017—It was a rollercoaster year for legal and business issues and the team at Colligan Law worked hard to keep you informed. As we welcome 2018, we wanted to take a minute to share our top stories of the past twelve months with you:

  1. We asked the question (again). Is a hotdog a sandwich? Just like “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” or perhaps more timely, “What is or isn’t a catch in the NFL,?”, this is one of those questions that people just can’t seem to agree upon. Well, Colligan Law attorney Rob Townsley took a look at what New York State law thinks and perhaps answered the question once and for all.
  1. An Uber welcome. Ridesharing finally came to Upstate. 2017 saw Upstate New York finally open its doors to ridesharing services including Uber and Lyft. Uber’s trip north on the I-87 did not come without baggage, however. With a plethora of legal and public relations issues culminating in the replacement of Uber’s CEO, Colligan Law attorney Matthew Pelkey shed some light on the challenges the ridesharing giant faced this year.
  1. Changes to NYS labor laws. This year saw several developments related to New York State labor laws, which are necessitating a lot of changes for businesses 2018. As of January 1, businesses in New York now have paid family leave, increased minimum wage and increased salary requirements for exempt employees. In addition to these changes, Colligan Law attorney Joe Saeli discussed the proper role of independent contractors in New York State and Matthew Pelkey shared common employment pitfalls for startups.
  1. Medical Marijuana expanded in New York. Another significant development this year, which was profiled by Colligan Law attorney Rob Townsley, was the expansion of medical marijuana in New York State. Medical Marijuana is now being used to treat even more disorders and diseases and is becoming more prevalent in the workplace. Of course, attorney Joe Saeli made sure to discuss the legal implications of medical marijuana in the workplace.

Thank you again to all of you for engaging with us and sharing your business needs and stories. We look forward to a new year of content so be sure to follow us on twitter @colliganlaw to keep up to date on emerging trends.

And from all of us here at Colligan Law, cheers to 2018!