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UPCOMING EVENTS
April 1, 2009
Card Check Breakfast Briefing
Be Prepared For "The Employee Free Choice Act"
Presented by Shumaker Williams, P.C. and Bright Tree Consulting Group, LLC
White Rose Business Center, One East Market Street York, Pennsylvania
Hunt Valley Business Forum, HR Roundtable
"Immigration Developments for 2009"
Presenter: Craig T. Trebilcock
Baltimore County Community College
May 5-6, 2009
York Business and Technology Expo
York Fairgrounds
York, Pennsylvania
May 19, 2009
Juniata Valley Employer
Advisory Council
Topics will include coverage of new developments under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, HIPAA, employee benefits and immigration law.
Presenters: Marc G. Tarlow, Craig T. Trebilcock and David J. Ledermann
Lewistown Country Club
Lewistown, Pennsylvania
For more information, please contact David Ledermann at 717-763-1121 or ledermann@shumakerwilliams.com
RECENT EVENTS
Paul A. Adams has been appointed to the Task Force on Regulatory Restructuring of the Banking Law Committee of the American Bar Association. The Task Force will assist the ABA's Presidential Task Force to comment on Legislative proposals and make recommendations on the regulation of all financial markets including the regulation of the commercial banking industry. Mr. Adams is a shareholder in the law firm of Shumaker Williams, P.C., with offices in Camp Hill, York and Towson, MD. Mr. Adams has taught banking regulation at the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University since 1985.
February 10, 2009
Free One-Hour Telephone Seminar on Changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act and Americans with Disabilities Act
Presenters: Michael E. Rowan and Marc G. Tarlow
March 5-6, 2009
Maryland Association of Mortgage Bankers 2009 Conference & Exhibit
"A New Beginning" - Maryland Mortgage Madness
Speaker: J. Steven Lovejoy Maryland Law Update
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD
March 17-19, 2009
26th Annual Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations
Participant: E. Robert Levy
Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
Atlantic City, NJ
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Offices
Camp Hill
3425 Simpson Ferry Road Camp Hill, PA 17011 Telephone: 717.763.1121 Facsimile: 717.763.7419
Towson
40 W. Chesapeake Avenue Towson, MD 21204 Telephone: 410.825.5223 Facsimile: 410.825.5426
York
1 East Market Street York, PA 17401 Telephone: 717.848.5134 Facsimile: 717.848.5125
Email
mail@shumakerwilliams.com
Website
www.shumakerwilliams.com
Editor
Ashley M. Galloway
Editorial Staff
Michele Connor
Publishing/Layout
Jeffrey A. Lee
We believe that providing our clients with timely information on developments in the law will enable them to make effective business decisions. We have dedicated ourselves to providing our clients with current information. This newsletter serves as one vehicle of promptly reporting to our clients. It is provided at no cost and outside of any professional relationship with a person, entity or file. The information contained in this newsletter is merely the opinions and thoughts of the authors and does not, in any way, constitute legal or professional advice.
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 401(k) Hazzards in a Difficult Economy
By David J. Ledermann
The stock market troubles of recent months have focused many on their diminishing retirement nest eggs. Most 401(k) plans are "self-directed," meaning plan participants decide, and are responsible for, how their accounts are invested. However, there are any number of potential hazards for 401(k) plan administrators, including under self-directed account plans, and these can take on a much greater significance during difficult economic times. As losses mount, plan administrators are increasingly more likely to be targeted for alleged breaches of their fiduciary obligations to plan participants.
Investment Losses
Generally speaking, plan administrators can be held personally liable for imprudent plan investments that result in losses to participants' accounts. However, ERISA Section 404(c) provides an exception to the otherwise applicable fiduciary rules for certain "self-directed" plans. Nevertheless, avoiding fiduciary liability entails much more than simply allowing participants to choose their own investments.
Complete Article
 Accessing Public Records: Pennsylvania's New Right to Know Law
Pennsylvania's revised Right to Know Law, Act 3 of 2008, was signed by Governor Rendell on February 14, 2008 and became fully effective on January 1, 2009. This law provides updated policies and procedures for access to public records, such as forms, e-mails, letters, tapes, photographs, and recordings created by any state government entity, including Commonwealth departments, agencies, state universities, local governments and the judiciary.
How is the new law different?
The Right to Know Law brings Pennsylvania one step closer to government transparency by amending the previous version of the Right to Know law in two important ways:
First, the law creates an Office of Open Records, which is charged with administering certain provisions of the Right to Know Law. When a Right to Know request is denied by a government entity, the person requesting the records can appeal the denial to the Office of Open Records. The Office of Open Records also issues advisory opinions to government agencies and requesters of information. In one of its first advisory opinions issued on February 22, 2009, the Office of Open Records determined that audio recordings of borough council meetings are public records subject to disclosure, whereas such audio recordings had been exempt from disclosure under the previous law.
Second, the new Right to Know Law shifts the burden for proving that a record is a public record subject to disclosure. Under the previous Right to Know Law, the person requesting the record had the burden of proving that the record was a public record subject to disclosure. The new Right to Know Law shifts that burden to the government entity. After denying a Right to Know request, the government entity now has the burden of proving that the requested record is not subject to disclosure. This means that a record in the possession of a government entity is presumed to be a public record and available for disclosure unless the government entity can provide a legal basis for not disclosing the record. A public record may be withheld only if a state or federal law or regulation or judicial order prevents disclosure of the record, or the record falls into one of the exceptions of the Right to Know Law. Those exceptions are designed to ensure the privacy of an individual's data not related to government action, such as DNA information, autopsy reports, social security numbers, financial information, an individual's marital status, the identity of an undercover officer, home addresses of government officials and information about crime victims. Records may also be withheld if disclosure would violate the attorney-client or physician-patient privilege.
 The SAFE Mortage Licensing Act: Nationwide Load Originator Licesing and Registration Requirements
By Rachel M. Wolf
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act, designed primarily to address the so-called subprime mortgage crisis, was signed into law on July 30, 2008. The law includes the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act, also entitled the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (the "Safe Act"). The Safe Act requires all residential "mortgage loan originators" to be either licensed or registered. A "mortgage loan originator" is defined under the Safe Act as any individual who "takes a residential mortgage loan application; or offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan application for compensation or gain." Mortgage loan originators employed by a federally insured depository institution or credit union or an owned and controlled subsidiary that is federally supervised must be registered. All other mortgage loan originators must be licensed by the state. There are no exceptions from the new licensing and registration requirements under the statute.
Under the Safe Act, all states must have a system of licensing in place for state-licensed residential mortgage loan originators by August 1, 2009 that meets the minimum standards provided for under the new federal law. The federally-mandated requirements for state-licensed mortgage loan originators include, among other things, the following:
Complete Article
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