COVID-19 has introduced tensions into the contractual relationship between vegetable growers and grocery retailers. Despite being open, many grocery stores tried to limit produce stock because they didn’t have enough, or consistent, labor to unload and process. That meant growers had to discard large percentages of their harvest and incur...
At RPJ, we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and those fighting for racial justice. In the wake of the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, we grieve their loss and the horrific injustices imposed upon people of color for hundreds...
Governments, pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers around the world are racing to produce a vaccine for COVID-19, as well as potential drugs to fight the virus in those who contract it. The numbers show at least 70 reported potential vaccines and 150 other drugs for treatment that are in development...
RPJ is so proud of client and production company Multitude Films’ latest film, the feature-length documentary Pray Away. Directed by Kristine Stolakis, the film goes in depth to reveal the lasting damage inflicted on individuals in gay conversion programs, told by both current members and former leaders of the “pray the gay...
As the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic keeps mounting, and employers try to make decisions about how to keep their balance sheets—and those of their employees—in the black, pay cuts to all ranks are becoming standard protocol. Certain companies have chosen to introduce pay cuts for those at the...
We are thrilled to congratulate director/producer Nancy Schwartzman on the recent nomination of her film Roll Red Roll for a Peabody Award! The Peabody Awards recognize exceptional storytelling in news, television, documentary film, radio and public service programming, and are known as one of the highest honors in media. Roll Red Roll, which tells the...
As companies start to re-write contracts and plan for deals in a mid- and post-pandemic world, lawyers everywhere have started to edit emergency and force majeure clauses to shift the focus from price reduction to risk management. Bloomberg Businessweek published an article this morning covering the issue, which projects that businesses will...
On April 3, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed Assembly Bill 9509 and Senate Bill 7509, which amend the Empire State Film Production and Post-Production Tax Credit Programs for applications received on or after April 1, 2020. The good news, especially in light of New York’s COVID-created 10-billion-dollar revenue gap, is that...
Last week, Yahoo Money published an article discussing the growing concern over landlords and other creditors checking on the status of renters’ federal stimulus payments through the IRS’s online “Get My Payment” portal. Because landlords often have renters’ social security numbers and birthdates on hand, some have taken to checking up...
On Sunday, April 26, RPJ client Engel Entertainment celebrated the premiere of its eighth season of North Woods Law on Discovery’s Animal Planet. The special two-hour premiere kicked off the season with the dramatic rescue of a hiker lost in the New Hampshire mountains for five days without food or...