Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts

  

  The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.

• IRS Green Energy Tax Credit Notice Provides Needed Clarity

  

  Recent IRS guidance clarifying how the government will determine energy community locations for purposes of bonus clean energy tax credits should help resolve risk allocation disagreements among financing parties and parties to merger and acquisition transactions, say Casey August and Paul Gordon at Morgan Lewis.

• 3 Reasons Why Congress Should Stay Out Of NY Trump Probe

  

  Congress members should reconsider their investigation of the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of former President Donald Trump for several key reasons — and if they persist, future congressional leadership should adopt a rule prohibiting this kind of local interference, say Kenyen Brown and Kevin Carroll at Hughes Hubbard.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Legitimizes Classwide Injury In Predominance

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling that vacated class certification in Van v. LLR makes clear that the question of injury is highly relevant to the predominance analysis, and underscores the importance of making a persuasive argument that injury is individualized within the class, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy

  

  As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

• Ohio Tax Talk: Tax Amendments In Operating Budget Proposal

  

  Starting in 2023, the Ohio House of Representatives' budget bill would amend sales and use, income, and commercial activity tax provisions, so individuals and businesses must monitor its progression, considering the revisions could carry consequences or liability for taxpayers, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

• IRS' Cost Method Update Is Favorable For RE Developers

  

  The Internal Revenue Service's recent update to its alternative cost method will allow real estate developers to accelerate their cost recovery of improvements in certain circumstances and make it easier for practitioners to satisfy the method's tax compliance requirements, says Benjamin Oklan at Weil.

• Opinion

  Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats

  

  An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

• The Key Issues Keeping Transfer Pricing A Top Tax Concern

  

  Several challenges preventing a global economic reemergence from the pandemic era are making practitioners reevaluate commonly used transfer pricing models, and embrace new technologies and ways of doing business, say Farnaz Amini and Sophia Castro Jurado at Marcum.

• Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation

  

  A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.

• Cannabis Cos. Must Heed Growing Federal Investigatory Risks

  

  As state-regulated cannabis markets expand rapidly, so too does government oversight, and industry participants must plan ahead to avoid potential liabilities related to workplace health and safety requirements, tax audits, securities regulations and foreign bribery laws, say Alicia Corona and Amy Rubenstein at Dentons.

• A Tale Of 2 State Tax Sourcing Decisions: The Pa. Court's Path

  

  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision in Synthes v. Commonwealth appropriately effectuated the Legislature's intent that ambiguous provisions in Section 17 of the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act be construed to reflect the marketplace for the taxpayer's services, says Bruce Fort at the Multistate Tax Commission.

• A Tale Of 2 State Tax Sourcing Decisions: The Va. Court's Path

  

  The Virginia Supreme Court's textualist approach in Department of Taxation v. R.J. Reynolds diverges from a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court analysis and mistakenly precludes consideration of the goals and history underlying provisions of the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act, says Bruce Fort at the Multistate Tax Commission.

• Opinion

  Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse

  

  The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.

• Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts

  

  With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.