Federal
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May 09, 2025
Justice Souter Was An Unexpected Force Of Moderation
Justice David Souter, who saw the high court as a moderating force apart from the messiness of politics, subverted the expectations of liberals and conservatives alike during his 19 years on the bench.
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May 09, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Paul Weiss, Weil, V&E, Torys
In this week's Taxation With Representation, 3G Capital takes Skechers private, Sunoco LP buys Parkland Corp., and BCE Inc. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board launch a wholesale network provider called Network FiberCo.
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May 09, 2025
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dies At 85
Retired Justice David H. Souter, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at 85, the court announced Friday.
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May 08, 2025
Trump Admin Defends Gov't Restructuring As Lawful
The Trump administration defended what it says is a lawful executive order looking to reorganize agencies and terminate workers, telling a California federal judge that unions, nonprofits and local governments "waited far too long" to seek a temporary restraining order.
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May 08, 2025
Hyatt's $300M From Reward Program Is Income, 7th Circ. Told
Hyatt Hotels should have to report nearly $300 million in revenue from a rewards program fund because it benefited from spending the money, including through advertising for its properties, the U.S. government told the Seventh Circuit on Thursday, defending a U.S. Tax Court ruling.
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May 08, 2025
NFTC Warns US Against Tariffs On Semiconductors, Pharma
The Trump administration should work to avoid using tariffs to address the perceived threat to national security caused by importing semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, the National Foreign Trade Council said, calling for extreme caution.
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May 08, 2025
Widow Says Husband's Estate Liable For $2M FBAR Fines
A nonagenarian widow told an Idaho federal court Thursday that her husband's estate — not she — should be liable for more than $2 million in penalties for his unreported foreign accounts, calling the government's attempt to penalize her an unprecedented overreach.
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May 08, 2025
11th Circ. Judge Frowns On New Arguments In Easement Case
An Eleventh Circuit judge disapproved of a Georgia partnership raising new arguments on appeal as it pursues a tax deduction for a conservation easement donation, saying Thursday that perhaps "we wouldn't be here" if the partnership had argued the points before the lower court.
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May 08, 2025
Milbank Hires King & Spalding Tax Planning Atty In DC
Milbank LLP has added a former King & Spalding LLP tax attorney as a partner in its global project, energy and infrastructure finance group in Washington, D.C.
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May 07, 2025
Bessent Defends Cuts To Community Fund Amid Scrutiny
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday defended the Trump administration's proposal to significantly slash the fund that operates the new markets tax credit, which is meant to boost investment in poor communities, telling lawmakers that a new $100 million program would better support affordable financing in rural areas.
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May 07, 2025
Favorable Tax Cut Baseline Won't Fool Lenders, House Told
If Congress uses a current policy baseline to permanently extend the 2017 tax overhaul's provisions, it will be a red flag to institutional investors, such as hedge funds, mutual funds and endowments, panelists told the House Budget Committee on Wednesday.
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May 07, 2025
Tax Court Rejects Couple's Case For Lacking Evidence
A couple who challenged what the Internal Revenue Service said was their more than $650,000 in tax debt provided no evidence that the number was wrong, the U.S. Tax Court said in a bench opinion released Wednesday.
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May 07, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Frivolous Argument Ruling Against Teacher
A Georgia high school teacher who claimed that he didn't have to pay taxes on his salary and that income taxes are unconstitutional must pay $25,000 in court sanctions under an Eleventh Circuit ruling affirming a U.S. Tax Court decision.
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May 07, 2025
Don't Scrap US-China Tax Treaty, Biz Groups Tell Treasury
Business lobbying groups have urged the U.S. Treasury Department to reject the White House's plans to scrutinize the U.S.-China tax treaty, warning that scrapping the accord would lead to higher Chinese taxes on U.S. companies.
