Action Items For HITECH Act Compliance
This year has brought about historic and dramatic changes in federal law governing the privacy and security of health care information in the United States. The February 2009 enactment of the Health...
View ArticleNew RESPA Rules for Consumer Protection in Real Estate Settlements and Loans
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued new rules that modify the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). RESPA is a consumer-protection statute that was...
View ArticleIs the Tide Turning Against Discretionary Clauses in Insurance Contracts?
A recent decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may make it harder for insurance companies in some states to defend claims denials. Standard Insurance Company v. Morrison, a case decided...
View ArticleObama Administration Proposes New EPA Enforcement Priorities
On January 4, 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally solicited comments on what should be EPA's enforcement priorities for fiscal years 2011 through 2013. The EPA's...
View ArticleA Trap for the Unwary? Discovery Plan Crafted Under Rule 26(f) No Guarantee...
In a recent decision, a magistrate judge in a U.S. District Court in New Jersey ruled that a discovery plan crafted pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) did not protect the plaintiff’s...
View ArticleCourt Issues Ruling In Firefighter Applicant Disparate Impact Case
This morning, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by a group of African-American firefighter applicants who alleged that the city of...
View Article"Business Interruption Claims" and the Recent Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the mobile drilling rig Deepwater Horizon occurred some 130 miles southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. As of May 23, 2010, it is estimated that a minimum of 6...
View ArticleSupreme Court to Consider Wheather Federal Arbitration Act Preempts State Law...
On May 24, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, No. 09-893, to address the question of whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts state law rules...
View ArticleSupreme Court Clarifies Treatment of Joint Ventures Under Antitrust Law
The Supreme Court recently released its unanimous opinion in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, 560 U.S.___ (2010), 2010 WL 2025207 (American Needle), its latest foray in the area of...
View ArticleIRS Issues FBAR Filing Relief, But Certain Filing Obligations Remain
The IRS has recently issued several pieces of guidance related to the filing of the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, IRS Form TD F 90-22.1 (“FBAR”), by pension plan sponsors. While the...
View ArticleCOBRA Subsidy Extended
The extension of the COBRA health insurance subsidy, signed into law by President Obama on December 21st after an 88-10 vote by the Senate, will provide additional relief for a record number of...
View ArticleSpecial Needs Trusts
When a person wants to set up a trust that benefits a person who, without additional help, may not be physically or mentally capable of handling the funds under their possession, the law provides...
View ArticleBanking KPI's - Metrics Used To Assess A Banking Entity's Performance
Banking KPI's include certain metrics that are quantifiable and specific. They can be categorized to six classifications, such as income metrics, cost metrics, company asset metrics, investment...
View ArticleNew Challenges to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act Filed in Federal Courts...
The federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is the controversial law at the focus of the national debate over the legalization of same-sex marriage. The DOMA provides for all purposes of federal law,...
View ArticleBankruptcy Property Exemptions
The process of bankruptcy offers debtors a clean slate when they are overwhelmed by financial burdens. Once a bankruptcy case is completed, however, the debtor will still need basic possessions and...
View ArticleList In Flat Fee Listing, Short Sales Are In Demand
Short sales property demand has raised enormously with many property investors looking this opportunity as profit making. Once your short sale property gets listed in flat fee listing you are bound to...
View ArticleWhy Financial Management Rate of Return is used by Investment Analysts
Financial management rate of return (or FMMR) is a return that was conceived (I do believe) by the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute (CIREI) and is taught to students seeking the CCIM...
View ArticleSection 365(o) Coming Into Focus
The Great Recession continues to take a toll on banks. In 2010, 149 banks had failed by mid-November. That's nine more than in 2009 and more than five times the number in 2008. Not since 1992 have so...
View ArticleBasel III Final Rules Issued
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (the "Basel Committee") issued its new Basel III framework on December 16, 2010. The new framework is intended to reform the international financial system...
View ArticleKnow Your Loan Ingredients! Truth In Labeling For Borrowers
When the FDA required food manufacturers to reveal the ingredients, nutritional value, calorie count and net weight on their product labeling, the big winner was the consumer. The consumer wins again...
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