Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Small Business Administration (SBA) is tasked with administering the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the loan program intended to allow employers to continue to pay their employees and assist with certain other expenses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.On October 2, 2020, the SBA released a procedural notice (Notice) – available here – addressed to SBA employees and PPP lenders clarifying the required procedures for changes of ownership of an entity that has received PPP funds.

With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing now for close to six months, U.S. permanent residents and conditional permanent residents caught outside the United States due to COVID-19 are experiencing significant challenges in making return travel plans home to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published new FAQs on August 27, 2020, for employers about paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) related to the re-opening of schools. The guidance describes eligibility for paid leave in response to the varied reopening formats and schedules announced by schools including blended in-person and remote learning.

As students return to colleges and universities across the United States amid COVID-19 concerns, students, their parents and their families should ensure that arrangements for the student’s medical decision-making for an emergency are made. These arrangements will protect the student if they cannot make medical decisions for themselves and ensure that their loved ones will be entitled to receive protected Medical information. It is important, and often forgotten, that anyone over the age of 18 is legally an adult and can no longer rely on the legal authority of their parents as their legal guardian to help them make medical decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous and likely long-term impact on research into infectious diseases, ushering in a flurry of investigation into possible treatments and vaccines. The pandemic is also influencing how those in the wider healthcare system will bring relevant diagnostics and therapies to the market and ultimately to those in need.Many of the future underlying innovations in diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, and other related healthcare services for COVID-19 will come from a university, research institution or other recipient of federal research funding. The desperate healthcare, social and political needs for these innovations may dramatically influence how future research and medical innovations enter the market and ultimately reach patients in need. As such, COVID-19 could substantially affect how both the United States and the world deal with similar crises in the future.

Managing Partner Alan Tarter was quoted in a Law360 article titled, “Agile But Vulnerable, Small Firms Fight to Weather Virus.” The article explains how small and midsize firms were better poised than BigLaw to prepare their offices to work remotely and stay connected to their clients in the early stages of the pandemic.

Intellectual Property Counsel Janet Linn was quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Virus Delays Stir Deadline Concerns in Generic Drug Patent Cases.”

To all of our clients, colleagues, business partners, employees and contacts, we are making every effort to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak. Tarter Krinsky & Drogin's number one priority is to ensure the continued health, safety and well-being of all concerned. Rest assured, our offices are fully operational and we are conducting business in the usual course.