On March 1, 2024 a United States District Court in Alabama held in National Small Business United dba National Small Business Association v. Yellen (NSBA Case) that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional. ...more
The National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 was enacted on January 1, 2021. While this Bill appears to apply only to the Defense Department, Division F deals with money laundering and contains Title LXI, the Corporate...more
Members of a company’s board who are also investors in the company often have access to detailed information about the company’s finances and its lending facilities. But what happens when an investor-board member could,...more
California Appellate Court Overturns “Sham Guaranty” Defense - The single-purpose entity (SPE) has become a ubiquitous tool in commercial real estate acquisitions and financing in California. Lenders increasingly require...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) introduced the Ombudsman Program on April 6, 2010 with the ostensible goal of advancing patent applications that have stalled during the examination process. Since its...more
New Draft CEQA Guidelines Evaluating Transportation Impacts—Level of Service No Longer Considered to Be an Environmental Impact - The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) was mandated by SB 743 in 2013 to...more
On May 28 2015, The California Court of Appeals issued a decision in Harley-Davidson, Inc. v. Franchise Tax Board, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 672; and it was ultimately about much more than the validity of an election within...more
In new CCA 201525010, the IRS addressed the issue of whether a general “exculpatory” debt of an LLC is recourse or non-recourse for purposes of classifying debt-relief as potential cancellation of debt (COD) income. Recourse...more
Nonrecourse financing is common in today's commercial real estate lending market. So too are the use of special purpose entities ("SPEs") and limited guaranties from SPE members of all or a portion of the debt, the latter of...more
On August 12, the Department of Justice filed a brief in response to the plaintiffs’ opposition to DOJ’s motion to dismiss. A copy of the brief is available here. The plaintiffs are special purpose entities that invested in...more
The Derivatives in Review highlights important legal, regulatory and other newsworthy developments in the area of derivatives....more