Features
Corporate Governance
Recent amendments to the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines make several significant changes to the provisions concerning corporate compliance programs, and reinforce broader shifts taking place in the field of corporate governance. Just as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act imposes additional duties on corporate boards for the integrity of a company's financial controls, the new guidelines seek to make boards responsible for promoting the effectiveness of a corporation's legal and ethical controls. Boards of directors must assume responsibility for the effectiveness of compliance programs, which now encompass not only criminal laws but also ethics and corporate culture.
Features
Joseph A. Bailey, Jr. Rejoins A&FP Board
<i>A&FP</i> warmly welcomes back PwC Tax Partner and U.S. Law Firm Tax Services Leader Joseph A. Bailey, Jr. for a new tour of duty on our Board of Editors.
Features
A&FP Congratulates Bill Brennan
Legal management consultancy Altman Weil, Inc. has named our Board Member William F. Brennan, CPA, CMA, as the firm's newest principal.
Health Savings Accounts: Recent Improvements
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.
Leasehold Improvements: New Window of Opportunity for Tax Savings
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.
Surviving a Malpractice Fiasco: 10 Views
Recently I asked members of <i>A&FP</i>'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. <br>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.
Features
In the Spotlight: Internet Technologies Meet HVAC Components
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.
Features
Understanding Affirmative Action Obligations as a Landlord, Tenant or Government Contractor
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.
Features
The Leasing Hotline
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
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