Category Archives: Legal Updates

The Pinellas County Safer-At-Home Order

On March 25, the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the “COVID-19 – Safer at Home” Order.  A copy of the resolution can be found here. COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, can cause severe illness and death, and is extremely contagious.  It is much more serious than the flu, and […]

FEMA recommends changes to Florida Building Codes and Land Use Regulations to Decrease Potential Damage from Future Hurricanes

Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle on October 10, 2018.  The hurricane was the most powerful storm to ever make landfall on the Panhandle, and, with its 161 mph windspeed, was the 4th most powerful hurricane to ever hit the US.  The storm was 350 miles in diameter and its eye alone was 25 miles […]

Where are the opportunities for entrepreneurs in space?

At the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross predicted that the space economy will be worth more than one trillion dollars by 2040.[i] Certainly, private investment in space endeavors is increasing. Thousands of small satellites are in the development stage by companies like SpaceX and OneWeb to deliver internet via […]

Maker Spaces, Educators and Hobbyists Beware: proposed FAA drone (UAS) regulation will impact you!

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is seeking comments on a proposed set of regulatory changes to the regulations governing unmanned aerial systems (drones) operation and production that would impact both maker spaces and amateur drone enthusiasts. The proposed rules would be phased in over 36 months following adoption and would relate to both design requirements […]

California Consumer Privacy Act is Now in Effect and It Impacts How We Do Business in Florida

As of January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act became effective creating data privacy requirements for businesses who interact with California consumers or sell data collected about California consumers.  The law applies to any Florida companies that “do business” in California and meet these criteria: has a gross annual revenue of $25 million, or […]

New Interim Rule Adopted Under Export Administration Regulations May Impact Ocean Sciences and Marine Technology Industry

On January 6, 2020, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an interim final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to make a type of geospatial imagery software specially designed for training Deep Convolutional Neural Networks to automate the analysis of geospatial imagery and point clouds subject to the EAR. The interim final rule will […]

Major Investors and Institutions Changing Priorities to Recognize Climate Risk in Financial Decisions

Two very large financial institutions have made recent news with regard to how they plan to invest going forward: they are giving sustainability and climate change resiliency a key role in their investment decision-making process.  BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager. It manages over $7 trillion in investments for its clients around the world.  […]