Results 1-10 of 2832
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California's Second Appellate District Again Invalidates the SBE's Regulations
February 08, 2012
Last week, the California Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District) in Western States Petroleum Association v. State Board of Equalization ("Western States") invalidated a property tax regulation adopted by the State Board of Equalization ("SBE"). This decision continues a recent pattern of California courts overturning SBE rules, regulations and policies that are inconsistent with California statutes.
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Timing Requirements for Deposits of Employee Deferrals/Contributions and Loan Repayments
February 07, 2012
Employers maintain 401(k) and other contributory retirement plans for various reasons: retention of key employees, marketplace competition, and to provide supplemental retirement funds. Adhering to compliance requirements is imperative in order to avoid unnecessary risk and adverse consequences.
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Comcast Loses California NBI and Non-Unitary Appeal: SBE Finds Comcast Unitary With QVC and MediaOne Termination Fee Business Income
February 07, 2012
On February 2, the California State Board of Equalization voted 3-2 against Comcast, holding that (1) Comcast was unitary with majority-owned QVC and (2) the fee Comcast received for a failed merger with MediaOne was apportionable business income. The appeal has been pending for a long time and the decision has been highly anticipated. The Board declined to make its decision a formal opinion and, therefore, it will not be precedential.
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Taking Notice of 'Notice Clauses' in International Trade Contracts - The Importance of Getting it Right
February 05, 2012
The recent case of PEC Ltd v Thai Maparn Trading Co Ltd [2011] EWHC 3306 (Comm) considered the effectiveness of notices presented with the intention of extending the delivery period under an FOB contract.
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Allegheny County Reassessment Update – More Details Released Regarding Appeal Deadlines
February 03, 2012
All property owners in the City of Pittsburgh, Mount Oliver and the municipalities generally east of Pittsburgh (east of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers) should have received reassessment notices. On January 27, 2012, the county mailed these notices to property owners in the eastern suburbs. Property owners in these municipalities have the same deadlines as those in the City of Pittsburgh as set forth below.
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Petroplus Group Enters Insolvency Proceedings
January 31, 2012
Petroplus, the largest independent refiner and wholesaler of petroleum products in Europe entered into various insolvency proceedings in Switzerland, England and Wales, France, Germany and Belgium on 24-27 January 2012 after the group failed to reach agreement with its creditors to extend the deadline of its loan repayments.
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Overview and Analysis of the Proposed Federal Sunshine
January 30, 2012
On December 19, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") published a proposed rule (the "Proposed Rule") related to section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the "Physician Payment Sunshine Act" (so referenced herein, or as the "Act").1 The Physician Payment Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP to report annually to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ("Secretary") certain payments or other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. Additionally, applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations ("GPOs") must report certain information regarding the ownership or investment interests in them that are held by physicians or their immediate family members.
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Iran and Syria - Sanctions Update
January 26, 2012
The latest sanctions against Iran have been much publicized and are set against a backdrop of Iranian officials threatening to escalate the situation further by blocking the Strait of Hormuz. This alert focuses on the key developments and also provides an update on the sanctions against Syria.
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Seventh Circuit Holds That Voluntary Product Refund Programs Can Defeat Class Certification on Adequacy Grounds Under Rule 23(a)(4)
January 23, 2012
Class action litigators should be aware of a recent Seventh Circuit decision affirming the denial of class certification in a product mislabeling suit on grounds that the class representatives were not adequate under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(4). In re Aqua Dots Prods. Liab. Litig., 654 F.3d 748 (7th Cir. 2011) (Easterbrook, C.J.). The district court in Aqua Dots had denied certification on grounds that class litigation would not be "superior" to the defendant's voluntary product refund and replacement program as required by Rule 23(b)(3). The Seventh Circuit rejected the district court's "superiority" holding but found that the class representatives were not adequately protecting the class members' interests because they were pursuing costly class litigation to obtain a refund that was already available to the class members. In so doing, the Seventh Circuit--just as the U.S. Supreme Court did last summer in its watershed class action decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S.Ct. 2541 (2011)--has breathed new life into Rule 23's adequacy requirement and given defendants substantial new support for adequacy challenges to class certification.
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MF Global UK – Special Administration update as at 23 January 2012
January 23, 2012
The constitution of the creditor and client committee for MF Global UK Limited ("MF Global") has been announced with BB Energy (Gulf) DMCC and Unipec Singapore Pte. Limited being voted in as the creditors' representatives, and MF Global Inc, Peabody Coal Trade International Limited and KIT Finance Europe AS being voted in as the client representatives. The special administrators have said that they will be shortly contacting the companies to complete the formalities of establishing the committee and will then call the first meeting. The special administrators have further said that the committee will only be formally constituted when they issue a certificate of due constitution, and that details of how to contact the creditor and client representatives will then be published.