Features
Shari Levitan
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Ellen Schiffer Berkowitz
As reported on these pages late last year, on Nov. 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided <i>Goodridge v. Department of Public Health</i>, holding, in a 4-3 decision, that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts violated the state's constitution.
Features
Toby J.F. Bishop
In-house counsel focused on complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act should be wary of falling into a trap that could increase the business risks and liability exposure of their company and its executives.
ALM Staff
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Law Journal Newsletters
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
ALM Staff
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Law Journal Newsletters
The latest rulings of interest to your practice.
Features
James J. Graham
Are ethics programs no longer optional but mandatory? If the program is not good enough, is that fact itself the basis for liability? A recent civil case filed by the creative health care prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia asserts that a company's "ineffective" compliance program satisfies the scienter requirements of the civil False Claims Act (FCA).
Harvey M. Silets
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Jonathan S. Feld
Recent hearings of a subcommittee of the Senate Committee Governmental Affairs have again focused a harsh spotlight on the abusive use of tax shelters. As if to stress the point, On Dec. 29, 2003, the Treasury Department proposed changes to Circular 230 that "set high standards for the tax advisors and firms that provide opinions supporting tax-motivated transactions."
ALM Staff
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Law Journal Newsletters
A guide to everything in this issue.
ALM Staff
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Law Journal Newsletters
Recent rulings of importance to you and your clients.
Features
ALM Staff
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Law Journal Newsletters
Recent rulings of importance to you and your clients.
Stewart E. Sterk
In <i>Twin Lakes Development Corp. v. Town of Monroe</i> (NYLJ 11/21/03, p.19, col. 5), the New York Court of Appeals addressed an issue that has been unresolved in New York since the United States Supreme Court's 1994 opinion in <i>Dolan v. City of Tigard</i>, 512 US 374: Can a municipality collect a payment in lieu of parkland dedication as the price for approving a subdivision when the municipality has not made an individualized determination of the need for recreational facilities generated by the proposed subdivision? The court had little difficulty upholding the fee, raising two further questions: first, will the court's decision survive scrutiny by the United States Supreme Court, and second, what constitutional limits remain on a municipality's power to impose fees on developers?
