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Friday, December 15, 2017

TOP NEWS

Final Tax Bill To Allow State Income, Sales Tax Deductions

The final tax cut bill speeding through Congress will allow a deduction for state and local property taxes as well as income or sales taxes while maintaining a $10,000 cap proposed in earlier versions, according to a Thursday announcement from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas. Read more »

Judge Restores $139M In Mexican Tax Credits For Coca-Cola

The U.S. Tax Court on Thursday rejected the Internal Revenue Service’s decision to deny Coca-Cola nearly $139 million in Mexican foreign tax credits, finding that the beverage giant reasonably interpreted Mexican law when calculating the royalty rate for its subsidiary there. Read more »

Wis. Sen. Blesses Tax Bill Changes, Yet Some In GOP Waver

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who negotiated a key provision for pass-through businesses in the final version of the Senate’s $1.4 trillion tax cut bill, on Thursday endorsed a further change that is being floated to give such businesses a 20 percent tax deduction, though not all Republicans are yet in full support of the bill. Read more »

Judge Won't Let IRS Enforce Religious Housing Exemption

A federal judge in Wisconsin has enjoined the IRS from enforcing a federal law that excludes from gross income a rental allowance given to religious ministers but denied a partial tax refund under the provision to an atheist group. Read more »

IRS Reports Fewer Tax ID Theft Cases In 2017

The number of tax identity theft cases fell by more than one-third in fiscal 2017 compared with the previous year, but investigations of tax abuse schemes rose, according to a report released Thursday by the arm of the IRS in charge of investigating tax crimes. Read more »

FEDERAL

6th Circ. Rules Tenn. County Can Assert Its Tax Claim

A Tennessee county should not be denied an opportunity to assert a claim in court for delinquent taxes on property seized by the U.S. government in a criminal investigation, and a district court erred in holding it had no jurisdiction over the issue, a Sixth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday. Read more »

STATE & LOCAL

Prop. Taxes Higher In Poor Chicago Neighborhoods, Suit Says

A pair of Chicago neighborhood advocacy organizations sued the Cook County assessor in Illinois state court Thursday in the wake of reports that the county’s property tax policy has overcharged lower-income residents while handing the richest residents a discount. Read more »

Tax Credit Bill For Rural Biz Growth Sent To Ohio Governor

A $45 million tax credit for insurance companies and financial institutions to invest in “rural and high-growth industry funds” is heading to the desk of Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich after he vetoed a similar provision earlier this year. Read more »

INTERNATIONAL

Avon Faces EU High Court Setback In £14M VAT Refund Case

The European Union’s top court on Thursday dealt a blow to Avon in its £14 million ($18.7 million) refund suit against the U.K. over alleged value added tax overpayments, rejecting the cosmetic company’s argument that the government’s system treats it unfairly based on its business practices. Read more »

Russia-Linked Cos. Accuse Feds, Dutch Of Undermining Deal

Offshore companies that agreed to pay $6 million after the U.S. government seized their assets over their supposed link to a Russian tax scam argued in Manhattan federal court on Thursday that federal officials may have conspired with prosecutors in the Netherlands to keep some of their assets frozen, while a government lawyer said the companies simply took a legal risk and lost. Read more »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

Opinion

Trump Tax Plan: Fiddling While Other Issues Burn

The latest tax plan is a shell game tweaking a 19th century tax system with failed strategies. Meanwhile legislators ignore the threat of a massive shadow economy that flouts income tax altogether, says Professor Patrick Colabella of St. John's University. Read more »

Why Information Governance Is More Important Than Ever

It used to be that hiring a good law firm was the single most important thing a company could do when facing litigation. You could now make the case that an organization’s most powerful asset in prosecuting or defending a claim is its information, says Linda Sharp, associate general counsel of ZL Technologies and chair of the ACC Information Governance Committee. Read more »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

9th Circ. Chief Launches Kozinski Sex Misconduct Inquiry

The chief judge of the Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered a judicial misconduct inquiry into U.S. Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski over media reports the judge showed female clerks pornography and committed other acts of sexual misconduct. Read more »

Arnold & Porter To Award Cravath-Scale Associate Bonuses

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP on Wednesday became the latest firm to fall in line with the growing roster of BigLaw firms to offer year-end associate bonuses that align with the scale established by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP. Read more »

Firm Consolidation Isn't Going To Slow Down In 2018

The legal industry will see limited growth in demand and increasing consolidation in 2018 as firms face mounting pressures both on pricing and costs, and middle-tier firms in particular will feel the squeeze, according to a report released on Thursday. Read more »

Tanenbaum Keale Goes West With Ex-Sedgwick Attys

Litigation boutique Tanenbaum Keale LLP, which was started this year by a group of veteran Sedgwick LLP partners, announced Thursday that it would expand westward, opening a Seattle office to be led by a product liability partner and former colleague from the soon-to-be-shuttered firm. Read more »

Senate Confirms Gibson Dunn Vet For 5th Circ.

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP partner James C. Ho is heading to the Fifth Circuit after a Senate vote Thursday confirmed him to the post as President Donald Trump’s 12th appellate judge confirmed this year. Read more »

Law360's Weekly Verdict: Legal Lions & Lambs

Attorneys at Cravath Swaine & Moore topped this week’s legal lions list after guiding Disney's newly inked $52 billion deal to buy 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, while a team of DLA Piper attorneys landed on the legal lambs list after misconduct got them thrown out of Dish Network's trademark suit against a DirecTV retailer. Read more »

JOBS
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LAW FIRMS

Akin Gump

Allen & Overy

Alston & Bird

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer

Barnes & Thornburg

Boardman & Clark

Cadwalader Wickersham

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

COMPANIES

21st Century Fox Inc.

Amgen Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

China Agritech Inc.

DISH Network Corporation

LM Ericsson Telephone Company

NEC Corp.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Panasonic Corporation

The DIRECTV Group, Inc.

The Walt Disney Company

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Government Accountability Office

Internal Revenue Service

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Supreme Court

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