In a move that will allow greater flexibility for traveling to the United States, the State Department recently announced National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) issued to foreign nationals in the last 12 months who are covered by COVID-related Presidential Proclamations (PPs) will now be valid for 12 months, rather than the previous 30-days. In addition, these NIEs will allow for the ability to use them for multiple entries during the new validity period ...
With SEC Form 10-Qs for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, due shortly, and SEC Form 10‑Ks for companies with June 30 year ends due in the next few weeks, publicly traded companies that received PPP loans, even those that have had those loans forgiven, need to review and update their SEC disclosures regarding their PPP loan ...
We are still waiting for the “official” SBA FAQ announcing the withdrawal of the Forms 3509/3510 Loan Necessity Questionnaire (“Questionnaire”) that, according to the SBA, will include additional information about its review process. In the meantime, PPP lenders have been told by the SBA that they no longer are required to request that borrowers who obtained loans of $2 million or more complete the Questionnaire ...
Employee Retention Credits (“ERC” or “credits”) are available to eligible employers that paid qualified wages after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2022. Multiple pieces of legislation and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance expanded and modified the ERC rules and determination of eligibility for ERC, and computation of the credits may vary based on each individual calendar quarter in 2020 and 2021 ...
Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
On Monday, September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released several markups of proposed legislation (the “House Tax Proposals”) intended to pay for various proposed spending initiatives. Importantly, the House Tax Proposals are not entirely consistent with the “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals” (the “Green Book”) released by the U.S ...
In a long-awaited policy announced in an October 28, 2021, speech at the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, the Department of Justice has embarked on more aggressive enforcement of white collar and corporate prosecution. During the Trump Administration, such prosecutions reached historic lows, but that is about to change. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced significant changes to DOJ policies on corporate enforcement ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made several recent announcements signaling its intention to increase antitrust merger enforcement under the leadership of Chairperson Lina Kahn, appointed by President Biden. Some relate to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) pre-merger notification requirements, which apply regardless of whether a transaction is substantively reviewed by the FTC or the Department of Justice (DOJ) ...
The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) will have significant impacts on brand owners and might offer new tools and procedures for challenging blocking trademarks and problematic registrations for those willing to take advantage of the new law. The TMA was passed by Congress in December 2020 before the USPTO announced the final Rules for implementation on November 17, 2021 ...
Late Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Order and Opinion lifting the stay that previously had been entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which had prevented the OSHA COVID-19 emergency technical standard (the “ETS”) that applied to employers with 100 or more employees from going into effect ...
Trees are ubiquitous. They are a natural part of our landscape and valued for the beauty they provide (not to mention the environmental benefits) as well as their lumber and economic value. Landowners often value their trees, but when a landowner needs to remove trees for development tensions can arise between the government’s interest in preserving and protecting the environment and the landowner’s inherent property rights ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Fraud Section released its 2021 annual report earlier this month, and the numbers show that the DOJ continues to ramp up enforcement despite ongoing logistical challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual report reflects only prosecutions handled by the DOJ’s Fraud Section itself (not all federal prosecutions handled by individual U.S ...
Representatives from the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General himself, hit a consistent theme throughout with their remarks at the ABA’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, held March 2-4 in San Francisco, California—the Department will be ramping up enforcement in virtually all areas of white collar crime. Dykema attorneys Becky James, Jason Ross, and Mark Chutkow attended the conference and provide their key takeaways. U.S ...
The Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”) was enacted by Congress on January 1, 2021, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The Act’s purpose is to curtail shell companies often used in corporate transactions, including real estate transactions, from conducting illegal activities made possible by concealing the ownership and control of such entities ...
The 2022 tax assessment of real and personal property have been determined by the local Assessor and a Notice of Assessment was issued and mailed to property owners. Property owners should make sure to check the mail for a copy of the Notice in order to determine whether an appeal of their taxable value should be filed ...
Hidden among its flurry of end-of-term blockbusters, on June 27, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion inRuan v. United States. InRuan,the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whatmens reaa physician must possess to be guilty of illegally distributing controlled substances through the use of allegedly improper prescriptions ...
In a major speech delivered on September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco added important substance and details to Department of Justice policies aimed at aggressively combatting corporate crime and encouraging companies to self-report misconduct. These new policies result from months of DOJ meetings with a Corporate Crime Advisory Group comprised of stakeholders from the business community, the defense bar, public interest groups, academics, and others ...
On December 9, 2022, the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued a General Legal Advice Memorandum (“Memorandum”) challenging the 1994 Tax Court decision inChilds v. Commissioner, 103 T.C. 634 (1994),aff’d without published opinion, 89 F.3d 856 (11thCir. 1996) (“Childs”) ...
Lawyers and clients, take note: on January 9, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on probably one of the most consequential cases on the scope of the attorney-client privilege in decades.In re Grand Jury, 23 F.4th1088 (9th Cir. 2021),cert granted, 143 S. Ct. 80 (2022), a tax case, addresses the application of the attorney-client privilege to “multipurpose” communications involving legal and non-legal topics ...
On January 23, 2023, after hearing an extensive oral argument, the Supreme Court dismissedIn re Grand Jury, 23 F.4th1088 (9th Cir. 2021),cert granted, 143 S. Ct. 80 (2022), a highly anticipated case about how the attorney-client privilege applies to “multipurpose” communications ...
In a January 17, 2023, speech at Georgetown University Law Center, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, Jr., for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, announced revisions of DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (“Policy”) to offer greater leniency to companies willing to (1) report their own misconduct to the government and (2) offer “extraordinary cooperation” once an investigation begins. Old Policy ...
