Federal
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July 10, 2025
Trump Says 50% Copper Tariff Will Begin Aug. 1
President Donald Trump said his new 50% tariff on copper imports will take effect Aug. 1, citing national security concerns.
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July 10, 2025
5 Employee Benefits Takeaways On The GOP Tax Bill
Congressional Republicans' sweeping tax and policy bill, which President Donald Trump sought and then signed, contains multiple provisions that caught the attention of employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys, including new changes to high-deductible health plans and an employer-side deduction limit affecting highly compensated employees. Here are five takeaways from employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys on what's in — and out of — the GOP megabill.
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July 10, 2025
IRS To Rescind Digital Asset Broker Rules
The Internal Revenue Service will revoke final regulations requiring brokers to report their digital asset sales, the agency said Thursday, following through on a congressional measure this year that called for their removal.
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July 09, 2025
Trump Slaps Brazil With 50% Tariff, Cites Bolsonaro Trial
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Brazilian goods sent to the U.S. can expect a 50% tariff starting in August, saying that the increased levy was in part due to Brazil's charges against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
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July 09, 2025
Honduran Woman Gets 21 Months In Prison For Payroll Fraud
A Florida federal judge sentenced a Honduran woman to nearly two years in prison after she pled guilty to charges in a scheme to pay construction workers off the books to avoid paying payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance premiums, resulting in a roughly $3.1 million loss, according to prosecutors.
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July 09, 2025
Trump Order On Solar, Wind Credits Puts Industry On Heels
President Donald Trump threw a curveball to the energy industry by ordering the U.S. Department of the Treasury to take a hard line on which projects qualify for solar and wind tax credits under the new budget law, leaving practitioners uncertain about the scope of the restrictions.
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July 09, 2025
Metals Co. Owner Sentenced To Prison For $1.2M Tax Fraud
The owner of a metal-coating business was sentenced to a year and a day in prison by a California federal court and must pay $1.2 million in restitution to the IRS after he admitted he failed to pay over taxes he collected from his employees.
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July 09, 2025
Gov't Wants Access To Bitcoin Investor's Wallet To Pay Tax
A Texas federal court should compel an investor who concealed millions of dollars he earned in bitcoin by filing false tax returns to grant the government access to his digital wallet key in order to pay $1.9 million in restitution, the government said.
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July 09, 2025
IRS Expands Filing Exceptions For Certain Pass-Throughs
The Internal Revenue Service is expanding domestic filing exceptions for certain pass-through entities with foreign investments, the agency announced Wednesday.
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July 09, 2025
Businesses, States Tell Fed. Circ. Trump's Tariffs Are Unlawful
The U.S. Court of International Trade correctly determined President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs were improperly imposed under a law that makes no mention of the trade mechanism, a group of states and small businesses told the Federal Circuit, arguing that the duties should be limited under another law.
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July 09, 2025
5 Years Ago, The McGirt Ruling Reshaped Tribal Jurisdiction
It was widely held for decades that Oklahoma had domain over criminal matters on tribal lands, but five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court turned that regime on its head, finding 19th century federal treaties with the Creek Nation that formed its reservation are valid — and, in turn, reestablishing 45% of the Sooner State as Indian Country.
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July 09, 2025
2nd Circ. Upholds Bookkeeper's Conviction In $7M IRS Fraud
The Second Circuit has affirmed the conviction of a moving company's top bookkeeper for his role in a scheme that paid movers off the books and bilked the IRS of $7.7 million in taxes, defending a lower court's decisions to allow testimony from a cooperating witness and other evidence.
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July 09, 2025
Baker McKenzie Rehires Int'l Tax Pro As Principal Economist
Baker McKenzie's former director of economics, who spent more than 15 years as an IRS assistant director in a division that focuses on cross-border tax issues, has rejoined the firm after working with EY.
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July 08, 2025
Trump Declares 50% Copper Tariff, Floats 200% Pharma Tariff
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will impose a new 50% tariff on copper imported into the U.S., while also raising the possibility of imposing a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals.
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July 08, 2025
Trump Tariff Fights Put Spotlight On Major Questions Doctrine
Challenges to President Donald Trump's global tariffs have brought renewed attention to the U.S. Supreme Court's major questions doctrine, including observations that lower courts have so far inconsistently applied this approach when scrutinizing a range of agency actions.
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July 08, 2025
Tax Court Says IRS Offer In $57M Easement Case Isn't Binding
A settlement offer the Internal Revenue Service said it mistakenly made to a partnership after rejecting its $57 million conservation easement deduction is not binding, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday, declining the partnership's request to enforce the deal.
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July 08, 2025
Tax Tipster's Whistleblower Claims Fail At DC Circ.
Claims by a tax tipster that the U.S. Tax Court had jurisdiction over his case seeking to overturn the IRS' denial of a whistleblower award cannot move forward, the D.C. Circuit found Tuesday while entirely dismissing another case over a similar issue.
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July 08, 2025
11th Circ. Affirms Tax Fraud Conviction, 4-Year Sentence
The Eleventh Circuit upheld a Georgia woman's tax fraud conviction and four-year-plus prison sentence, rejecting her claims that the judge overseeing her case was biased, that her lawyer was ineffective and that a hearing should have been held on whether she was competent to stand trial.
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July 08, 2025
Michigan Cos. Pay $1.9M To Settle PPP Loan Fraud Claims
Four Michigan companies reached settlements worth a combined $1.9 million with the federal government to resolve claims they violated the False Claims Act by making false statements to get Paycheck Protection Program loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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July 08, 2025
High Court Allows Trump's Gov't Cuts And Restructuring
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the Trump administration can move forward with its plans for large-scale layoffs and reorganizations at various federal departments and agencies, lifting a California federal judge's order that had paused the efforts while a legal challenge continues.
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July 08, 2025
Churches Can Endorse Political Candidates, IRS Says
Churches can endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status despite a ban on political activity by certain nonprofits, the IRS said in a Texas federal court document seeking to settle a suit by religious groups that claimed the prohibition on campaigning was unconstitutional.
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July 08, 2025
Hospitality REIT Offloads Seattle Hotel In $145M Deal
Braemar Hotels & Resorts sold a 369-room Seattle hotel for $145 million, a property first purchased in 2007 as part of a 51-property portfolio, the real estate investment trust announced Tuesday.
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July 07, 2025
Trump Orders Treasury To Restrain Solar, Wind Tax Credits
President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday to begin carrying out cuts and restrictions to the solar and wind production and investment tax credits that were mandated in the budget bill Trump signed Friday.
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July 07, 2025
Ex-Essential Oil Co. Manager Gets 6 Years For Fraud
A former manager of an essential oils company was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison Monday for his role in an embezzlement scheme that stripped his employer of more than $29 million and awarded him millions in kickbacks he hid from the IRS, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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July 07, 2025
Countries Get August Ultimatum To Avoid US Tariff Hikes
Goods entering the U.S. from numerous countries will face tariff hikes beginning Aug. 1 unless their governments commit to address trade concerns the U.S. has raised, according to letters President Donald Trump sent Monday.
Expert Analysis
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3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims
Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.
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IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement
Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law
Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals
If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.
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10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks
The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.
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Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing
Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.
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10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master
As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.
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An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future
Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.
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Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance
Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols
Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Maximizing Exemptions Before TCJA Rides Into The Sunset
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Individuals with taxable estates can optimize the benefits of estate planning strategies like spousal lifetime access trusts by setting them up before increases in estate and gift tax exemptions under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunset in January, say attorneys at Katten.
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A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process
The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.