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  • May 5, 2016

Robert Ferguson Honored as a “Leader in Law”

On May 5, 2016, The Daily Record presented Ferguson, Schetelich & Ballew’s President, Robert L. Ferguson, Jr. with its “Leadership in Law” award at a banquet in Annapolis. The award honors “active mentors, fostering strong, future generations of professional and community leaders.” Recognizing Mr. Ferguson’s significant and ongoing commitment to the Maryland legal community, as well as a number of other honorees, the Daily Record’s Suzanne Fischer-Huettner said in a press release that honorees “work tirelessly to uphold high legal standards and improve communities throughout Maryland.” The Leadership in Law Award required significant support from the legal community. In support…

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  • March 11, 2014

Hotel Pool Lift Requirements Under the ADA

Over the last several years, the hospitality industry has grappled with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make a number of recreational facilities, including swimming pools, accessible to individuals with a disability.

Title III of the ADA requires places of public accommodation, including hotels, to remove physical barriers in existing pools to the extent it is readily achievable to do so. In 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published regulations under the ADA that contained specific accessibility requirements for swimming pools, and other types of recreational facilities.

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  • February 25, 2014

The Formation and Structure of the Maryland Religious Corporation

A Religious Corporation is a non-stock corporation.  As such, the provisions of the Maryland general statutory corporate law will apply to it, unless the provisions of the statute clearly require otherwise.  Maryland Code, Corporations & Associations Article § 5-201. A Religious Corporation is created under Title 5, Subtitle 3 of the Maryland Code, Corporations & Associations Article.    This subtitle sets out the means of forming a religious corporation under a “congregational form of church government” contemplated by the statute.  Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church of Fruitland, Inc. v. Board of Incorporators,  348 Md. 299 (1997).  However, the subtitle…

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  • February 18, 2014

IRS Changes Health FSA “Use or Lose” Rule

On October 31, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2013-71 (Notice), which modifies the “use or lose” rule for health flexible spending accounts (Health FSAs).

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are popular benefits offered by many employers as part of their employee’s health-care package.  Health FSAs are accounts that allow employers to reimburse employees for qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses, such as deductibles and co-pays, on a tax-free basis.  The account must be set up according to a written plan that meets both statutory and IRS requirements.

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  • February 4, 2014

The Historical Roots of Maryland Church Law

Maryland’s law concerning Churches and Religious Corporations grows out of the State’s history of religious freedom, which is the oldest such tradition in the Nation.   The General Assembly of Maryland, meeting in St. Mary’s City, adopted The Act of Toleration (formally “An Act Concerning Religion”) on April 21, 1649. This Act secured religious freedom for all Christians “inhabiting, residing, trafficking, trading or commercing within this Province.”  The Act established both policy and protection for religious worship:  And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence in those commonwealths…

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