News

By: Matthew M. McKeon

*Note: due to the rapidly evolving government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article may not be current at the time it is read. Readers seeking additional information may contact the author at [email protected].

On June 3, 2020, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (the “LCB”) issued a press release  and the second revised Advisory Notice No. 26 announcing that liquor licensees could apply for a temporary extension of their licensed premises to include additional outdoor areas.  This would allow licensees to legally sell and serve alcohol to patrons in these outdoor areas.  The LCB’s announcement follows Governor Wolf’s May 27, 2020 guidelines allowing restaurants in counties which are in the “yellow” phase of the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 reopening process to begin dine-in service in outdoor areas on June 5, 2020.

Licensees are advised to read the LCB’s press release and the second revised Advisory Notice No. 26 to learn all relevant information regarding this application.  Important aspects of this temporary measure include the following:

• Applicable licenses: This application is available to licenses for restaurants, hotels, clubs, catering clubs, retail dispensers, distilleries, limited distilleries, wineries, limited wineries, and breweries.

• Outdoor Areas Affected: The temporary extension of the premises only applies to outdoor areas immediately adjacent to, abutting and contiguous to the existing licensed premises. This excludes any outdoor areas which are separated from a licensed premises by a public thoroughfare. If the outdoor area to be licensed is not under the licensee’s control (for example, a municipal sidewalk) then the licensee must provide proof of their right to occupy the area (such as a permit or other authorization from the municipality).

• Automatic Authorization Upon Posting of Printed Confirmation Page:  After the licensee submits the application on the LCB’s website (see instructions below) the licensee will see a confirmation screen stating that the application was successfully submitted for processing. The licensee shall print and post this confirmation screen as directed, whereupon they will automatically have temporary authority to operate on the proposed outdoor area. The licensee will also be directed to post a Notice of Application. Distilleries, limited distilleries, wineries, limited wineries and breweries do not need to post a Notice of Application but must display the LCB’s email stating the application was accepted.

• Duration: The initial authority for a temporary extension will last until one of the following occurs: (1) the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration ends; (2) the LCB receives a protest or petition to intervene in opposition to a particular application; or (3) the LCB informs the licensee that the authority has otherwise come to an end.  However, licensees can also apply for a permanent extension of the licensed premises under the normal procedures.

• Plan Required: Like an application to permanently extend the licensed premises, the licensee seeking a temporary extension must also submit a plan of the outdoor area as directed by the online application.

• No Fee for Temporary Extension Application: However, the normal application fee applies if the licensee is applying for a permanent extension of the licensed premises.

Licensees can apply by logging into the LCB website, clicking “Other Licenses Changes / Amendments” under the “Existing Licenses” section, selecting their license, and scrolling to “EMERGENCY TEMPORARY EXTENSION”.  Licensees will then be prompted to answer questions and submit the necessary plan to complete their application.

If you are unsure about any aspect of the LCB’s temporary extension of premises application or have other questions about the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on your license, please contact MacElree Harvey, Ltd. by emailing Matthew McKeon at [email protected]. This article provides a general overview of the law. It is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, legal advice for any particular fact situation.

By: Tim Rayne, Esquire

On May 6, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed an Executive Order granting broad civil immunity from malpractice lawsuits arising out of care provided to Covid-19 patients.

The immunity covers individual healthcare workers including doctors, nurses, hospital technicians, nursing home employees and other healthcare workers who have been involved in providing treatment to COVID-19 victims. The Order extends the civil immunity from liability afforded to state employees to individual healthcare workers, making them immune from claims of injury or death caused by their carelessness or negligence in the treatment of COVID-19.  This means that individual healthcare workers cannot be sued for malpractice arising out of negligent care of  COVID-19 patients.

The immunity for  healthcare providers covers only negligent/careless conduct and the providers are not immune from claims for willful misconduct (like assault or sexual assault) or gross negligence, which is negligence far beyond simple carelessness.

In addition, the Executive Order does not grant immunity to nursing homes or hospitals but, instead, only to individual healthcare workers. This means that facilities can still be held accountable and victims can still be compensated for injuries caused by negligent conduct.

Healthcare industry advocates argue that the Executive Order should have gone farther by granting comprehensive immunity to both individual healthcare workers and hospitals and nursing homes during this COVID-19 crisis.

However, victims rights advocates counter that comprehensive immunity is unfair because it leaves the victim of negligent care to bear the burden of their injuries rather than holding the negligent people and entities accountable.  Also it would be particularly unfair given that hospitals and nursing homes have protected themselves by purchasing insurance which means that the immunity would result in a windfall for the insurance companies by barring claims.

In the end, this might be a fair compromise because it protects potentially overworked doctors and nurses from individual liability during this national crisis but still hold holds facilities accountable for their negligence and does not leave the families of victims stuck with the consequences of negligent care.

Starting immediately the Chester County Family Court will resume custody conciliation. For the foreseeable future  conciliations are going to be scheduled as video conferences. Scheduling notices will be sent out soon, but to start, the courts are looking to begin scheduling new conciliation dates for cases previously scheduled for  the week of March 23, 2020.

Mediation with court approved and appointed mediators and parenting classes continue to be required and shall proceed forward online as well. The classes can be completed on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone. Click here for information on how to enroll into the course and access the program.

The following is the first in a series of articles exploring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis on the process of dividing property during a divorce, known as “equitable distribution”. 

For people navigating the complexities of a divorce, each day can be unprecedented in emotional and logistical strain. And for a society living under the health and economic stressors of a novel viral pandemic, life can feel rather unmoored as well. Given the great uncertainties and overwhelming urgency of the present, this series of articles seeks to unpack and explain the process of equitable distribution as it pertains to divorce proceedings and within the context of the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the course of a marriage, couples accumulate both assets and liabilities that need to be divided between partners in the event of a divorce. Together, a couple’s assets and liabilities are referred to as the marital estate and often includes cash, investment and retirement accounts, residential and/or commercial real estate, cars, personal property, insurance policies, business interests, and debt of all kinds.

Equitable distribution normally requires that the fair market value of certain assets be determined so that they can be divided between the parties. Even under normal circumstances, this process can be challenging because divorcing couples may not agree on the value of certain property. The value of property can also change over time, either appreciating or depreciating over the course of the marriage. In normal conditions, the evaluation and division of assets in a divorce already includes a degree of uncertainty that often requires the input of a neutral third-party professional. Given the current economic instability, the value of shared assets and thus the process of equitable distribution are likely to be impacted in significant but unpredictable ways, adding even more tension to divorce proceedings.

Similar to the evaluation of assets, divorcing couples must also divide liabilities, like debt, acquired during the marriage. Liabilities are generally measured as of the date of legal separation, or when the parties are living “separate and apart” from one another and no longer share the typical rights and duties of a married couple.  In equitable distribution, liabilities are generally divided in proportion to the parties’ ability to bear them.  Again, the widespread economic instability created by the COVID-19 pandemic alters a variety of otherwise more stable assumptions that are typical when dividing liabilities. Additionally, the need to quarantine and the limited ability to adjust living arrangements because of public health concerns can complicate the concept of living “separate and apart”.

A divorce under normal circumstances can throw parties’ lives into an upsetting state of uncertainty. Current economic and public health concerns during this pandemic have created a variety of new challenges that only intensify an already stressful divorce process. Follow this series as our attorneys work to anticipate and help you navigate the many unprecedented challenges we now face.