Maryland Business and Estate Law Firm

By Mary E. Ryan
Taylor & Ryan, LLC

Employers are well-advised to review their hiring practices with respect to verifying employment eligibility on Form I-9 as well as conduct an audit of existing Form I-9s. After all, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has made worksite enforcement a priority. Further, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted high-profile investigations that have resulted in substantial fines based on I-9 violations and criminal charges for employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers.

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By Lawrence N. Leitch, ChFC CLU
Partner with Synergy Financial Group

We are starting to see some parts of our economy begin to heal from the big bank meltdown that started last fall. And after severe declines in U.S. GDP in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, the second quarter report shows a modest one percent drop in real GDP. However, many areas remain weak – consumer spending, business investment, residential construction and inventory investment all declined, while net exports, due to huge declines in imports, and government spending improved.

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