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May 07, 2025
Feds Seek 13 Years In Avenatti's California Resentencing
California federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to sentence Michael Avenatti to 160 months in prison for tax fraud and stealing from clients, to be served atop the five-year term imposed in a pair of New York cases where Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort Nike Inc. and defrauding former client Stormy Daniels.
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May 07, 2025
6th Circ. Skeptical Of US In Tax Court Deadline Case
Sixth Circuit judges expressed skepticism of the U.S. government's claim that the 90-day deadline to petition the U.S. Tax Court is inflexible, with one judge saying during oral arguments Wednesday in a woman's case challenging the rule that the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to back her.
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May 07, 2025
Device Seller Asks For Probation In $2.4M Tax Evasion Case
The septuagenarian owner of a Florida medical device company who pled guilty to evading $2.4 million in taxes asked a federal district court Wednesday for his sentence to entail home probation and not prison, given his health challenges and payments he already made to the Internal Revenue Service.
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May 07, 2025
IRS To Open Applications For Low-Income Tax Clinic Grants
The Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting applications May 15 for its grant program for organizations providing tax services to low-income people or people who speak English as a second language, it announced Wednesday.
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May 06, 2025
Fed. Circ. Agrees Plane Taxability Patent Doesn't Fly
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive an Ohio company's patent that covers using Federal Aviation Administration data to determine "the taxability status of aircraft," agreeing that it covered subject matter that isn't patentable.
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May 06, 2025
Tax Court Erred In Slashing $23M Easement, 11th Circ. Told
A partnership told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court erred in substantially reducing its claim to a $23 million conservation easement tax deduction, arguing the decision was tainted by error-riddled criteria used by the IRS to value the property.
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May 06, 2025
Military Moving-Cost Deduction Nixed For Civilian Contractor
A civilian contractor for the U.S. Air Force cannot deduct her moving expenses because she is not considered a member of the military for purposes of the deduction, the U.S. Tax Court said in a bench opinion released Tuesday.
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May 06, 2025
Actor Voight, Film Biz Adviser To Trump, Floats Tax Incentives
Actor Jon Voight, whom President Donald Trump tapped as an adviser on the Hollywood film industry, told Trump that tax incentives, international treaties and limited tariffs could revitalize production, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom separately floated a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit, according to statements shared Tuesday with Law360.
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May 06, 2025
Stationery Co. Fights Bid To Move Tariff Case To Trade Court
The U.S. Court of International Trade does not have exclusive jurisdiction to hear disputes over President Donald Trump's global tariffs, a stationery company told a Florida federal court Monday in opposing the administration's bid to transfer to the suit.
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May 06, 2025
IRS Narrows Benefit Plan Sponsors Subject To New Rules
The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday narrowed the group of defined benefit plan sponsors that will be subject to certain requirements related to agency approval to use mortality tables that start in January.
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May 06, 2025
Bessent Eyes IRS' Technology Budget For Major Cuts
The Internal Revenue Service must cut its bloated technology budget and decrease the agency's overall spending, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a House Appropriations panel Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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What Trump's 2nd Presidency Could Mean For Crypto Sector
Trump's second term will bring a fundamental shift from the Biden administration's approach to crypto-asset regulation and banking supervision, with the most significant changes likely taking effect in the first two quarters of 2025 and broader policy shifts emerging over the next year, say attorneys at Cahill.
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Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being
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As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.
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Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win
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A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources
Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
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Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
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The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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Tariffs' Economic Downsides Outweigh Potential Revenue
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Import tariffs proposed by the campaign of former president Donald Trump would generate revenue like other taxes, but policymakers must consider the net-negative impact of associated consumer and downstream-industry costs, harm to exporters, potential foreign retaliation and reduction in economic output, says Erica York at the Tax Foundation.
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Navigating The Last Leg Of The Worker Retention Tax Credit
Whether a business has applied for the pandemic-era employee retention tax credit, received a denial letter or is still considering making a claim before the April 15 deadline, it should examine recent developments significantly affecting the program before planning next steps, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.
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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program
During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.