Month: February 2019
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SCOTUS Opinion: Court Limits Immunity Afforded Under The International Organizations Immunity Act Of 1945
Originally, the International Organizations Immunity Act of 1945 (IOIA) granted foreign corporations virtually absolute immunity from suit. In 1952, the State Department adopted a more restrictive view, carving out commercial acts from that immunity. Congress then passed the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in 1976, which specifically excepted commercial activity with a sufficient nexus in the United States ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Eighth Amendment Bars Execution Of Defendant Without “Rational Understanding” Of The Reason For Execution
After he was sentenced to death for killing a police officer, Vernon Madison suffered a series of strokes and was diagnosed with dementia. In a prior series of appeals by Madison, the U.S. Supreme Court held that his mere inability to remember his crime did not establish that Madison was incompetent to be executed. When his execution was rescheduled on ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Failure To File Appeal Is Constitutionally Deficient Even After Defendant Signs Appeal Waiver
In Garza v. Idaho, Garza signed two plea agreements for state crimes, each of which included a waiver of his appeal rights. After he was sentenced, Garza told his counsel that he wanted to appeal. His counsel did not file any appeal, telling Garza that his waivers made any such appeal “problematic.” After the deadline to appeal passed, Garza ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Deadline To Appeal Class Decertification Not Subject To Equitable Tolling
Under Rule 23(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party has 14 days to file with the federal circuit appeals court a petition for permission to appeal an order certifying or decertifying a class action. In Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, when the district court decertified his class action, Troy Lambert chose to file a motion for ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Judges Cannot Vote On Cases After Death
In Yovino v. Rizo, the Ninth Circuit heard the case en banc (with 11 then-sitting judges) to restate that circuit’s interpretation of the Equal Pay Act. Judge Stephen Reinhardt authored the majority opinion that was joined by six of the judges, including Reinhardt himself. The other five judges filed concurrences that reached a similar result but under different ... Read More
TAGGED: scotus, Yovino v. Rizo, Equal Pay Act, appointed for life
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Eighth Amendment Applies To State Civil Forfeitures
Tyson Timbs pleaded guilty to dealing in heroin in Indiana, for which the maximum fine was $10,000. The State sought to use civil forfeiture to seize his SUV, which Timbs bought for $42,000, which was allegedly used to move the heroin. The state trial court denied the State’s request as violative of the Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines, but ... Read More
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Court Again Finds Man Ineligible For Death Penalty Due To Intellectual Disability
In 2017, the Supreme Court held in Moore v. Texas, 581 U.S. ___ (2017), that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals used a flawed analysis to determine that Bobby James Moore was not intellectually disabled, and thus eligible to receive the death penalty. In part, the flaw was that the Texas court focused on Moore’s adaptive strengths instead of ... Read More
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Court Applies Intergovernmental Tax Immunity In Favor Of Federal Retirees
In Dawson v. Steager, West Virginia sought to tax a federal law enforcement retiree’s pension. Under 4 U.S.C. §111, the federal government permits this so long as the state tax does not discriminate on the basis of the source of the compensation, otherwise known as the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine. However, West Virginia, by statute, did not tax ... Read More
TAGGED: scotus, Dawson v. Steager, 4 U.S.C. §111
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Tax Planning for Nonresident Aliens Who Own US Property
Individuals who are not citizens or residents of the United States, known as nonresident aliens (NRA), need to be aware of the U.S. estate and gift taxes that will be applicable to their U.S. fixed assets, for example, U.S. real estate. If an NRA owns fixed assets located in the ... Read More
TAGGED: real estate, irs, nonresident aliens, property, qdot, taxes, trust & estates
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Arthur D. Burger Will Participate on a Panel at this Spring’s American Bar Association’s 34th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference
On Friday, April 12, Arthur D. Burger will participate in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 34th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference in Arlington, Virginia as part of a panel titled, “Rocks and Hard Places for IP Practitioners.” The panel will discuss various ethical issues that IP attorneys need to navigate in order to successfully represent their clients ... Read More
TAGGED: American Bar Association, ABA, Intellectual Property
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In Two Orders, SCOTUS Stays Louisiana Abortion Law, Permits Execution—Both Over Four Dissenters
In June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee, a five-Justice majority (the Chief Justice and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) granted a stay of the Fifth Circuit’s mandate upholding a Louisiana law that required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital. The law is therefore on hold until the Court resolves the petition for certiorari of that ... Read More
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Arthur D. Burger Will Participate on a Panel at the 2019 American Bar Association’s Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility
On Thursday, May 31, Arthur D. Burger will participate in a risk management panel with colleagues from Aon Risk Solutions and Hogan Lovells. The panel is a part of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility in Vancouver, British Columbia and will cover how to evaluate and improve a law firm’s risk management standards and how ... Read More