Over the past eight weeks, serving your legal needs while working remotely to maintain the health and safety of our clients and employees has been our firm’s main focus during COVID-19. As of June 1st, Dickinson Law will begin a phased approach to reopening our offices, with a portion of our attorneys and administrative staff resuming work at our headquarters in downtown Des Moines. This approach is consistent with current governmental recommendations and allows us…

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many Iowa employers in uncharted waters. Join Jill Jensen-Welch and Melissa Schilling, two shareholder employment attorneys of Dickinson Law, this Friday, March 27th from Noon to 1:30 p.m. for a webinar on Mandated Emergency Leaves. If you have less than 500 employees, you won’t want to miss this free, informational session covering mandates in the law. REGISTER TODAY.  …

Tax Filing Date and Payment Extension Pursuant to IRS Notice 2020-18, the tax filing deadline and deadline for making individual federal income tax payments has been automatically postponed to July 15, 2020. This means that there is no penalty or interest for tax payments that are made by July 15, 2020. This is an automatic change and taxpayers do not need to file requests for extension. The State of Iowa has also extended the deadline…

On March 19, 2020, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued what it emphasized was an advisory list identifying essential critical infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 response. It specifically disclaimed that “is not, nor should it be considered to be, a federal directive or standard in and of itself.” Rather the list was to assist State, local, tribal, and territorial governments in implementing and executing response activities in communities under their…

As the COVID-19 situation continues to change around the state of Iowa, our firm wants to be part of the solution for our clients. We are temporarily moving to a remote working environment at the close of business on March 20th through April 3rd for the safety of our employees and clients, however our firm remains committed and available to assist with any and all of your legal needs during this crisis. To seamlessly continue serving…

At this time, Iowa has not yet been designated as a declared disaster area as a result of the current Coronavirus crisis. There are currently 25 states that have been declared disaster areas, and are eligible for these SBA disaster loans. The Iowa Governor’s office is working with local SBA officials in the SBA Disaster Office to provide the necessary proof of loss in order to gain the declaration. If/when Iowa receives the designation, small…

* With Contributions by Attorney Melissa Schilling   After the U.S. House of Representatives made a number of changes to the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” the Senate passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, by a vote of 90 to 8 on March 18, 2020. President Trump signed the bill on the same day and the law will become effective within 15 days of President Trump’s signature, on April 2, 2020. Primarily,…