Required Minimum Distributions: Year-End Issues
The end of the year is the deadline for most individuals with qualified retirement plans and IRAs to take their required minimum distributions (RMDs) if they have attained age 70' or inherited their benefits. Here are some key issues that can impact RMDs.
<b><i>Sales Speak:</i></b> Law Firm Bus Dev
One thing that continues to remain constant in law firms is the difficulty that firms and lawyers have with identifying and communicating how they differ from their competition. The most common refrains that I hear being used when asked the question, "Why should clients retain you?" include the standard "quality, responsiveness, communication, practical advice," etc.
Technological Advancements and Traces of Infectious Disease
A number of recent discoveries are challenging the idea that infectious diseases are sporadic and relatively rare causes of illness and death. These discoveries are revolutionizing our understanding of the microbial world around us ' and presage significant changes in the legal landscape.
'Internet of Things' Litigation and Regulatory Risk
Most lawyers have heard of the "Internet of Things." Business leaders, after all, are busy making the Internet of Things (IoT) the next great wave of innovation to sweep across the global economy. Apple, AT&T, Cisco, General Electric, Google, Honeywell, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Panasonic, Samsung, and scores of others have been investing in the IoT for years. With current predictions of a $15 trillion IoT market in fewer than 10 years, it is easy to understand why so many industry giants have made the IoT a strategic priority.
Mobile Mayhem: Smartphones and Security (Or the Lack Thereof)
A company that cares at all about its data needs to stay abreast of the security risks mobile devices engender. There are many ways to combine policy and technology in ways that address these risks ' at least by identifying them and adapting appropriately.
'Consent to Assignment' Clauses Held 'Unenforceable by CA Court
Whether a policy's anti-assignment clause will void a transfer of insurance proceeds or coverage rights, by contract or operation of law, usually requires an analysis of whether the predecessor corporation is an insured under the policy; whether the predecessor corporation still exists; whether the successor corporation succeeded to the predecessor's liabilities; and more.
What's in the Cards for 2016?
It seems impossible that we are once again at the end of a full and busy year, "predicting" what's ahead for the next. If there is one iron-clad truism for law firm marketing, it's that nothing stays the same. So what can we expect for the year ahead?
Insurance Limited Partnerships As An Alternate Estate Planning Tool
Valuation discounts in estate planning has permitted the transfer of assets from one generation to another in an economically efficient manner. Two of the various discount methods claim lack of control (minority interest discount) and lack of marketability. The IRS has traditionally objected to these approaches in intra-family transfers, while Congress has attempted to legislate away these "loopholes" unsuccessfully and the Treasury Department is contemplating new regulations to accomplish this goal.
Jeezy's Ex-Partner Loses Trial Against The Atlanta Rapper
A Fulton County, GA, court turned aside claims to millions of dollars by a former producer and business partner of Atlanta-based rapper Young Jeezy. The jurors found for the defense in a case in which the plaintiff claimed that his ownership interest in a music production company with Jeezy entitled him to half of the proceeds from the hip hop artist's record sales.
