Generally speaking, under the ‘final judgment rule,’ a party can only appeal a final judgment—a decision that fully decides and disposes of the whole case, leaving no further questions for future consideration. This judicial...more
Reliably Determining Reasonable Royalty Rates from Lump Sum Licenses - In Ecofactor, Inc. V. Google LLC, Appeal No. 23-1101, The Federal Circuit held that license agreements containing a lump sum payment “based on” a royalty...more
What is happening? From 6 April 2024, the LTA will be abolished and a new regime for the taxation of lump sums and lump sum death benefits will be introduced. This is the most significant change to the UK pensions tax...more
As employers will be aware, the lifetime allowance (LTA) will be abolished from 6 April 2024. The LTA is the maximum amount of tax-relieved savings that an individual can build up in registered pension schemes over their...more
In a recent unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Arkansas Court of Appeals held that Section 916 of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) bars the transfer of LHWCA structured settlement annuity...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that an accused infringer was entitled to a new trial relating to validity issues but still faced sanctions for its continuous disregard of its discovery obligations....more
After years of historically low interest rates (which results in larger lump sum pension amounts), there have been significant interest rate increases during 2022. Prospects for 2023 are for more of the same. While many...more
Inflation is at a 40-year high – reaching 8.6% in May, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) news release earlier this month. The rise of consumer product costs, including food and gasoline, have all contributed to...more
Over the past several weeks, I have released a series of articles on North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Death Claims. The series has addressed the following five overarching issues...more
MLC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LLC v. MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. Before Newman, Reyna, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Summary: When relying upon lump sum...more
As of August 11, 2021, New Hampshire joined all 49 states and the District of Columbia, formally enacting its own Structured Settlement Protection Act (SSPA) when Governor Chris Sununu signed SB 134 into law. Broadly,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which held that retirees could receive money damages in the form of recalculated benefits in a class action...more
In a surprising move to many, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently put the mortgage servicing industry on notice that including certain options for repayment of a shortage in an escrow account statement...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) published a final rule (Final Rule) on September 9 providing that effective January 1, 2021, it will use the interest and mortality assumptions under Internal Revenue Code...more
The FCC took another significant step in the C-Band reallocation process, releasing its Final Cost Category Schedule for Relocation Expenses of C-Band (3.7-4.2 GHz) satellite licensees. The Public Notice accompanying the...more
It goes without saying that in the world of construction contracts … words matter! There is language in the Goes decision that a cost-plus contract imposes upon the contractor an implied duty to incur reasonable and proper...more
In its first installment of opinions letters in 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) addressed two issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”): (i) the salary basis requirements in the...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued two new opinion letters which clarify how employers should calculate the overtime rate when employees are paid lump-sum bonuses and when employers...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued two Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) opinion letters on January 7, 2020, addressing questions regarding overtime calculation for nondiscretionary lump sum bonuses and per-project...more
Getting the new year off to a quick start, the United States Department of Labor issued three Opinion Letters on January 7, 2020. These letters concern the salary basis test and overtime calculations under the Fair Labor...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest development in the ultra-high stakes nationwide Prescription Opiate Litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently granted the petition of six Ohio cities to appeal the ...more
August 2019 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts AFRs - Important federal interest rates continued to drop for August 2019. The August...more
In IRS Notice 2019-18, the IRS announced that it no longer intends to issue regulations that prohibit pension plans from offering to retirees who have already begun annuity payments the choice to receive the value of the...more
Due to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) change in course published in Notice 2019-18, plan sponsors may now offer retirees lump-sum windows as another pension “de-risking” option. Plan sponsors considering pension de-risking...more
IRS Re-Opens the Door to Retiree Lump Sum Windows - The IRS recently issued Notice 2019-18, reversing its prior position set forth in Notice 2015-49 that offering retirees in pay status the opportunity to elect a “cash...more