News & Insights

Roanoke’s Jason Odgers will be attending the 2016 Global Logistics Associates (GLA) Annual General Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia from April 10 – 12, 2016. Jason will also be speaking on the upcoming Verified Gross Mass (VGM) requirement which has been added to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. His presentation will also cover potential new exposures to liability which the intermediaries may realize as a result. We hope to see you there!

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Erin Boll to Marine Manager of our Chicago, Illinois office. Erin’s team serves our Chicago, Boston, Baltimore and New York area clients. Erin started her career at Roanoke in 2005, as a Property & Casualty Insurance technical assistant. She then moved into an Errors & Omissions Insurance service role for our Chicago, Boston and Baltimore regions. The last six years, Erin served as a Marine Service Representative and Underwriter where she honed her talent in all lines of marine insurance. Erin has demonstrated the ability to provide excellent solutions and responsiveness to […]

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) over the last couple of years has issued clarification guidance on several occasions on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The newest guidance on January 20, 2016 stressed the broad definition of “employment” under the FLSA and the agency’s belief that many workers are classified incorrectly and will focus its enforcement activity on these areas. According to the DOL, “when employers improperly classify employees as independent contractors, the employees may not receive important workplace protections such as minimum wage, overtime compensation, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.” This can […]

Loading docks present a number of significant risks, not at all surprising when considering the volume of traffic that takes place at these locations, as well as the variety of personnel who are required to work in the area. As there are too many hazards to address in one article, the following focuses on slips and falls prevention at loading docks. Slips and falls are a leading cause of Workers’ Compensation claims in the U.S., according to a recent insurer survey, and contribute to the $62 billion spent by employers for employee injuries in 2013, as reflected in recent statistics […]

On July 14, 2015, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany reached a historic nuclear non-proliferation agreement with Iran called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA). As a result, comprehensive international sanctions restricting dealings with Iran and Iranian entities were substantially eased. The lifting of sanctions was primarily “secondary” and applicable to non-U.S. parties. The areas of focus under the JCPOA sanctions-relief commitments are the following: finance/banking; insurance/reinsurance services; the energy and petroleum sectors, including sanctions relating to the sale and purchase of Iranian crude and related financial services and investment in Iran’s oil, gas and petrochemical […]

In honor of President’s Day, our offices will be closed on Monday, February 15th. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, February 16th. We recognize this patriotic day as a time to pay tribute to and celebrate our country’s great leaders. We wish everyone a safe and happy extended weekend!