Wednesday, March 21, 2018

TOP NEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Behind The Downfall Of Latham's Chairman

Latham & Watkins LLP Chair Bill Voge announced his immediate resignation Tuesday afternoon following an admission that he had engaged in communications of a sexual nature with a person not connected to the firm. Read more »

Analysis

More Can Be Done To Encourage Tax Whistleblowers

Recent changes by Congress should provide more incentives for tipsters to report potential tax fraud, but further improvements such as being more transparent, implementing confidentiality agreements, adding anti-retaliation provisions and working with state agencies could help make the IRS whistleblower program even more effective. Read more »

US Asks To Argue For Internet State Tax Before High Court

U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow the U.S. to present oral arguments in South Dakota’s effort to require use tax from out-of-state internet sellers, saying the U.S. has a substantial interest in a ruling that will “significantly affect the functioning of the national economy and the states’ financial stability.” Read more »

IRS Too Late To Assess Colo. Partnership, Tax Court Says

The Internal Revenue Service cannot assess tax against a Colorado limited liability company that it accused of entering into a sham transaction to avoid taxes after the U.S. Tax Court ruled on Tuesday that the agency was too late in making adjustments to the partnership’s tax return. Read more »

3rd Circ. Rule Creates 'Perverse Incentives,' Justices Told

In denying a $199 million tax deduction when it is allowed by statute, the Third Circuit created “perverse incentives” for federal agencies to interpret their own law and violated the separation-of-powers doctrine, the Cato Institute argued in a Supreme Court amicus brief Monday. Read more »

FEDERAL

Court Got $28M Tax Shelter Case Wrong, 11th Circ. Hears

Curtis Investment Co. LLC on Monday urged the Eleventh Circuit to overturn a win by the Internal Revenue Service in U.S. Tax Court in which nearly $28 million in claimed losses were disallowed, saying the losses were not artificially created to generate tax benefits. Read more »

Stocks Can Be Taxed Like Currency, Gov't Tells High Court

The U.S. government urged the country’s highest court to affirm a Seventh Circuit ruling in a $13.3 million lawsuit that nonqualified stock options are taxable, saying in a brief Monday that stocks are the “practical equivalent” of currency. Read more »

CORRECTED: FBI Properly Withheld Docs On Trump Statements, Court Says

A D.C. federal judge on Monday ruled against a journalist and a historian who sought information related to statements by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump about Hillary Clinton, finding the FBI and Secret Service conducted an adequate search in response to their request and properly withheld records. Read more »

STATE & LOCAL

Feature

Calif.'s High Pot Taxes Could Fuel Black Market

Just three months into the era of legalized adult use of marijuana in California, lawmakers are already mulling a bill that would lower taxes on permitted pot growers and sellers out of concern that high taxes may fuel the black market on untaxed marijuana. Read more »

Pa. Atty Reinstated To Bar After 8-Year Tax Fraud Suspension

After denying an initial petition for reinstatement to the bar two years ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday agreed to allow a Philadelphia-area attorney to return to legal practice following a 2009 guilty plea for evading taxes on more than $830,000 in business income. Read more »

INTERNATIONAL

Digital Tax Rules Not Aimed At US Tech Cos., EU Official Says

The European Commission’s top tax official has moved to “pre-empt any misconceptions” about proposals for the digital economy by telling U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the measures are not aimed at American tech companies, according to a letter obtained by Law360 on Tuesday. Read more »

PEOPLE

Schulte Roth Nabs Sheppard Mullin Tax Partner

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP has hired a Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP tax partner, who was co-head of the firm’s real estate investment trusts practice, to its tax group in New York, Schulte Roth said Monday. Read more »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

An Expansion Of Tax On US Owners Of Foreign Equity

Tax reform's expansion of the controlled foreign corporation rules — which have affected many foreign corporations not previously categorized as CFCs — have prompted U.S. persons who directly or indirectly own interests in these corporations to question whether they are subject to further annual income inclusions. David Dreier and Grayson Weeks of White & Case LLP deconstruct the new tax regime. Read more »

The Impact Of Tax Reform On Leveraged Lending Transactions

Attorneys from Mayer Brown International LLP discuss the impact of the tax overhaul on leveraged lending transactions focusing on Section 956, the limitation on interest deduction and pass-through entities. Read more »

Opinion

National Lawyers Need National Licensing For National Courts

Just last month, a number of legal groups asked the Northern District of California to strike its rule requiring that, before seeking federal court admission, attorneys first be licensed by the state of California. It is irrational to exclude seasoned federal practitioners from general admission due to state bar approval while allowing raw state lawyers who have never been inside a federal courtroom, says attorney EJ Hurst. Read more »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

Attys Wary Of Zero-Tolerance Policies After #MeToo

Given the current #MeToo environment, a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment can seem like the best way to go, but legal experts speaking at an industry panel in New York City on Tuesday argued that such an approach can be rife with potential to backfire. Read more »

McDermott Memo Reveals Bonuses Beyond Cravath Scale

McDermott Will & Emery LLP is paying more than half of its associates bonuses higher than the bar set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, exceeding the market rate for young attorney pay by $60,000 or more in some cases, according to a report on Tuesday. Read more »

Kennedy Scolds Sotomayor At Abortion Case Arguments

Justice Anthony Kennedy chided Justice Sonia Sotomayor during Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court arguments in a closely watched abortion case after she discussed what she found on the website of one of the anti-abortion petitioners, scoffing that he himself didn’t “go beyond the record to look on the internet because I don’t think we should do that.” Read more »

Legal Tech Download: Dow Jones, Ross And Gavelytics

The world of legal technology is quickly evolving, with new products coming to market in rapid succession. Here, Law360 takes a look at four recent developments. Read more »

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