Is Your Firm Ready for an IRS Audit?
The IRS has selected your firm for audit. Are you ready? You may be in for a surprise if you ever accept retainers, accept payment for services in kind, accept client trust funds, advance client costs in connection with matters you are handling, or have any service providers not on the regular payroll.
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In the Marketplace
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Features
'Braving Tempestuous Times'
The two-part article, titled 'Braving Tempestuous Times ' Hell-or-High-Water Obligations Maintain Their Viability Despite Leasing Scams and a Troubled Economy,' which appeared in the February and March 2010 editions of this newsletter, discussed several recent court decisions that ruled on the enforceability of hell-or-high-water obligations and waiver-of-defenses provisions in leases and accounts receivable financings. This article provides further elaboration of issues raised by two of these cases.
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How the Recession Has Complicated Judgments By Confession
In ordinary economic times, the most common deficiency in applications for judgment by confession is the failure to include sufficient detail concerning the basis for a judgment. Recently, however, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Instead of providing insufficient detail, attorneys have been filing exceedingly complex applications based on sophisticated and voluminous commercial transactions, many of which have been denied because, in short, they are too complicated.
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Update on Vessel Leasing Issues
This article covers several vessel-leasing-related topics that have increasing prominence in today's world, including: ship recycling issues; the increasing tendency to treat environmental events as criminal; Section 1110 of the Bankruptcy Code; and piracy.
The Leasing Hotline
A recent ruling of importance to you and your practice.
Want to Save Your Property?
Many business owners who are faced with a matured bank loan or multiple debts that are long past due immediately think that bankruptcy is the only way out. This could not be further from the truth.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The 'Sophisticated Insured' DefenseA majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.Read More ›
- A Lawyer's System for Active ReadingActive reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.Read More ›
- The Brave New World of Cybersecurity Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions: Pitfalls and OpportunitiesLike poorly-behaved school children, new technologies and intellectual property (IP) are increasingly disrupting the M&A establishment. Cybersecurity has become the latest disruptive newcomer to the M&A party.Read More ›
- Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric CodeIn an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.Read More ›
- Guidance on Distributions As 'Disbursements' and U.S. Trustee FeesIn a recent case from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Paragon Offshore PLC, the bankruptcy court provided guidance on whether a post-plan effective date litigation trust's distributions constituted disbursements subject to the U.S. Trustee fee "tax."Read More ›