Farmstead Valued at Current Market Value [Tax Alert!]

Publication - Business, Tax

Farmstead Valued at Current Market Value - Tax Alert! -

Stephen Miller Quoted in Multiple Publications

News

Stephen Miller, a member in the Criminal Defense and Government Investigations Practice Group, was quoted by multiple news agencies, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and Reuters. Mr. Miller commented on recent insider-trading cases involving Raj Rajaratnam and three traders. Mr. Miller describes how wire tapping was used in the case and how it has been effective.

A 'CSI effect' for wiretapping? [The National Law Journal]

Publication

A 'CSI effect' for wiretapping? - The National Law Journal - The impact of the insider-trading prosecution of Raj Rajaratnam will be seismic. The verdict is significant, to be sure, but the prosecutors' method of assembling the evidence in the case will be the most lasting legacy — in particular, the use of wiretaps to prove criminal intent with devastating clarity.

Gift Plans in Doubt After DBSD North America

Publication

3rd Circuit Decision a Win for Confidential Settlement Agreements [The Legal Intelligencer]

Publication

How secret is the settlement that you obtained with help from the court? Over the years, the answer in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been "not so secret" — even when you expressly provided for it to be secret. Because of the 3rd Circuit's recent decision in LEAP Systems Inc. v. MoneyTrax , settling parties with secrecy concerns now have a little more comfort.

Roadmap to social media for pharmaceutical companies [PharmaLive]

Publication - Products Liability

Roadmap to social media for pharmaceutical companies - PharmaLive -

Cozen O’Connor Names 17 Attorneys To Membership in the Firm

Press Release

Cozen O’Connor Names 17 Attorneys To Membership in the Firm. ''We congratulate this group of exceptional lawyers and are happy to welcome them into Membership in the firm,'' said Tad Decker, president and CEO of Cozen O’Connor. ''This promotion is the well-deserved result of their continuing hard work and dedication to their clients and the firm.''

Cozen O’Connor Recognized For Corporate Philanthropy

Press Release

Cozen O’Connor Recognized For Corporate Philanthropy

Two Looks at the Insurance Legal Landscape [The Insurance Research Letter]

Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance

Two Looks at the Insurance Legal Landscape - The Insurance Research Letter - New York High Court: “Other Insurance”
Clause Relieves D&O Insurer of Obligation
to Share Defense Costs with CGL Insurer

IAs and Conflicts of Interest: Stop Them Before They Start [Claims Magazine]

Publication

IAs and Conflicts of Interest: Stop Them Before They Start - Claims Magazine - A phone call brings a new assignment: a large fire destroyed several local businesses in a strip mall. While initial reports suggested the fire was still under investigation, witnesses noted that they first saw fire from the grocery store, the anchor tenant, and it spread to the neighboring book store and salon. While the fire department contained the blaze to those three stores, the remaining businesses sustained

John Hancock Financial’s Settlement With California Highlights The Tension Between Compliance With The Law And Evolving Best Practice Standards [Insurance Coverage Alert!]

Publication - Insurance Coverage - Insurance

John Hancock Financial’s Settlement With California Highlights The Tension Between Compliance With The Law And Evolving Best Practice Standards - Insurance Coverage Alert! - landmark settlement with John Hancock Financial (Hancock), a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation. The settlement was the outcome of an investigation, commenced in July 2008, of 21 insurance companies relating to allegations that, under a decades-old industry-wide practice, companies have failed to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of life insurance policies.

New Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) program. [Immigration Alert!]

Publication - Immigration Policy & Strategy, Labor & Employment

New Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) program. - Immigration Alert! - In a misguided effort to “simplify” the sponsorship process for the employer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has complicated the process further by instituting its new Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) program. VIBE is web-based tool used to confirm company details provided by the petitioner in employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions.

Flash, Kaboom! Water Heater Failures Involving GACs [Subrogation and Recovery Alert!]

Publication - Subrogation & Recovery - Insurance

Flash, Kaboom! Water Heater Failures Involving GACs - Subrogation and Recovery Alert! - Closing a water heater fire subrogation file because lightning hit the home? Did the water heater have a Gas Appliance Connector (GAC)? If a GAC was part of the water heater system, it must be evaluated as part of the overall subrogation investigation.

Supreme Court Noses the Door Open a Bit Wider For Plaintiffs in Securities-Fraud Class Actions [Class Action Litigation Report]

Publication

Supreme Court Noses the Door Open a Bit Wider For Plaintiffs in Securities-Fraud Class Actions - Class Action Litigation Report - In Matrixx Initiatives Inc. v. Siracusano, a unanimous Supreme Court declined to adopt a bright-line rule that would have made a drug company’s failure to disclose adverse event reports material only if the reports were statistically significant. Instead, the Court reaffirmed the fact sensitive standard it adopted more than two decades ago: an omission is material under the securities laws only if...

Air Pump Sales Not Taxable [Tax Alert!]

Publication - Business, Tax

Air Pump Sales Not Taxable - Tax Alert! - In a divided panel decision, the Commonwealth Court held that sales from coin operated air vending machines located in gas stations and convenience stores were not taxable for Sales and Use Tax purposes. Air-Serv Group, LLC v. Commonwealth, No. 459 F.R. 2008 (Pa. Cmwth. April 14, 2011). The majority held that the sales were not taxable for several reasons.

Reassessment to Comparables Denied [Tax Alert!]

Publication - Business, Tax

Reassessment to Comparables Denied - Tax Alert! - A panel of the Commonwealth Court concluded that, although a taxpayer demonstrated that his property was assessed at a much greater value than certain comparable properties in a development, he was entitled to no relief beyond application of the common level ratio. Smith v. Carbon County Board of Assessment Appeals, 10 A.3d 393 (Pa. Commw. 2010).

Use Value of Forest Reserve Correctly Determined [Tax Alert!]

Publication - Business, Tax

Use Value of Forest Reserve Correctly Determined - Tax Alert! - A panel of the Commonwealth Court concluded that, although a taxpayer demonstrated that his property was assessed at a much greater value than certain comparable properties in a development, he was entitled to no relief beyond application of the common level ratio. Smith v. Carbon County Board of Assessment Appeals, 10 A.3d 393 (Pa. Commw. 2010).

Confronting Changes in Confrontation Clause Jurisprudence [The Legal Intelligencer]

Publication

Confronting Changes in Confrontation Clause Jurisprudence - The Legal Intelligencer - It is a little-known fact that statues of turtles rest at the bottom of several lampposts in the Supreme Court building. Architect Cass Gilbert's design of the building reportedly featured the turtle prominently because it symbolized the slow, deliberate pace of justice to be rendered by the court. For the most part, the analogy has held true.

Litigation: Use the Preliminary Conference to Save E-Discovery Costs [New York Law Journal]

Publication - Electronic Discovery & Practice Advisory Services

All too often in today’s litigation environment, electronic discovery issues turn into expensive deathtraps that threaten to overwhelm the merits of the actual dispute between the parties. But prepared litigants can and should take measures to avoid the “gotcha” pitfalls attendant to e-discovery long before the terabytes have been put through the thresher.

Community Center Was Not a Charity [Tax Alert!]

Publication - Business, Tax

Community Center Was Not a Charity - Tax Alert! - An en banc decision of the Commonwealth Court held that a community center that provided free services for all its programs was not a purely public charity entitled to an exemption for real estate tax purposes. Church of the Overcomer v. Delaware County Board of Assessment Appeals, No. 269 C.D. 2010 (Pa. Commw. Mar. 17, 2011). The decision appears to be incorrectly decided. Click here for the entire story.