Monthly Archives: April 2015

McDonald Hopkins Named a Finalist for Advisen’s 2015 Cyber Risk Awards

CLEVELAND, Ohio (April 29, 2015) – McDonald Hopkins LLC has been nominated by Advisen readers as a finalist for their 2015 Cyber Risk Awards in the category of Cyber Risk Pre-Breach Team of the Year. The firm’s national data privacy and cybersecurity team, comprised of 20 attorneys, is led by James J. Giszczak. Voting is now open through May 28, 2015. You can request your ballot via email toawards@advisen.com. The winners will be announced on June 17, 2015, at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

The Advisen Cyber Risk Awards are selected by “People’s Choice” and leverage Advisen’s vast contact database of over 40,000 Property and Casualty professionals who focus on cyber risk. The category of Cyber Risk Pre-Breach Team of the Year will honor a team or corporation that has shown excellence in preparing companies to respond to an event pre-breach. This year will mark the 2nd annual Cyber Risk Awards.

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Minimumskrav til virksomhedsejere

Skattelovgivningen for fysiske personer sondrer overordnet imellem, om man er lønmodtager eller selvstændig erhvervsdrivende. Hvis man er selvstændig erhvervsdrivende, er der rundt omkring i skattelovgivningen indført en række særlige regler, der kan indebære særlige fordele set i forhold til lønmodtagere. En af disse forskelle er, at selvstændigt erhvervsdrivende har mulighed for at bruge virksomhedsskatteordningen. Virksomhedsskatteordningen er et regelsæt, der giver den selvstændig erhvervsdrivende mulighed for at fratrække renteudgifter med samme skatteværdi som andre omkostninger, og hvor den skattepligtige har mulighed for at opspare overskud til en foreløbig beskatning. Skatteyderen skal nemlig opgøre sin indkomst i en virksomhedsindkomst og en privat indkomst. I det omfang et overskud overføres til privatindkomsten, bliver dette behandlet som en hævning og indgår i den almindelige skatteberegning på linje med alle mulige andre udtræk. Bliver overskuddet derimod i virksomheden, kan skatteyderen nøjes med en foreløbig beskatning svarende til selskabsskatteprocenten, p.t. for 2015 på 23,5 %.

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Beskatning af fri bil – bevisbyrde for rådgiehd eller mangel på samme

FRYNSEGODE

Fri bil er et ofte anvendt frynsegode til aflønning af ansatte. Hvordan det pågældende frynsegode beskattes er nærmere reguleret i en bestemmelse i ligningslovens § 16, stk. 4. Opgørelsen af frynsegodets værdi er her skematisk fastlagt og giver sjældent anledning til de helt store udfordringer.

Den skatteretlige praksis, der foreligger omkring fri bil, vedrører derfor sjældent, hvordan man skal opgøre fordelen, men derimod de situationer, hvor en skatteyder bliver fanget af en rådighedsbeskatning, uden vedkommende nødvendigvis har tænkt over det. Ved en rådighedsbeskatning forstås, at en skatteyder beskattes af et frynsegode, uanset om skatteyderen har gjort faktisk brug af godet eller ej. Den blotte mulighed for at kunne bruge frynsegodet er tilstrækkelig.

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Aktionærlånsbeskatning – investerings- og udlånsvirksomhed med udfordringer

Som et led i skattereformen for 2012 blev der indført en bestemmelse i ligningslovens § 16 E. Bestemmelsen giver adgang til at gennemføre beskatning af lån fra et selskab til en fysisk person, der har kontrol over selskabet. I skattemæssig henseende er dette ikke et lån, men derimod et beløb, der skal beskattes som løn eller udbytte.

Formålet med denne beskatningsregel er at sikre, at der ikke sker udlån fra selskaber til fysiske personer i større omfang end nødvendigt, uden at det udløser skat.

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Two for Tuesdays: More Challenges to Content Marketing

I’ve still got content marketing on the brain (not surprisingly), and I’m seeing more and more discussion about it in legal circles lately. Remember when Lance Godard of Fisher & Phillips told us that 2015 would be the year of content marketing?

But just because we’re excited and focused on it doesn’t mean that it’s without it challenges. Last week, we looked at two from this WordStream post, and today, we’re going to tackle a couple more. 

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Bill Regarding Non-Compete Agreements Introduced in New York Legislature

A bill has been introduced in the New York State Legislature, aiming to clarify the laws of non-compete and non-solicit agreements in New York.

Introduced by Assemblyman Phil Steck on January 15, 2015 and by State Senator Andrew Lanza on March 20, 2015, the bill (A2147/S4447) is entitled “Policy Against Restraint of Trade,” and operates from the premise that the Court of Appeals decision in BDO Seidman v. Hirshberg, 93 N.Y.2d 382 (1999) has led to confusion in the law of non-competes, particularly in the application of a balancing test in which an employer’s interest in enforcing a non-compete or non-solicit covenant is weighed against the employee’s interest in earning a livelihood.

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ILN Today Post

SEVEN HOWARD & HOWARD ATTORNEYS NAMED TO SEVERAL COMMITTEES WITHIN THE ILLINOIS STATE BAR ASSOCIATION

Royal Oak, Michigan, April 28, 2015:  Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that several of our attorneys have been appointed/reappointed to various committees within the Illinois State Bar Association for the 2015-2016 term.  Mr. Gilmartin practices out of the Firm’s Chicago office while the other six attorneys practice out of the Firm’s Peoria office. More…

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Employment Law and the Election

The outcome of the upcoming general election could have a large impact on employment law, with various proposed changes appearing in party manifestos. A key potential change would be the devolution of the Employment Tribunal system in Scotland, draft provisions for which are contained in the Scotland Bill 2015 following the report of the Smith Commission. It remains to be seen whether these provisions will become law. If they do, it means that the potential exists for there to become greater differences between the Employment Tribunal in Scotland and those in England and Wales.

This is generally not mentioned in the manifestos of the various parties, but proposals regarding a number of employment law issues are. Looking at the manifestos of the Conservatives, Greens, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and UKIP, issues which tend to feature are the minimum wage, changes to zero hours contracts, discrimination and employment tribunal fees.

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TAMSIN R. KAPLAN PRESENTS “EMPLOYMENT LAW ESSENTIALS” TO NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

On April 23, Davis Malm shareholder Tasmin R. Kaplan presented “Employment Law Essentials” to a group of non-profit organizations receiving grants from The Lenny Zakim Fund. The presentation addressed a broad range of current employment law topics, including the “dos and don’ts” of hiring new employees, compensation for interns, and the new Sick-Leave Initiative and Parental Leave Act. Ms. Kaplan co-presented with Mark Iriving, a board member of The Lenny Zakim Fund and a well-known mediator and arbitrator.

The Lenny Zakim Fund, established by Lenny Zakim in 1995, supports non-profit groups who demonstrate the will and potential to make a difference, but lack the necessary resources. The Fund provides financial support, technical assistance and networking opportunities to individuals and grassroots organizations. To learn more about the Fund, visit its website.

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Employee Benefits Alert: The DOL Proposed Regulations on Fiduciaries

After many years and many false starts, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a package of proposed regulations and prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs) addressing who is a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).  These proposed regulations and PTEs, if ultimately finalized as currently drafted, will make changes, some more dramatic than others, in how investment professionals deal with ERISA-covered retirement plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

The genesis of these proposed regulations is the DOL’s concern that plan sponsors, plan participants, and IRA holders are not being well-served by some in the investment community. The DOL believes that a subset of investment professionals are more interested in their own compensation than in serving the best interest of the plans or IRAs.

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