LJN Newsletters

Well it's about time. The days of filling out paper forms, and sending them through the office mail to only then have someone re-key them into a computer are gone. Double entry of information and paper forms are a waste of valuable time and money. Some law firms tend to be inefficient, thinking that a little inefficiency helps increase billable hours. We'll save that discussion for another time. Internal staff inefficiency is another story; this is hard cost, non-billable and is definitely money to a partner.

Recent rulings you need to know.

A $600-an-hour Greenwich divorce attorney must return over $370,000 in bonuses and other payments arising from a pressure-cooker, 5-day divorce mediation…

Among the more arduous tasks for an attorney handling a matrimonial case is the negotiation of the financial aspects, primarily support and maintenance and the division and distribution of marital property. In many cases, exhaustive financial disclosure is necessary; evaluations of property are obtained and challenged, and months of negotiations and legal services result, finally, in a resolution of the financial issues.

The question of how to value private companies in marital dissolution proceedings has been wrestled with for many years. Several valuation methods have been used, although some that are commonly used, and perhaps favored, for other valuation purposes are effectively banned from use in divorce cases due to interpretations of existing case law. Two significant valuation methods, the Guideline Public Company Method (GPC method) and the Discounted Cash Flow Method (DCF method), have been largely excluded from use in divorce cases in some states. This article addresses the GPC method, and when it would be appropriate to use. At a later date, Part Two of this article will address the DCF method.

A New York State appellate panel upheld a Workers' Compensation claim that will result in a domestic partner sharing benefits deriving from 9/11 with the decedent's child. The consequence of the decision is that Paul Innella's 6-year-old daughter will lose some Workers' Compensation death benefits to a woman who says she was engaged to Mr. Innella. The woman is not the child's mother. "[O]ne certainly could debate the equities of the statute," Justice Crew wrote for a unanimous panel. Nonetheless, the justices said, the provision survives constitutional scrutiny.

Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.

The impetus for greater international harmonization in the law of pre-sale franchise disclosure is about to get a boost in Ontario, Canada. At press time, financial statements to be attached to compliant disclosure documents under Ontario's Arthur Wishart Act ("Franchise Disclosure"), 2000 ("The Wishart Act") are required to be prepared only in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards ("GAAS") — if audited — or, if not audited, then prepared under the review engagement standards in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") set out in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants' Handbook ("CICA Handbook"). No other standards are currently acceptable.