Starting a new business is hard, and finding the funding to get that business off the ground can be one of the hardest parts. Recognizing the challenges faced by financing a business in West Virginia (WV), in 2016, the West Virginia Legislature passed the WV Small Business Capital Act (the “Act”), codified at Chapter 32, Article 5 of the West Virginia Code.  

Did you read the excruciatingly boring 30-page “Report of the General Counsel Concerning Employer Rules” that was issued on March 18, 2015, by NLRB General Counsel Robert F. Griffin, Jr.?  Don’t embarrass yourself by admitting this fact – and don’t cry when you learn that the effort was totally wasted. 

What do Senator Al Franken and President Donald Trump have in common?   As it turns out, quite a bit: Both men were born in New York City, simultaneously belonged to the Democratic party for many years, attended prestigious East Coast universities, and both men have been accused by numerous women of sexual harassment.  Of course, Senator Franken and President Trump are not the only famous men who recently have been accused of sexual harassment (or worse).  Here is a small sampling: U.S. Circuit Court Judge Alex Kozinski, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, U.S. Representative Trent Franks, radio personality and author Garrison Keillor, NBC host Matt Lauer, Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons, comedian Louis C.K., actor Kevin Spacey, and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.

Does it matter if employees like or loathe their employers’ mandatory arbitration agreements? After all, employers have gained the upper hand when it comes to the mandatory arbitration of employment disputes. Both federal and state courts routinely rebuff employee challenges to the enforceability of such agreements.

A 2017 attempt to increase the required distance between production blasting activities and currently or recently occupied structures failed to pass in the West Virginia legislature.  House Bill 2087, introduced in February of 2017, proposed to amend and reenact §22-3-22a of the Code of West Virginia relating to blasting activities  in order to prevent home damage from mine blasting in West Virginia.