LJN Newsletters

The federal government is bending over backwards to simplify, liberalize and encourage the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). In a recent announcement, for example, the Treasury Department detailed just how easy it is for banks to offer HSAs to their customers. Recent guidance from the IRS has tried to allow as many taxpayers to qualify as possible.

Perhaps inadvertently, Congress gave a double profitability boost to law partners when it recently enacted the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 ' a provision of which slashes the recovery period for leasehold improvements. To take advantage of these benefits, however, firms must invest in qualified leasehold improvements during 2005.

Recently I asked members of A&FP's Editorial Board and several new contributors for their thoughts on how a law firm might best deal with the financial blow of an unusually large settlement or penalty assessed against the firm.
Although a large financial hit could arise from many scenarios, including a client slipping on a banana peel near the firm's negligently wide-open elevator shaft, our 10 discussants immediately zoomed in on professional malpractice as the source of liability on which to focus.

Internet technologies are poised to revolutionize the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry by enabling HVAC components to communicate not only with each other but with other building systems controls as well, and even with the enterprise business systems that have become essential to running large corporations, nonprofits and agencies.

Given the plethora of government regulations spawned in the 80s and 90s, Executive Order 11246 (the "Order"), signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, may appear to be relatively ancient history. Nevertheless, compliance with this far-reaching rule remains as essential today as it did when the Order was issued. Similarly, it continues to catch unwary federal contractors by surprise. Under the Order, companies that hold federal contracts or subcontracts in excess of $10,000 are prohibited from discriminating against employees and applicants for employment in hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, and national origin. This aspect of the Order is generally widely understood. What is often overlooked, however, is that these contractors are also subject to certain affirmative action requirements. While the Executive Order has been on the books for nearly 40 years, many companies still find themselves in uncharted territory with respect to their coverage under affirmative action regulations.

Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.

With the recent adoption of new Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") Accessibility Guidelines, it seems likely that real property owners and managers will soon see an increase in the number of ADA-based lawsuits as both private plaintiffs and the Department of Justice seek to enforce compliance with the various changes and new provisions. This article provides a basic guide to some of the more important elements of this type of litigation, particularly cases brought by private plaintiffs.

For everything you ever wanted to know about Daubert, visit www.daubertontheweb.com. The home page will direct you to a variety of links, which include: "Source" (the Daubert opinion); "Progeny" (Supreme Court cases interpreting Daubert); "Procedure" (cases resolving challenges to Daubert); "Fields" (decisions by fields of expertise); "Substance" (the Daubert worldview); "Circuits" (more than 650 appellate decisions); "States" (selected state decisions); "Tactics" (things to try); "User Forum" (to ask a question or state a view); and a Blog.