Friday, December 8, 2017

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Fed. Reform Means Scores Of Tax Decisions Await States

A swift march toward tax reform by the U.S. Congress means state legislatures, which gavel in next month, will be faced with responding to a giant overhaul of the federal tax code. Read more »

Analysis

Outcome Cloudy On Int'l Interest Deductions In Tax Bill

As tax writers work to align the tax reform bills passed in both houses of Congress, tax specialists predicted the Senate version’s international tax provisions would prevail over those in the House bill in most instances, but suggested the final version of the limit on interest deductions from international group members was harder to predict. Read more »

Tax Reform Bills Rife With Loopholes, Experts Say

The tax overhaul bills recently passed by the House and Senate are filled with opportunities for gaming and tax planning, according to a report released Thursday by 13 academics in the tax field. Read more »

IRS Agent Says Offshore Cos. Ferried Soccer Bribes

A key IRS agent whose 2011 tax investigation led to the government's corruption probe of dozens of FIFA officials and soccer marketing executives testified at trial Thursday that the executives used offshore intermediary companies with U.S. bank accounts to funnel illicit payments to soccer federations and officials. Read more »

Rep. Says Ex-IRS Staff Records In Bias Row Should Be Public

The chair of a congressional committee that oversees the Internal Revenue Service is pushing for an Ohio federal court to unseal documents related to the agency’s political bias scandal against conservative groups, according to a statement released Thursday. Read more »

FEDERAL

High Court Asked To Review Rail Stock-Options Tax Case

The government Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Seventh Circuit decision finding income from stock options provided to employees of a Canadian railroad company to be taxable compensation. The U.S. said a circuit split over the issue needed to be resolved. Read more »

LuLaRoe Customers Seek Class Treatment In Sales Tax Spat

Customers accusing multilevel marketing fashion retailer LuLaRoe of overcharging them $8.3 million by calculating sales tax based on the location of sellers rather than consumers asked a Pennsylvania federal judge Wednesday to grant them class status. Read more »

Manafort Denies Defying Gag Order With Op-Ed Work

Indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort vehemently denied Special Counsel Robert Mueller's accusations that he flouted a media gag order by “ghostwriting” an op-ed about his Ukrainian lobbying work, clarifying that he was only “editing” the piece to “ensure its accuracy” and that it would not prejudice the case anyway. Read more »

2nd Circ. Grapples With Ex-NY Sen. Sampson's Convictions

A Second Circuit panel heard appeared skeptical of arguments from both sides in appeals related to ex-New York State Senate Minority Leader John Sampson on Thursday, meaning the Brooklyn Democrat might not see his obstruction and lying convictions overturned or have to go to trial on revived embezzlement charges. Read more »

STATE & LOCAL

Some State, Local Cellphone Taxes Could Top 40%: Report

The taxes, fees and surcharges that are tacked onto monthly cellphone bills will hit record levels next year, the Tax Foundation said Thursday, as impending increases could push the tax bite on a typical family plan to as high as 40 percent of the total bill in some locations. Read more »

INTERNATIONAL

China, India Praise Indirect Asset Transfer Tax Toolkit

India and China have largely welcomed efforts from the International Monetary Fund and other organizations to help developing nations deal with the taxation of offshore indirect asset transfers, while business groups expressed concerns about how the guidance approaches a country’s policy decisions. Read more »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

What House And Senate Tax Bills Mean For Oil And Gas Cos.

Players in the domestic oil and gas space — energy companies, private equity investors, investment bankers and lenders — should take note of a number of features of the House and Senate tax bills, including changes to the corporate tax rate, treatment of pass-through earnings, and the bonus depreciation deduction, say James Chenoweth and Eric Sloan of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Read more »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

Firms Are Facing A Cash Crunch As Demand Falters

Some law firms are feeling a squeeze on the cash they have available for investments in the future as demand for firms' services remains sluggish and partners continue to expect ever-rising profit payouts. Read more »

Analysis

Hardcover Hazards: 4 Ethics Risks For Judges Writing Books

From local judges to U.S. Supreme Court justices, it’s not unusual for jurists to write and publish books — but judges looking to see their names in print need to make certain they are aware of the judicial ethics rules that cover both the writing and the marketing of books. Read more »

K&L Gates Rips Claim It Aided Alleged Weinstein Cover-Up

K&L Gates responded Thursday to allegations in a putative New York federal racketeering class action that claimed the firm helped cover up Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults, noting the firm is not named as a defendant and denying any links to an alleged Weinstein cover-up. Read more »

Senate Panel Advances Trump's 5th, 8th Circ. Picks

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a pair of Fifth Circuit nominees, Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP partner James Ho, along with Eighth Circuit nominee L. Steven Grasz of Husch Blackwell LLP over objections from Democrats. Read more »

Heller Ehrman's BigLaw Fee Fight Hits Calif. High Court

The California Supreme Court dove deep into the financial rights of law firms on Thursday when the trustee of dissolved firm Heller Ehrman LLP argued it’s entitled to the hourly profits of ex-partners for cases they continue at new firms like Jones Day and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Read more »

Law360's Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs

Attorneys from Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, Jones Day, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP take the lead in this week's list of legal lions for their role in overturning an $84 million award against their clients, while the legal lambs list is rounded out by a number of attorneys in hot water. Read more »

Slater And Gordon Dodges Insolvency After Shareholder Vote

Slater and Gordon Ltd. shareholders on Wednesday voted in favor of a recapitalization plan to give control of the publicly traded Australian law firm to hedge funds, at its annual general meeting in Melbourne. Read more »

Series

My Strangest Day In Court: The Shkreli Trial

Having defended some of the most notorious defendants in 40 years of practice as a criminal defense lawyer, I thought I was prepared for everything. That was until jury selection commenced last summer in “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli’s trial, says Benjamin Brafman of Brafman & Associates PC. Read more »

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