On April 17, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont entered Executive Order No. 7BB requiring cloth face coverings or masks to be worn in public wherever close contact is unavoidable beginning at 8:00 p.m. on April 20, 2020. The order also authorized the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development to issue updated versions of the Safe Workplace Rules for Essential Employers setting forth requirements for essential workplace settings. The new Safe Workplace Rules include mask/face cloth requireme ...
News & Events
UKS Religious Gathering Guidance & Conn. Public Health Executive Orders
On April 10, 2020, the Governor of the State of Connecticut, Ned Lamont (the “Governor”), extended to May 20, 2020, Executive Orders requiring social distancing, restricting gatherings including social, recreational, and religious gatherings, and otherwise providing guidelines for various gatherings and activities. See, Executive Order 7X, Section 3. The announcement of the Governor’s April extension occurred at or near the beginning of special religious observances ...
Midstate Chamber Legal Panel With UKS | Re-Opening Connecticut’s Economy
How to Position Your Business For Success Before Your Employees & Customers Return MIDSTATE CHAMBER LEGAL PANEL With Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C. Date: 4.28.20 | Time: 10:00am This webinar will focus on the future and practical considerations and tips for getting back to business, including: Landlord / Tenant Law – Re-opening Businesses and Offices/ Lease and Tenant Considerations Employment Law - Re-hiring of Employees/How to Position Yourself for Forgiveness Under the Paych ...
Richard S. Order | Law in the Time of COVID-19
On March 31, 2020, UKS attorney Richard S. Order went to court in Hartford and obtained a domestic violence restraining order protecting a woman and her year-old child from an abusive husband. Although the Connecticut courts had been closed for most business by that time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a few courts have remained open for high priority matters such as restraining orders and certain criminal arraignments. “The court staff implemented social distancing meas ...
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 7Z
On April 14, 2020, Governor Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7Z. The following is a brief summary of such Executive Order, but the Order can be read in its entirety here. Executive Order No. 7Z temporarily modifies certain state contracting statutes in order to facilitate the emergency procurement of essential goods. More specifically, for any contract entered into on or after March 10, 2020, the Order authorizes the head of a state contracting agency to waive the following Connecticut Gene ...
UKS Attorneys Host Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Webinar | “Looking Ahead - Getting Back to Business”
On February 14, 2020 UKS attorneys Christopher Brigham, Kevin McEleney, and Donald Doeg were featured speakers for a webinar entitled “Looking Ahead - Getting Back to Business.” The webinar was hosted by the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce as part of its Tuesday Tips series and was co-moderated by UKS Attorney Richard Carella. The attorneys discussed Landlord/Tenant, Employment and Insurance Law issues related to the current Covid-19 pandemic and addressed matters that businesses and individuals ...
FRAUD UNDER THE CARES ACT AND THE FALSE CLAIMS ACT
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), the largest economic stimulus package in the history of the United States, was recently passed by Congress to provide financial relief to individuals and companies harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anticipating potential abuse of the opportunities under the CARES Act and other federal stimulus packages, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has announced that it will “prioritize the investigation and prosecution of Co ...
UKS COVID-19 | EXECUTIVE ORDERS 7W AND 7X
On April 9, 2020, Governor Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7W. The next day, April 10, 2020, Governor Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7X. The following is a general summary of both Executive Orders: Executive Order No. 7W. Executive Order 7W covers a broad range of directives and is available in its entirety here. The Order begins by clarifying the applicability of Executive Order No. 7S, Section 6 to quasi-municipal corporations and changing how the related time periods for tax dea ...
FCC Establishes New Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Program
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The CARES Act provided, in part, $200 million to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to assist healthcare providers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC responded by issuing a new emergency program—the COVID-19 Telehealth Program (“Program”)—to provide eligible healthcare providers with funding of up to $1 million to purchase telecommunications services, in ...
COVID-19’s Impact on Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy
Part I: Foreclosures and Evictions Connecticut state courts remain open but under severely reduced operations. Currently, the courts are only processing “Priority 1 Business Functions,” which, for purposes of commercial litigation, only include limited emergency motions. That means that all civil trials, trial management conferences, pre-trials, status conferences, J-ADR mediations, and short calendar matters have been cancelled so long as the judicial branch is limited to Priority 1 functions ...