In recent years, businesses such as WorldCom and Enron have become synonymous with corporate malfeasance and questionable accounting practices. In the midst of such infamous cases of corporate wrongdoing, hundreds of well-intentioned retail and restaurant companies have been similarly labeled by federal regulators as engaging in questionable accounting because of the way they have been accounting for leases.

A new law (Internal Revenue Code Section 409A), which became effective on January 1, 2005, significantly affects the tax benefits and flexibility of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements widely used by portfolio companies to attract and reward key management personnel.

What damages are available to a franchisee under the California Franchise Relations Act (CFRA) for a wrongful termination or nonrenewal? In <I>JRS Products, Inc. v. Matsushita Electric Corp. of America</I>, 115 Cal. App. 4<SUP>th</SUP> 168, 8 Cal. Rptr 3d 840 (Cal. App. 2004), <I>modified on denial of reh’g</I>, a California court of appeals clarified that a franchisee who alleges that it was terminated without good cause in violation of the CFRA is not limited to the repurchase of inventory as

As you may know, a new law (Internal Revenue Code Section 409A) imposes significant new restrictions on deferred compensation.

Without prior Department of Labor (DOL) or court approval, a waiver or release of an employee’s prospective or retrospective FMLA claim is now unenforceable in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

At every newsroom legal seminar we give, a reporter or editor always asks, "Should we be saving our notes?" In light of news organizations’ increasing reliance on electronic devices to create and store information, as well as a series of recent cases and guidelines addressing the scope of a litigant’s duty to preserve electronic documents, this perennial question deserves a fresh look.

On Friday, October 22, 2004, the President signed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. This new legislation significantly affects the tax benefits and flexibility of nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements widely used by public and private companies to attract and reward key management personnel and directors by providing tax deferral and/or supplemental retirement benefits.

The U.S. is now participating in a new income tax treaty with Japan that replaces a treaty executed in 1971. In addition, the U.S. and Netherlands have executed a protocol to the existing 1992 income tax treaty and 1993 protocol.

In a unanimous opinion filed on September 20, 2005, a three-judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) applies to computer-generated text messages originating as e-mail and delivered to mobile service subscribers as SMS (Short Message Service) messages.

There has been much controversy over the last few years concerning the issue of the right of a state to tax out-of-state license and franchise transactions. A recent case in New Mexico may affect that state’s position on the applicability of its gross receipts tax (GRT) to royalties paid under franchise agreements.

On August 22, 2005, the U.S. Treasury issued proposed regulations with sweeping changes to the rules for cost sharing arrangements under Treas. Reg. sec. 1.482-7.

On January 1, 2004, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 took effect. The new law followed more than five years of debate on the issue of "spam" and was the product of a Congressional agreement reached at the close of the First Session of the 108th Congress. Spam—unsolicited commercial e-mail—has become so prevalent that Congress found that it accounted for more than 50 percent of all e-mail traffic in 2001; other estimates are even higher. The CAN-SPAM Act may have a significant impact on all businesses –

You know the scenario all too well. Years ago, your valued, long-suffering employee signed a covenant not to compete and a non-disclosure agreement at the same time he signed up for dental benefits through the company’s carrier. Years later, unhappy with the current economic climate and his prospects for advancement at your company, he seeks greener pastures elsewhere. He submits his resignation; puts his potted plants, family photos, and engraved desk clock in a cardboard box; has a farewell pi

In Xilinx Inc. v Commissioner, 125 T.C. No. 4, August 30, 2005, the tax court held that the value of stock-based compensation should not be included in cost-sharing allocations under the arm’s length standard of Treas. Reg. §1.482-1.

This articles contains information on: Disclosure Regarding Nominating Committee Processes and Disclosure Regarding Shareholder Communication with the Board of Directors.

On January 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), acting unanimously, issued an importan statement discussing the factors it will consider in determining whether to impose civil monetary penalties on corporations alleged to have violated the securities laws.

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved substantial changes to the Form 8-K filing requirements. Effective August 23, 2004, the filing timeline for most Form 8-K items will be shortened to <B>four business days.

Form 8-K rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) became effective on August 23, 2004. The new rules greatly expanded the disclosure requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and shortened the filing deadline for most 8-K items to four business days after the occurrence of any reportable event. These rules represent a shift toward more "real time" disclosure, as contemplated by Section 409 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Cost sharing has been a part of IRS regulations since 1994, but only this summer has the IRS developed an audit program for its international examiners and field specialists.