Features

They're Baaaaack. Disclosure-Based 14(A) Claims Making a Ghostly Return
Following the Delaware Chancery Court's ruling in In re Trulia, Inc. that effectively closed the door to 14(a) disclosure-based settlements in Delaware state court, federal courts saw an influx of 14(a) "merger objection" litigation. More often than not, these suits are quickly dismissed following the company's issuance of a supplemental proxy with additional disclosures and the parties negotiate a mootness fee. The transaction closes and all parties move on — or so we thought. An emerging trend suggests that exposure to 14(a) claims may coming back from the near dead.
Features

Fees on Fees
Collecting the Legal Fees It Cost You to Collect Legal Fees Does your New York commercial lease form expressly provide that the landlord may recover the legal fees it incurs to recover legal fees from its tenant? If not, then the landlord may be out of luck trying to recover such "fees on fees," as they are known. But it wasn't always this way.
Features

Epstein Saga Puts Spotlight on Crime Victim's Rights Act
The significance of the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), which is intended to guarantee crime victims a role in federal criminal proceedings, has been highlighted in the case of Jeffrey E. Epstein, the financier accused of sexually trafficking underage girls. Because the government's noncompliance with the CVRA in negotiating Epstein's plea deal in 2008 led to Alexander R. Acosta losing his cabinet position as Secretary of Labor, practitioners can expect prosecutors and judges to be more focused on the CVRA going forward.
Features

Fourth Circuit: Debt Incurred As a Result of Willful and Malicious Injury May Be Dischargeable
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently held that a debt incurred as a result of a willful and malicious injury may nevertheless be dischargeable notwithstanding the provisions of 11 U.S.C. Section 523(a)(6).
Columns & Departments
Business Crimes Hotline
Microsoft and Hungarian Subsidiary Agree to Pay $25 Million to Resolve FCPA Investigations in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Thailand
Features

Resolving the Competing Desires of Buyers and Tenants In Bankruptcy
A Tension Between §§363(f) and 365(h) How do bankruptcy judges resolve the competing desires of buyers and tenants? Must buyers bid for property knowing that tenants might have the right to stay if their leases are rejected? Are tenants in jeopardy that they might have to move elsewhere to live or work?
Columns & Departments
In The Courts
Maryland Jury Convicts Former CEO of Israeli Company for Role In $145 Million Binary Options Fraud
Features

Bankruptcy Court Rules U.S. Trustee Amended Fee Schedule Unconstitutional
The Office of U.S. Trustee is known among practitioners as the "watchdog" of the bankruptcy process. To fund the U.S. Trustee, Chapter 11 debtors must pay quarterly fees. Following a recent substantial increase to the U.S. Trustee fee schedule, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found the amended fee schedule to be unconstitutional because it was being applied nonuniformly to Chapter 11 debtors around the country.
Columns & Departments
Case Notes
Despite State Law, Merger Extinguishes Renewal Rights of Successor in Interest Court May Rely on Parole Evidence to Show Illegal Purpose of Sublease
Features

Deciphering the Tax Status of Leased Property
Is a property leased to a farming tenant a commercial property or an agricultural property? What about a building leased to a government entity? The distinction can make a difference in the tax laws that apply to the parcel.
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