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In early January 2018, in case you were not aware, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed the Southside Chattanooga Lead Site to be added to the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List (“NPL”). Superfund, as established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up sites in the United States that have been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup because the site poses a risk to human health and/or the environment. When a site is on the NPL, it undergoes a comprehensive evaluation to determine the nature and extent of contamination, an estimation of current and future risks, an analysis of cleanup alternatives, and the design and construction of the selected cleanup plan. Sites placed on the NPL are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term cleanup. EPA deletes sites from the NPL once all response actions are complete and all cleanup goals have been achieved.

Although many people are thinking of Valentine’s Day and what to get their significant other, others are still trying to decipher the more than 1000 pages of new tax legislation that the President just signed into law.

Federal immigration authorities have recently formalized a policy to send deportation agents to federal, state and local courthouses to make arrests, dismissing complaints from judges and advocacy groups that it instills fear among crime victims, witnesses and family members. As such, people who are undocumented and people with lawful status with certain criminal convictions may be at risk of being detained and deported simply for attending their court hearings.

While in some instances color is capable of trademark protection, such as the use of pink insulation for Owens-Corning, Cheerios recently was unable to protect the color yellow for its Cheerios boxes.

On January 26, 2018, the Western Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals addressed what happens when a commercial tenant holds over the term of a lease in Jones v. VCPHCS I, LLC, No. W2016-02142-COA-R3-CV.

In an Order dated January 9, 2018, the U.S. District Court in California v DHS issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”) as it relates to renewals. The court ordered DHS “to maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis on the same terms and conditions as were in effect before the rescission on September 5, 2017, including allowing DACA enrollees to renew their enrollments.” The administration has vowed to appeal and will likely seek to place this ruling on hold in the appellate court. Until that happens, however, the Order provides that DHS must accept certain DACA renewals as of today. The Order makes it clear, though, that DHS does not have to accept applications from individuals that have not previously filed for DACA.

In just a few months, the landscape for registering scandalous, immoral and disparaging mark bars has been entirely changed.

Five tips to keep in mind when you’re thinking about your contract. It is becoming more and more common to work as a freelance artist rather than work for a firm, whether as a photographer, videographer, graphic designer, web designer, or similar professional, so what should your contracts look like? It is good practice to have written contracts with all of your clients. Contracts can help make sure you and your client understand exactly the terms of the deal.

The immigrant community across the U.S. are living in fear of what the Trump presidency may hold, but one community that is most affected are the “DREAMers.” President Barack Obama’s created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”) by Executive Action. More than 740,000 young people have been granted deportation reprieve and work permits under the program. These immigrants could now lose those protections, should Trump follow through on his promise to end President Obama’s immigration executive actions once he is sworn into office.