating workweek method of calculating overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This method of calculating overtime may apply if certain conditions are met. These conditions include that the employees paid under this method work fluctuating hours, and they and their employers agree that the employees are paid fixed salary for all hours worked plus an overtime premium. There are very specific requirements for utilizing this method, but utilizing the method in a compliant manner can be complicated due to the need to calculate the regular rate of pay for every week in which the employee works more than 40 hours. Additionally, some state laws prohibit use of this method.
11.07.2019	Environmental Audit Privilege and Immunity Now Available to Oklahoma Facilities By A.J. Ferate, Jessica Merrigan The Oklahoma Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Privilege Act is now effective as of November 1, 2019, and available to manufacturers and industrial businesses in Oklahoma that undertake voluntary environmental audits, such as those companies involved in aircraft manufacturing, chemicals, oil and gas processing, plastics, cement, food and meat processing, and paper products . Oklahoma is the 30^th state, by EPA’s count, to enact an audit program, providing privilege and enforcement benefits to parties that voluntarily undertake an environmental audit, disclose the findings and conduct corrective actions.
11.06.2019	2020 Inflation Adjustments By Erin Bustamante-Trinidad Following announcements by both the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration, we know most of the dollar amounts that employers will need in order to administer their benefit plans for 2020. The key dollar amounts for retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) are shown on the front side of our 2020 limits card. The reverse side of the card shows a number of dollar amounts that employers will need to know in order to administer health flexible spending accounts (“FSAs”), health savings accounts (“HSAs”), and high-deductible health plans (“HDHPs”), as well as health plans that are not grandfathered under the Affordable Care Act. A laminated version of our 2020 limits card is available upon request. To obtain one or more copies, please contact any member of our Employee Benefits Group. You also can contact the Spencer Fane Marketing Department at 816-474-8100 or marketing@spencerfane.com.
10.28.2019	OSHA Issues Enforcement Directives Targeting a Variety of Industry and Manufacturers By Andrew C. Brought Effective October 1, 2019, Region VII OSHA (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa) announced a combination of Regional Emphasis Programs, along with state-led local emphasis programs.
10.24.2019	Department of Labor Proposes New Safe Harbor for Electronic Disclosures By Robert A. Browning The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new “safe harbor” rule to allow retirement plan disclosures to be posted online (assuming certain notice requirements are satisfied) to reduce printing and mailing expenses for plan sponsors and to make the disclosures more readily accessible and useful for plan participants.

Latest Events

10.09.2019 8:00 AM	Shawn Tuma and Jeremy Rucker to Present at SecureWorld Dallas Spencer Fane attorneys Shawn Tuma and Jeremy Rucker will present at the SecureWorld Dallas Conference on the current and future legal climate of cybersecurity.
09.24.2019 8:00 AM	John Watson to Provide Insight on Colorado Good Samaritan Act Spencer Fane attorney, John L. Watson, will participate on a panel at the annual San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference in Silverton, Colorado on the topic “Reimagining Superfund in Historic Mining Districts.”
09.10.2019 8:00 AM	Shawn Tuma to Serve as Co-Chair at CAIL Cybersecurity Conference Spencer Fane attorney Shawn Tuma will participate in The Center for American and Internal Law (CAIL) Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Law Conference as both co-chair and moderator of two panels.
07.17.2019 2:00 PM	Mike Patterson to Participate in Panel on Capital Funding for Technology Companies Spencer Fane attorney Mike Patterson will join a panel discussion about capital available for technology companies at a Perimeter83 Lunch & Learn event.
05.09.2019 9:00 AM	Jon Farnsworth to Present in National Seminar on Cybersecurity Spencer Fane attorney Jon Farnsworth will conduct two presentations at a National Business Institute (NBI) video webcast course focusing on cybersecurity issues. The course is aimed at attorneys, paralegals, business executives and information services managers.