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The CARES Act

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Industry-Focused Task Force

Akerman’s Coronavirus Task Force and industry-focused practice teams are here to help manage the unprecedented and newly emergent challenges COVID-19 poses to your businesses, workforces, and supply chains, as well as potential losses and liability, and litigation and transactions, across a variety of sectors. Following is the latest news and analysis prepared by our Task Force:

Consumer Financial Services

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Mitigating coronavirus based consumer defaults
Repayment plans and related assistance to coronavirus impacted consumers
Tracking best practices, court and regulatory requirements for forbearance or stays of foreclosure or evictions
State, federal, and bankruptcy court reactions, including new safety protocols and scheduling changes, appearance procedures and cancellations
Proposed motion language for individual and volume litigation relief, including remote appearances, bench rulings and continuances
Jurisdiction-specific best practices for appearances via alternate means, including telephonic and video conferencing
Navigating vendor supply chain issues affecting loan servicing timelines
Applicability of force majeure clauses for vendor and system-related operations
Managing data privacy and data security requirements for employees working from home and other distance-working arrangements
Impact on licensing requirements when licensed activities occur remotely rather than a licensee’s place of business
Other workforce disruptions affecting consumer customers
Addressing form and timing of mandatory disclosure deliveries
Recordkeeping and accessing documents and other information necessary to conduct error resolution investigations
Document execution and notarization in remote environment
How to manage ongoing or upcoming regulatory examinations

Corporate

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Corporate governance, transactions, capital markets, debt and equity issuances:
- Planning for deal certainty, and evaluating contractual non-compliance and remedies (e.g., force majeure, specific performance, material adverse effect, impracticability, impossibility, frustration of purpose and limitation of liability).
- Evaluating compliance with credit facilities and other financial instruments, and negotiating any necessary waivers or other changes.
- Evaluating alternate sources of liquidity.
- Evaluating regulatory compliance, including SEC and state securities regulators, FINRA and other federal and state agencies.
- Evaluating annual meeting considerations and disclosure requirements.
- Proactively engaging with stockholders, lenders, and others in a manner consistent with applicable public disclosure and financial reporting obligations.
- Addressing business continuity, succession, physical and data security, work-from-home, and other relevant plans.
- Evaluating appropriate modifications to business interruption, D&O, EPLI, property and casualty, workers’ compensation, and other forms of insurance.
- Advising boards on corporate governance, fiduciary duties, and mitigating risk.

Employee Benefits

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Plan deductions during unpaid leaves of absences
Whether and how emergency hardship distributions may be permitted
Whether the virus qualifies under company-sponsored disability policies
Group health plan coverage of costs associated with transportation to specialized facilities

Financial Restructuring, Bankruptcy, and Creditors Rights

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Bankruptcy and restructuring implications in light of coronavirus outbreak
Available relief and strategies for creditors and distressed businesses
Specific small business bankruptcy resources
Distressed M&A
Out of court workout options and strategies
Orderly liquidations, assignments for benefit of creditors, and receiverships
Priority of claims in insolvency proceedings
Access and available court and judicial remedies
Industry specific distress concerns
Fiduciary duties and transfer and distribution concerns with deepening insolvency

Healthcare

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Data privacy and HIPAA issues in the context of a public health crisis
Public health policies and procedures regarding infectious diseases, pathology, lab testing, and communication with CDC as well as state departments of public health
Hospital policies and procedures regarding management of infectious diseases
Skilled nursing facilities policies/procedures regarding management of infectious diseases, including transfer issues, access issues
Home health agencies, durable medical equipment providers, and ambulatory surgery centers' concerns relative to exposure of employees to potentially infected patients
Appropriate screening questions for patients

International

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Immigration planning, compliance, and travel restriction impacts on businesses and individuals
Tracking and adapting to international and U.S. tax law changes, including deadline extensions
International trade and customs matters relating to the closure of international borders and other local jurisdictions
Cross-border due diligence, M&A, joint ventures, and private equity transactions:
- Coronavirus may trigger material adverse change or material adverse effect provisions in international M&A deals
International financing, securities offerings, and debt restructuring, including foreign issuers becoming targets of class action litigation due to the collapse of the stock markets
International litigation and arbitration
Global anticorruption and compliance

Litigation

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Insurance
- Claims for virus-related losses
- Complex disputes that center on language used in policies
General litigation
- Disputes arising from unpaid debts
- Contract termination (breach of contract)
- Supply chain disputes
Securities and shareholder litigation based on disclosures and market volatility driven by the coronavirus

Real Estate

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Impact on real estate ownership, use and transactions created by:
- Travel and public gathering restrictions
- Supply chain disruptions
- Labor shortages
- Building or area wide quarantines
- Restrictions on owner and manager access to their commercial properties
- Increased due diligence requirements
- Tenant and borrower defaults caused by loss of revenue
- Premises liability concerns
- Potential force majeure extension and termination rights
Heightened requirements to protect the health of tenants and visitors
Disruption in availability of equity and debt for transactions
Implications for real property improvement construction contracts

Tax

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Extension issues for filing deadlines related to businesses and individuals under quarantine or otherwise impacted by virus-related fallout
Liability and recourse for taxpayers if any extensions granted at the federal, state, and local level are not sufficient
Tax legislation tracking amid an exceptionally active legislative season/year to assist taxpayers unable to stay abreast of changes

Workforce

Latest News and Analysis

Legal Issues Impacting Our Clients

Policies and procedures for dealing with infectious diseases
Communications with employees
Dealing with sick employees
Keeping the workplace healthy
Remote working arrangements
Leave and pay issues
Avoiding discrimination claims
Impact of collective bargaining agreements
Considerations for places of public accommodations
Special considerations for health care workplaces

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