Guest Blog

Written By: Kenneth Rosenberg Brian Frederick Fox Rothschild   A pair of bills were introduced in the New Jersey Legislature seeking to ban or significantly restrict employers’ ability to enter into and enforce noncompete agreements. The proposed legislation (S4385 and S4386) seeks to place New Jersey among the states that have banned or dramatically restricted the enforcement of such agreements, including California, Colorado, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Minnesota. The bills follow the Federal Trade Commission’s stalled attempt to restrict noncompete agreements nationwide under the Biden Administration (discussed here). Employers should keep apprised of New Jersey’s ongoing efforts to restrict noncompetes and ensure…

Written By: Walter J. Brasch, CPA, CGMA Prager Metis NJCPA   New law drafted by the NJCPA makes the state’s full financial condition understandable to all Every fiscal year, the State of New Jersey’s financial condition undergoes a comprehensive analysis, which is compiled in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). For the first time, the ACFR has also been summarized into a plain-language report intelligible to lawmakers, the media and the general public, thanks to a law drafted by the New Jersey Society of CPAs. The law is critically important because it promotes a better understanding of the state’s complete…

Written By: Chris Regan Founder CLR Solutions LLC What If Your Old Smartphone Was A Goldmine? Not just figuratively-but literally. Inside that outdated laptop, broken TV, or discarded smartphone are tiny amounts of rare earth elements (REEs), the essential metals powering our modern world. But with demand skyrocketing and mining causing environmental havoc, how do we reclaim these hidden treasures? The answer lies in recycling-a process that could reshape the future of technology and sustainability. Understanding Rare Earth Elements and Their Value Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metals, including neodymium, europium, and lanthanum. Despite…

Written By: Chris Regan Founder CLR Solutions LLC What Is a Circular Economy? A circular economy is an economic system designed to minimize waste and maximize resources by creating closed-loop cycles where products, materials, and resources are reused, repaired, remanufactured, or recycled instead of being discarded. In practice, this means reducing waste to a minimum. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are recycled, repurposed, and given new forms-allowing them to circulate within the economy for as long as possible. This stands in stark contrast to the traditional linear model, which follows a “take, make, consume, dispose” approach.…

Written By: Kelly L. McNaughton Adam Busler Fox Rothschild   The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOL) announced proposed regulations that purportedly clarify the so-called “ABC test” for determining whether workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors in New Jersey. These regulations reflect the DOL’s interpretation of a compilation of caselaw from the New Jersey Supreme Court, including Carpet Remnant Warehouse, Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Labor and East Bay Drywall, LLC v. Dept of Labor and Workforce Development. The proposed regulations interpret N.J.S.A. which sets forth the three-pronged ABC test. Under the ABC test, the putative employer bears…

Written By: Kenneth A. Rosenberg Fox Rothschild   President Trump has issued an executive order aimed at significantly reducing the use of disparate-impact analysis by federal agencies when enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy,” the order declares that disparate-impact liability creates a near insurmountable presumption of unlawful discrimination whenever differences in outcomes appear among races, sexes or other protected groups, even absent any discriminatory policy, practice or intent. The order asserts that disparate-impact liability pressures individuals and businesses to consider race and engage in racial balancing to avoid crippling legal liability. It further states that this approach undermines…

Written By: Chris Regan Founder CLR Solutions LLC   Understanding Data Destruction Data destruction refers to the process of permanently and securely erasing data from devices to ensure it cannot be recovered. Many assume that deleting files, folders, or performing a factory reset on a device is sufficient. However, these methods often leave traces of data stored on hard drives or other storage mediums, making it vulnerable to recovery and misuse. Think of data storage like writing on a chalkboard: deleting a file is like erasing the title while leaving the content faintly visible. Data is stored in layers of…

Written By:  by Chris Regan  CLR Solutions   IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) refers to the comprehensive process of securely retiring, recycling, or repurposing IT equipment while ensuring the complete destruction of any data stored within these assets. As businesses upgrade their technology, they often face the challenge of managing outdated equipment. Think about your own office for a moment-are there old laptops or servers gathering dust in a storage room? ITAD provides a structured approach to tackling this issue, ensuring data security, compliance, and environmental sustainability, all while maximizing the value of retired assets. Why Does ITAD Matter? Let’s face it:…

Written By: Richard S. Zackin Gibbons P.C   Introduction In Musker v. Suuchi, Inc. (decided March 19, 2025), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that compensation earned by employees via sales commissions constitute “wages” for purposes of New Jersey’s Wage Payment Law (“the WPL”). The court rejected the contention that sales commissions may qualify as “supplementary incentives” rather than “wages.” The distinction between the two concepts is critical because an employer’s failure to timely pay “wages” exposes the employer to administrative fines and penalties (N.J.S.A. § 34:11-4.10a-b) and, under the Wage Theft Act, entitles employees to assert claims not only…

Written By: Gianfranco A. Pietrafesa Partner Archer & Greiner PC On March 21, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN“) issued a press release with its interim final rules addressing the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA“). On March 26, 2025, the interim final rules were published in the Federal Register. Also, FinCEN published two alerts as well as Questions and Answers about the final interim rules. Changes Caused by the Interim Final Rules The changes in the filing requirements under the CTA boil down to the following: Domestic companies are exempt from the requirement to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports. This was accomplished by…