When real estate developers assess the financial viability of a project, many different variables come into play. Of chief importance are the tax breaks and incentives doled out by municipalities for highly desired developments, but the expense of public art does not always enter into the equation. Impact fees for art and the required inclusion…
Category: Blog Articles
The Online Gambling Landscape
In 2006, Congress passed the Uniform Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”), which “prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law;” failure to comply with the UIGEA…
Sanctions on Russia and Impact on Investment Activities of U.S. Companies
On July 27, 2017, Senate passed the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (the “Act”), a piece of bipartisan legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia.1 It imposes a sectoral sanction that bans Russian banks from obtaining outside credit and bans certain types of partnerships with oil and gas companies in Russia.2 For example, ExxonMobil terminated…
Bankruptcy Exemptions Law Considerations
Bankruptcy Exemptions Law Note: This post is an outline of a few topics and is not intended to be exhaustive or a substitute for research or legal advice regarding bankruptcy. A basic understanding of bankruptcy exemptions law and its purposes is essential to analyzing its benefits and its complications. Bankruptcy exemptions allow debtors to retain…
The DOJ’s Input Foreclosure Challenge to the AT&T-Time Warner Merger
On November 20, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit under section 7 of the Clayton Act to enjoin the merger between AT&T and Time Warner. According to the government, the deal—which has been in the works since October of last year—is worth $108 billion and would have a deleterious effect on consumer prices…
I, Lawyer: Is Artificial Intelligence the Attorney of the Future?
It’s no secret that technology is advancing rapidly. Driverless cars have already hit the roads, drones are flying across the sky, and if the latest cell phone isn’t in your pocket right now, it’s probably on your wrist. This era of technological innovation has prompted the rise of artificial intelligence (“AI”), paving the way for…
Something to Like about the Tax Cut and Jobs Act: Preserving Like-kind Exchanges for Real Property
Leading up to the release of the House Ways and Means Committee’s tax reform bill, called the Tax Cut and Jobs act, very little was known about which provisions were to be affected. While it would not have taken an astute commentator to posit the bill was going to reduce corporate tax rates, the method…
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act: A Law Past its Prime
In 1986, Congress passed the Stored Communications Act within the broader Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”).1 In that year, Ronald Reagan was President, the U.S.S.R. suffered the Chernobyl disaster, and the price of gas was about 89 cents. Neither the internet nor the e-mail system existed. Obviously, a lot has changed since 1986, yet the…
Unpredictability in a Carbon Tax
This past September, Lindsay Graham called for a carbon tax.1 The Senator from South Carolina has discussed climate change openly, but has shifted his focus for the solution towards a carbon tax. A carbon tax is one of two currently proposed forms of carbon pricing, the other being cap-and-trade. The two are market-driven solutions which…
Binding but Not Final: Appealing Arbitration Awards
Arbitration agreements are quickly becoming a staple of commercial contracts as contracting parties hope to avoid litigation in the event of a dispute. Broadly, these agreements can be divided into two categories: (1) arbitration agreements between consumers and corporate sellers of goods or services; and (2) arbitration agreements between sophisticated corporate actors. This discussion will…