Judges are alert to incongruities in valuations, as is clear from a recent condemnation case in which landowners hired three experts to calculate the compensation owed to them. The court excluded all experts under Daubert, and it had particularly harsh words for the valuation expert who was unable to support critical elements of the valuation.  Continue Reading »

Summer is fast approaching, which means many small businesses here in Maine are gearing up for their busiest time of year. Of course, an increase in workload requires an increase in labor to handle it — and that often means hiring teenagers who are out of school for the summer. Hiring young people can be  Continue Reading »

Tucker Cianchette has won a nearly $6 million verdict against his father over the failed buyout of a Yarmouth car dealership, exposing a rift in one of Maine’s most prominent business families. Cianchette sued his father and stepmother, Eric and Peggy Cianchette, on a range of charges after the deal went sour. A Cumberland County  Continue Reading »

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, salaried employees whose job duties are executive, administrative or professional (EAP) in nature and who earn at least $455 per week aren’t eligible for overtime — no matter how many hours they work. Because of this, small business owners in the Portland-area and across Maine often decide to pay  Continue Reading »

Cristofano v. Chahal Perhaps experts feel pressure from the hiring attorney or the client, perhaps they are unable to access key documents or information, or perhaps they simply lack valuation and litigation experience. Whatever the reason, case law provides too many examples in which valuation and damages experts have proffered opinions that were plainly counterfactual  Continue Reading »

Have you considered monitoring your employees’ communications at work? It’s a delicate balance to create a policy to monitor employees activities and protect your company without violating employees’ legal privacy protections. But you may have legitimate reasons for doing so, especially those emails generated on company servers. Reasons to Monitor Emails Why would your company  Continue Reading »

Estate of Powell v. Commissioner  Given the unfavorable optics of a recent case, the Tax Court’s finding that the value of assets transferred from the decedent to a family limited partnership was includible in the value of the decedent’s gross estate is not surprising. What makes the decision noteworthy is that a majority of judges,  Continue Reading »

Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), many businesses in Maine and beyond will pay less federal income taxes in 2018 and going forward. Some of these will spend their tax savings to merge with or acquire another business. Before jumping on the M&A bandwagon, you do need to understand how such transactions  Continue Reading »

Bair v. Bair  When confronted with quantifying the appreciation of non-marital property, it is common for valuators first to classify the change in value as “active” or “passive” and then do the valuation. A Florida case shows that, when applied prematurely, this active/passive analysis may result in an improper valuation.   The parties fought over the valuation  Continue Reading »

Have you been thinking about your drug use policies? Recent trends in the labor market and drug enforcement has encouraged some employers to revise their drug use policies. Here are some of the issues to keep in mind when ensuring your company’s strategy is effective and up-to-date. Changes in the Workplace Generally speaking, workplace drug testing  Continue Reading »