skip to main content

Articles Year: 2019

What To Consider If You Need To Sublease Or Assign Your Commercial Premises

If you rent space in an office building, strip retail center or some other commercial building, at some point in time, you may need to find someone else to share your space because you have too much space, or you may need help in making rent payments.  In some circumstances, you may realize that you no longer have need for the space because you have outgrown it, or it is too much and you need to get out. Under most commercial leases, you cannot simply allow someone else to start using some or part of your premises, nor can you walk away from the lease obligations.  You will need to look at your lease to see if you are permitted to either sublease or assign some or all of the premises, and if so, under what circumstances.

Who actually owns your home? Check that deed!

Far too often, couples who live in homes together—married or unmarried—don’t understand how the ownership of their homes is actually structured. In the hundreds of times that I’ve sat down with couples to review their estates, we’ve uncovered ownership issues as often as not. Many of those less than ideal situations can be updated or repaired easily enough. But I have also seen too many cases in which one half of the couple becomes homeless after a break-up or the death of a partner or spouse.

The Hazy World of Weed at Work in Maryland

The legalization of medical marijuana is ever increasing with 33 states now permitting the use of medical marijuana, including Maryland. Yet, Maryland has not passed employment protections for users into its medical marijuana laws. As a result, Maryland state law conflicts with federal law, leaving employers and workers scrambling to determine how to protect themselves when faced with questions of drug testing, performance, accommodations, and leave.  For now, Maryland employers can still discipline employees for being under the influence at work and for failing a drug test if the employer has a strong workplace drug policy. Maryland employers are not required to accommodate an employee on the basis of a medical cannabis ID card, but should be cautious to engage in an interactive process before any outright denial of a request for accommodation.

Telecommuting As An Accommodation

Consider the situation faced by an employer that does not, typically, allow employees to work remotely.  Then consider what happens when an employee with pregnancy related complications is instructed by her physician to go on bedrest for the remaining three months of her pregnancy.  Moreover, the employee lacks sufficient PTO to cover the anticipated leave. She now requests permission to work from home, claiming that the request is a reasonable accommodation for her disability.