Blackletter

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom discusses the Prep Act, or the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. The law issues declarations that allow for the immunity of companies that create products to combat diseases such as the Zika virus, Ebola, and of course, the coronavirus. Essentially, companies that make masks, ventilators or more are free of liability unless there is willful misconduct. Hear more about the Act, who issues it, and its amendments by listening to this episode of Monday Minutes.  

Tom discusses President Biden’s proposal for his Estate Tax plan. Tom covers what the proposal entails, including reducing the current lifetime credit each individual has from 11.7 million to 3.5 million, and increasing the estate tax from 40% to 45%. He contextualizes the proposal in relation to 2026, where the increased estate tax and the lifetime credit will automatically change. Tom encourages planning for everyone, even those who will potentially have an estate of 3 million by 2026.  

Tom discusses buy-sell agreements, which have seen an increased interest during Covid. He touches on how some partners are either entering or existing the business in response to the pandemic, while others are staying. Tom also explains the two types of buy-sell: cross-purchase agreement and the redemption agreement. Overall, buy-sell agreements remove a lot of the what if questions out of the equation when a business partner leaves or even passes away and can also regulate to whom the shares are given.  

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom goes over the top Dos and Don’ts of Zoom etiquette. Though it’s been a year since the first lockdown, Tom and his partners still see blunders while video conferencing. From muting yourself when not speaking, to camera angle, and backdrop, Tom covers tips to have a better, more professional conference call. He encourages everyone to treat Zoom meetings like in person ones, with the appropriate dress and attention required. 

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom discusses non-fungible tokens and their recent popularity. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, exist in blockchain, but unlike Bitcoin, cannot be replaced with something else. NFTs can be anything from a collectable to a piece of digital artwork. The most common use of NFTs can be seen in gaming, where users can trade items for real money to utilize in the game. Listen to the episode to hear more on non-fungible tokens. 

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom touches on smart contracts and how they relate to blockchain. A smart contract is a way to enter into a transaction without having a physical contract. He likens it to a vending machine, where you put money into a chain of events, such as blockchain, and you immediately get out your part of the transaction. Blockchain, an example being Bitcoin stores data and creates a marketplace. Tom gives examples of how this type of interaction can be used in real life scenarios.

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom discusses his recent work with blockchain and NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Blockchain is a specific type of database in which information is stored in chains, as opposed to tables in an Excel spreadsheet. He gives a simplified explanation of how data is stored and encrypted in a blockchain. Bitcoin is the most known type of data stored in a blockchain. Tom touches on why some people prefer bitcoin over traditional banking and how blockchains protect the data stored inside them.

Today, Tom Dunlap and Kurt Klaus of Dunlap, Bennett, and Ludwig chat with Will Gee, the CEO of Balti Virtual about the field and future of augmented and virtual reality. Listen in as they cover topics such as VR and the AR Cloud,  the potential future of the industry and what Balti Virtual has learned through business culture, growth and working with some amazing clients. 

In a lighter rendition of Monday Minutes, today Tom mentions some of the bloopers and blunders that have happened on Zoom during legal proceedings. By now, many of us have seen the lawyer on Zoom with a kitten face filter, saying “I am not a cat.” Tom shares other instances such as naked attorneys, drinking, meth pipes and more!  

For today’s Monday Minutes, Tom discusses Judge Jed Rakoff’s recent book, “Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and Why the Guilty Go Free.” Working in the southern district of New York, Rakoff is an experienced judge who delves into why people are pleading guilty instead of going to trial. The book offers anecdotes and observations on how the legal system and class privilege support this pattern. 

Nike filed suit on January 15th, 2021, against an LA-based manufacturing company “La La Land Production & Design Inc.” over supplying fake “Dunk” sneakers. This suit follows one month after Nike Inc. settled a lawsuit against Los Angeles streetwear designer Warren Lotas, who sold the fake Dunk sneakers. La La Land stated it had functioned only as a manufacturer for Warren Lotas and had been indemnified by him against such claims.

In this episode, Tom Dunlap chats with Heinan Landa, President & CEO of Optimal Networks, about how law firms can modernize their use of technology to better meet the changing world's needs. Listen in as they cover topics such as using and adopting technology as a tool,  transitioning to new tech, and what etiquette to follow on new technology.

Today, we're going to talk a little bit about the law in DC for carrying a handgun and why? Well, because we had the Capitol riots recently and there were more than 70 at the time of this recording and probably now more than 100 are under investigation. It's black letter law in DC, and everybody here knows it. This is DC official code 22-4504.01, which is federal law because Washington DC is still a military district. It says, "You must be licensed to carry a firearm in the district concealed while open carry is prohibited. However, there are exceptions for legally registered firearms."

What will happen to the Trump defamation lawsuits once he is not the President?  Multiple women have claimed that Trump has sexually assaulted them in the past. But two of them are actually suing the president or the former president for defamation after he's denied those claims. Both cases were stayed because the president's lawyer said he's immune. What happens to that appeal now that he's no longer president and the Justice Department can't step in and represent him as a sitting president? 

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has decided that a proposed mark incorporating the name “Trump” may not be federally registered as a trademark. Relying on the Lanham Act  that doesn't allow registration of any mark that identifies “a particular living individual” without that person’s consent, the TTAB refused to register “Trump Too Small” for use on T-shirts and other apparel.

On this special episode of The Blackletter Podcast, we highlight the best of seasons one through five! Topics include business development and marketing, legal issues in independent film making, political consulting, immigration, corporate law, corporate finance, commercial lending, non-competes, and more.

A company called Harrison/Erickson created the Phillie Phanatic way back in 1984. Harrison/Erickson sold the Phillie Phanatic to the Philadelphia Phillies for $215,000 back in 1984. However, they argue that under a section of the copyright act, they had the right to renegotiate those terms, and have since August of 2019 been in a lawsuit with the Phillies, or one new lawsuit or another since then. The Phillies of course said they have the rights to continue using the Phanatic, and it all came to a head this last spring in spring training, when the Phillies debuted a new version of the Phanatic, which they call a derivative work, which they say, the Phillies say, gives them the right to use the new version of the Phanatic Harrison/Erickson, the company that designed the original Phanatic, actually say that they don't and that it's not a derivative work, but that it's a knockoff, and that they're entitled to additional damages. The Phillies have responded to Harrison/Erickson's allegations or statements that t

Thousands of people got an email from Airbnb a couple of weeks ago, and they made maybe a $15,000 mistake. At least one man did according to an article by NPR. Airbnb went through its initial public offering, and its stock price more than doubled almost instantly. Now, tons of Airbnb hosts who had received an email a couple of weeks ago offering them a chance to buy stock ahead of the IPO are kicking themselves for missing out and missing the email.

Today a US appeal court is going to hear an appeal challenging the order that blocked the TikTok app from the store. Now that ban at least blocking it entirely from the App Store and blocking the users was stayed by another appeals court judge or a district court judge in September 27th. However, absent some kind of result from this appeal the TikTok app will be blocked. President Trump empowered the Justice Department to enforce that order a couple of weeks ago and TikTok, which has over a hundred million US users could soon be blocked. They have yet to finalize and close a deal with Walmart and Oracle that are in talks with TikTok to shift the US assets into a new entity that is aimed at satisfying President Trump's divestiture order. 

Tom Dunlap chats with Marissa Levin, co-founder of Successful Culture International, 20-year entrepreneur and speaker, on how to facilitate an engaged, inclusive virtual culture. We also discuss the important qualities leaders must implement in order to retain and grow employee trust in these isolating times.