Enron Redux
October 30, 2007
Featured prominently in business and financial headlines in late 2005 and early 2006 were a pair of highly controversial rulings handed down by the New York bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 cases of embattled energy broker Enron Corporation and its affiliates. Now, in a carefully reasoned 53-page opinion, District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin recently vacated both of the controversial rulings. <i>In re Enron Corp.</i>, 2007 WL 2446498 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2007).
Navigating the New Reality of Equipment Leasing and CERCLA Liability
October 30, 2007
This first installment of a two-part series explains the <i>Atlantic Research</i> decision and some of the basic steps a party to a commercial real estate transaction should take to help protect itself from unexpected CERCLA claims resulting from this decision.
Keeping Passion in the Law
October 30, 2007
This article explores what keeps lawyers committed to the practice of law, what law firms can do to keep attorneys passionate about the law, and what lawyers can do to retain the passion.
Available Upon Request? Qualified Immunity for Employer References
October 30, 2007
Given the protections from liability available in many jurisdictions, most legal employers have a good deal more flexibility than they currently exercise in handling requests for references. Yet, many cautious employers have been slow to liberalize their reference practices.
Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell: What Lessons Lie Here for Your Firm?
October 30, 2007
This article reviews the <i>Charney</i> case and applicable federal cases that might apply in workplace discrimination and relatiation situations, and points out the hidden dangers of local ordinances that attempt to regulate human behavior, and (arguably) even thought, in the workplace.
A Look At FIN 48
October 30, 2007
In an effort to increase comparability and consistency in how companies report income tax positions on financial statements, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ('FASB') issued FASB Interpretation Number 48 ('FIN 48'), Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes on July 13, 2006. FIN 48 changes the way companies must account for uncertain tax positions taken on federal, state and local, and international income tax returns for financial reporting purposes.
Ten Things You Should Know About China's New Antitrust Law
October 30, 2007
On Aug. 30, 2007, China's National People's Congress adopted the Anti-Monopoly Law ('AML'), the first ever comprehensive competition law in the largest emerging market in the world. This was the culmination of 13 years of legislative effort and debate since the first draft of this law was originally conceived. What are the essentials of China's emerging antitrust legal regime? The following are the ten key things that you should know about this area.
The Roberts Court on Antitrust
October 30, 2007
By the end of its last term, the Supreme Court decided four significant antitrust cases, resulting in one of the most antitrust-focused terms in the Court's history. In rendering decisions favorable to the defendants in all four cases, the Court quickly drew the dreaded 'pro-business' label. Commentators on the left criticized the decisions as marking a hard-right turn on antitrust policy, while those on the right lauded the Court's restoration of free-market principles to competition analysis. These broad pronouncements overstate the similarities among the cases, which arose in a wide range of industries and raised quite different legal issues.
Meeting the Section 409A Deadline
October 30, 2007
With a last-minute extension by the IRS, the final regulations adopted under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code now impose a hard Dec. 31, 2008 deadline on making necessary amendments to deferred compensation arrangements for employees, directors, and certain independent contractors of private, not-for-profit, and public companies in order to avoid federal excise taxes at a rate of 20% (plus retroactive interest).
