Features
When the Virtual Storefront Is the Home Front
One of the virtues of e-commerce has always been its low barrier to entry. For little investment of time or money, anyone can set up shop online, whether selling advice or widgets. But can something so easily accomplished really be a business? Will an entrepreneur run something out of her spare bedroom the same way as if she had venture capitalists peering over her shoulders, demanding a business plan, financial statements, budgets, marketing plans and everything that a bricks-and-mortar retailer has (except the expense of leasing space)? If not, she may treat it as just another hobby, something to handle in her free time.
Features
How Private Is Facebook Under the SCA?
Despite huge technological advancements in the 25 years since passage of the SCA, and the ever-increasing prominence of electronic communication in our society, Congress has not amended the SCA to keep pace with changing technology. Rather, courts have had to lead the charge in applying the decades-old statute to modern Internet technology and electronic communication disclosure issues.
Features
Employer Accounting for Post-Retiree Health Care
The regulatory frenzy swirling about health care and employer plan accounting, coupled with our aging population and demographic shifts has created a perfect storm. We are besieged with commentary that Medicare is bankrupt, and the new accounting standards for employers require transparency to market and present value calculations of long-term liabilities, which creates havoc for employers for tax-planning and compliance purposes.
Features
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010
This article briefly summarizes tax provisions of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 that the author believes will be of most interest to law firms.
Features
In the Spotlight: A 'Down-and-Dirty' Guide to Drafting Basic Landlord's Work Provisions
If a tenant fails to specify where installations should be placed, a landlord may install them in a manner that will minimize its costs even if such installations make little sense from an operational point of view. Savvy tenants will not let this happen.
Features
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Features
The Use of 'Use' Clauses in Restaurant Leases
This article covers one important issue that can be problematic for both landlord and restaurant tenant if not thoughtfully addressed within the lease: the "use" clause.
Features
In the Marketplace
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Features
Civil Liability of Rating Agencies
The Dodd-Frank Act greatly increases rating agencies' potential liability under the securities laws. One impact is almost certain: In the future, rating agencies are unlikely to fare as well in the courts as they have in the past.
Features
ERISA Deference: No Exceptions
With its 2010 decision of <i>Conkright v. Frommert</i>, the Supreme Court has once again opted to resist a proposed carve-out to the general rule of deference to ERISA plan administrators — this time in situations where an administrator's first attempt to construe an ERISA plan has been held by the reviewing court to be unreasonable.
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