AttorneysEd Center

Andrea Kramer, a partner in McDermott Will & Emery LLP, provides an overview of popular currency products and their uses because the foreign currency tax rules build on the rules of financial products. Our presenter addresses the different types of taxpayers and the tax rules applied to them, section 1256 contracts, the tax straddle rules, the mark-to-market rules; and special tax hedges. She then builds on these financial product building blocks to show how special foreign currency tax elections modify and interact with these rules.

Andrea Kramer, a partner in McDermott Will & Emery LLP, provides an overview of popular financial products and their uses, as well as an explanation of the significance of these rules to different types of taxpayers and the tax rules applied to them. Also addressed: section 1256 contracts and the tax straddle rules and how these special tax rules apply to certain types of products and situations; application of the mark-to-market rules; the special rules for commodities derivatives dealers; and the tax treatment of supplies and tax hedges. Our presenter also discusses the effect Dodd-Frank has on certain popular financial products.

In Morrison v. National Australia Bank the Supreme Court delimited the scope of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act to transactions in the U.S. This represented a dramatic change in the reach of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Within weeks of the decision the DOJ and the SEC secured a legislative fix when Dodd-Frank was passed, but the fix only applies to the government. Now Morrison is curtailing the reach of the securities laws in private actions as well as suits brought by the SEC, and the impact of the ruling goes beyond securities cases and has impacted those brought under RICO and may reach others. There is also doubt about the legislative fix and its vitality. Join Tom Gorman of Dorsey & Whitney LLP as he analyzes Morrison and the impact it is having on securities litigation and other suits and discusses the vitality of

Curbing so-called “pay to play” practices has become a high priority at all levels of government today. Recently, the SEC adopted a new rule designed to restrict certain political contributions by investment advisers that are perceived to improperly influence the award of government investment business. The SEC’s rule imposes substantial new compliance and recordkeeping burdens on advisers, who were required to be in compliance with the rule by March 14, 2011 (and certain aspects of the rule by September 13, 2011). In addition, a number of States, cities and localities have also enacted “pay to play” laws that, in some cases, are more restrictive than the SEC’s rule. Violations of “pay-to-play” laws may result in the loss of compensation for government advisory business for substantial periods of time. Therefore, investment advisers need to understand that that this is an area fraught with potential landmines and severe consequences for non-compliance. In this program

The EEOC has finally released its regulations implementing the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The amendments significantly expanded the conditions that would be recognized as disabilities. Indeed, the EEOC noted that its preliminary assessment that 8.2 million people would be impacted by these changes was a significant underestimate, and that a closer estimate would be from 12 to 38.4 million people, which led it to increase the estimate cost to employers of providing accommodations to a range of $60 to $183 million. Of course, this does not include the legal costs that the EEOC conceded would increase due to more ADA-related litigation.
The EEOC has lost no time in vigorously enforcing the ADA, and has filed several new ADA lawsuits involving such disabilities as mental disabilities, cerebral palsy, a shoulder injury, a kidney disorder, and arthritis. Teresa Tracy, a partner in Gladstone Michel Weisberg Willner & Sloane, ALC, addresses the new regulations,

In addition to sweeping financial institution reform, the Dodd-Frank Act imposes a number of significant changes on public reporting companies in the areas of executive compensation and corporate governance. Such companies have survived the first round of say-on-pay, but what is next? The SEC has begun to issue proposed rules on the "other" executive compensation requirements of Dodd-Frank—compensation committee independence tests; compensation adviser requirements; pay-for-performance disclosures; clawback policies and more, and expects to complete rulemaking by Dec. 2011. In this important program for corporate counsel, Mary J. Mullany, Esq., a partner in the law firm of Ballard Spahr LLP, summarizes these proposed rules and provides practical tips and suggestions for incorporating these pending requirements into your firm’s or company's practice.

Jeffrey Fowler, counsel at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and the author of Preserving Electronically Stored Information: A Practical Approach (2nd Ed. 2010) covers developments in the legal duty to preserve evidence and how to plan, execute and defend an effective preservation strategy.

With the passage of the new Patent Reform Act, in-house counsel will need to know the implications for their companies. Join Dan Foster and Leigh Martinson as they describe the new patent legislation and offer insights into how it will affect your companies' patents and patent strategies going forward.