If you have employees working from home, and you want to transition them back to the workplace as the economy picks up, you may find it’s harder than you once thought. For some employees, nervousness about remaining health risks is still a factor — especially for those who haven’t been vaccinated. Many Americans planned to  Continue Reading »

Lysengen v. Argent Trust Co. This proposed ESOP class action featured familiar claims against the trustee and several individual defendants. In her complaint, the plaintiff alleged the trustee violated ERISA by allowing the plan to overpay for company stock and by breaching its fiduciary duties. The complaint also claimed the individual defendants, i.e., selling shareholders,  Continue Reading »

To succeed in the 21st century, manufacturers must embrace the latest technological innovations. As part of this trend, factories around the world are starting to use blockchain technology. Although the concept is shared by businesses in various industries, it’s particularly conducive to the manufacturing sector. What Is Blockchain? Blockchain is a database that relies on  Continue Reading »

Lucero v. United States The taxpayer sued the federal government for a refund, arguing she had overpaid income taxes on stock she had received as part of settling a lawsuit against her former employer. She initially relied on the value in the settlement agreement but later claimed this value was inflated. The court agreed, relying  Continue Reading »

In recent years, energy-efficient tax breaks have enticed many manufacturers to “go green.” At the end of 2020, The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) was enacted, which includes various provisions that expand and improve certain green tax breaks. Here are five examples that could benefit your company. 1. Energy-Efficient Buildings Under prior law, a taxpayer could  Continue Reading »

Hartman v. BigInch Fabricators & Construction Holding Co., Inc. Last year, in a compelled buyout, the Court of Appeals sided with the departing minority shareholder when it found discounts did not apply in a closed-market sale. In a freshly minted decision, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, finding there was no blanket  Continue Reading »

Just weeks before President Biden took office, the Trump administration took action to change how employers determined independent contractor status. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is rescinding those regulations, returning the country to the guidelines set by previous administrations. Here is a brief overview of these new (old) regulations. Independent Contractor Status If  Continue Reading »

Marshall v. Marshall Instead of facilitating a resolution, a separation agreement between the divorcing spouses led to a protracted lawsuit. The issue was how to determine alimony where the owner spouse had an interest in a pass-through entity and the agreement was not entirely clear as to what income to consider. On second review, the  Continue Reading »

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law earlier this month, providing a massive infusion of much-needed relief to nearly every corner of the American economy — from individuals to businesses to nonprofits to healthcare organizations and state and local governments. If you’re a business or self-employed individual here in Maine, there are  Continue Reading »

Finkel v. Palm Park, Inc. In allowing LLC members to buy out a departing member to avoid the dissolution of the company, a court had to determine the fair value of the departing member’s interest in a holding company. The court, in large part, relied on the fair market valuation the remaining members’ BV expert  Continue Reading »