Hodgson Russ LLP

Hodgson Russ sponsored and attended the 2025 DRI Products Liability Conference from February 19-21 in Miami. DRI is the largest international organization of member attorneys, defending the interests of businesses and individuals in civil litigation. Claire Wells, Christian Soller, Michael Maxwell, Ryan Lucinski, and Fallon Martin attended. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRIProducts

Hodgson Russ proudly sponsored the Make-a-Wish Gala on March 1. James Zawodzinski, Jr., Rosellen Marohn, David Bradley (Board Member), Fallon Martin, and their spouses attended the event. Make-A-Wish Western New York creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. The hope that a wish provides can help children build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight. It can even have the power to help them overcome their illness. See here for more information: https://bit.ly/4i9V084

A Hodgson Russ Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Commercial Litigation Alert: https://bit.ly/41I2SYt On January 24, 2025, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the “Bankruptcy Court”), in a matter of first impression, held that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, L.P.[1] barring third-party releases is inapplicable to asset sales conducted pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code [2] and settlement agreements entered into pursuant to Rule 9019 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (the “Bankruptcy Rules”). The Bankruptcy Court’s decision in In re Hopeman Brothers, Inc.[3] limits the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling while ensuring asset purchasers continue to be protected against future claims from a debtor’s creditors. Travis Powers James Thoman

Last week, David Wilks presented “Navigating Cross-Border Business Deals and Operations” for the Canadian Bar Association’s OBA International Law Program. He unraveled critical need-to-know issues for advising clients in cross-border business transactions, expansions, or daily operations. Dave co-leads the firm’s Immigration Practice Group. He guides companies, nonprofit organizations, universities and entrepreneurs in preparing and submitting non-immigrant (temporary) and immigrant (permanent residence) petitions. Learn more about Dave here: https://lnkd.in/gmndmA5U

A Hodgson Russ Corporate & Securities Alert: https://bit.ly/43ie9jr On March 2, 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”) announced that it will suspend enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) against United States citizens, United States reporting companies and the beneficial owners of United States reporting companies. Brendan Stone Matthew Scherer

A Hodgson Russ Renewable Energy Alert: https://bit.ly/43i16P0 In a decision and order filed March 4, 2025, Albany County Supreme Court held that Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) § 575-b is unconstitutional (the “Decision”). The suit, Airey, et al. v. State of New York, et al., Index No. 903991-24, was brought by a number of town supervisors in their individual and official capacities against New York State. They sought to overturn RPTL § 575-b. This is the statute that provides for the discounted cash flow model (the “Model”) created by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“DOTF”) in consultation with the New York State Assessors Association (“NYSAA”) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”). If you have any questions about the Decision or the Model, or valuing renewable projects generally, please contact Daniel Spitzer, Emanuela (Amy) D'Ambrogio, or Henry A. Zomerfeld. #Solar #RenewableEnergy #RealPropertyTax #RPTL575b #Wind #SolarProject #NYAssessmentModel

Thomas D’Antonio was ranked by Legal 500 for Commercial Disputes. In addition to his work in business and commercial claims, Tom serves on the federal mediation panel in the Western New York District of New York and acts as Distinguished Counsel in New York for United Educators, as well as approved counsel for several other Employment Practices Liability and Educators Legal Liability insurers. Congratulations, Tom!

Congratulations to John J. Zak and Kevin Talbot on being ranked by Legal 500 for Corporate and M&A! The rankings highlight the practice area teams providing the most cutting-edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel and are based on interviews with clients and peers. John is the firm's Co-Chair and leader of the Securities Regulation & Corporate Compliance Practice, while Kevin leads our Corporate & Business Practice. Kudos to you both!

A Hodgson Russ Intellectual Property & Litigation Alert: https://bit.ly/3QFm96D On February 26th, in a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Kagan, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the District Court’s $43 million profit disgorgement award following a bench trial on the issue of damages. In 2006, Dewberry Engineers, a company providing real estate development services, sued Dewberry Group, a different company providing similar real estate services, for trademark infringement. The parties to that suit eventually reached a settlement agreement. In 2017, Dewberry Group changed its name and started offering services under separately incorporated affiliates, including, Dewberry Living, Dewberry Office, and Studio Dewberry. In 2020, Dewberry Engineers sued Dewberry Group again for trademark infringement over the use of the “Dewberry” trademark, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of Dewberry Engineers, awarding it both Dewberry Group’s profits and the profits from all of its affiliates using the “Dewberry” trademark. Dewberry Group appealed, arguing that the District Court abused its discretion by including the profits earned by the separately incorporated affiliates that were not listed as defendants in the lawsuit. Neil Friedman Gabriella Alfano Ryan McGonigle Jodyann Galvin

Hodgson Russ Partner Elizabeth Pascal recently joined David Lombardo on WCNY's The Capitol Pressroom to discuss Governor Hochul’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal. She unpacked some less-publicized tax-related proposals, including tax warrants (and how to handle them), taxpayer notification and protest rights, and flexibility for the Pass-Through Entity Tax. Liz was invited to appear on the podcast after co-authoring a State & Local Tax Alert covering the tax provisions in the Governor’s proposed budget. Listen to the podcast here: https://bit.ly/43pFi3V Read Liz’s alert here: https://bit.ly/4goXQ7g