LJN Newsletters

  • Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley: Conscientious Compliance

    A confluence of various regulations and court decisions, beyond Sarbanes-Oxley, has made it de rigueur to adopt corporate codes of conduct or corporate compliance and ethic programs. But arguably, and not fully appreciated, the only thing that could be worse for directors and officers these days than not having adopted a corporate compliance program, is having adopted one and not effectively implementing it. Boards of directors and their advisors must now focus on not merely adopting programs, but on establishing procedures and processes that provide active oversight of directors of compliance programs.

    December 27, 2004Matthew S. Brown

  • The Role Of Economic Substance In Tax Shelter Controversies

    In its assault on corporate tax shelters, the IRS ' with considerable help from Treasury and Congress ' has added new weapons to its arsenal and has honed its existing weaponry.

    December 27, 2004Herbert Odell, Philip Karter and Laura Ferguson

  • Is The Government Losing Its Merger Home Field Advantage?

    The conventional wisdom is that the government has a significant advantage when challenging mergers in court, and that this advantage is especially difficult to overcome when the government presents major customer witnesses opposing the transaction. However, three recent government court losses in which the FTC or Department of Justice teamed up with state attorney generals challenge that conventional wisdom.

    December 27, 2004John G. Calender

  • Edgy Ethics In Law Firm Competition

    Of the firms that are playing to win, I particularly respect those that have gone out of their way to define what constitutes unethical and culturally unacceptable behavior.

    December 27, 2004Excerpts from Ed Wesemann

  • Cash-Out Distribution Plans Require Amendment

    Qualified retirement plans that provide immediate cash-out distributions to a terminated participant if the vested benefit is "$5000 or less" must be amended to comply with Department of Labor (DOL) final regulations. The final regulations are effective for rollovers of mandatory distributions made on or after March 28, 2005. The final regulations provide a safe harbor for fiduciaries of tax-qualified pension plans that are required to roll over plan benefits into an individual retirement plan when a terminated employee fails to elect a distribution method.

    December 27, 2004Ruth Wimer and Alice Kurtz

  • Midsize Firms: Key Trends Affecting Competitiveness And Profitability

    In conducting strategic planning studies and facilitating numerous strategic planning retreats, I regularly discuss long-term trends affecting law firms with dozens of members of executive committees and managing partners. These trends of interest differ somewhat, of course, for firms of different sizes. More importantly, sometimes the same trend has very different implications for firms of different sizes.

    December 27, 2004Joel A. Rose

  • Attorney Fees Blocked In NY Civil Rights Case

    Lawyers who prevail in a civil rights case but win only nominal damages are generally not entitled to attorney fees, the Court of Appeals has ruled in a groundbreaking opinion.

    December 27, 2004John Caher

  • More Clients Embrace E-Billing

    It only seems fair for the in-house department to strive to simplify the billing process at a time when it is demanding so much from outside counsel.

    December 27, 2004Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

  • $10K Raises For Philadelphia Associates

    Three more Philadelphia law firms have joined in the parade to raise starting salaries. Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin and Saul Ewing both moved their starting wage from $105,000 to $115,000, and Fox Rothschild is jacking its rate from $100,000 to $110,000.

    December 27, 2004Jeff Blumenthal