The Supreme Court often agrees to rule on issues where individual appeals courts have come to different conclusions, in order to create a uniform national legal standard. This was the situation when the court passed down a 5-4 decision for Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. The question being decided was whether the Federal Arbitration Act  Continue Reading »

Does your Maine company need a chief financial officer but you can’t afford to hire one full time? Or do you need someone to help prepare your business to be sold, handle a special project, or cover for an executive who is ill or left the organization? A temporary, or interim, CFO usually has a variety  Continue Reading »

TiVo Research & Analytics, Inc. v. TNS Media Research LLC A damages case involving significant amounts of money began to unravel when the trial court excluded the plaintiff’s expert, saying the damages opinion failed the causation requirement. The plaintiff’s subsequent effort to prove its claim through lay witness testimony also came to nothing. On remand,  Continue Reading »

Would you leave the front door of your house unlocked? Probably not. What about your business or not-for-profit organization? Even more unlikely. While we like to think the best of our fellow Mainers, leaving the front door unlocked would welcome in the thieves. Not having strong anti-fraud controls in place at your business to protect  Continue Reading »

The U.S. corporate tax rate has historically been among the highest in the world. The DPAD (domestic production activities deduction) was created by Congress years ago to help even out the playing field between American manufacturers and their competitors operating in countries with lower tax rates. Before the Tax Jobs and Cuts Act (TCJA), C corporations  Continue Reading »

Perez v. First Bankers Trust Services, Inc. Close on the heels of the Brundle case, in which the court ruled the ESOP trustee was liable for a $28 million overpayment, comes a second decision finding trustee liability. In tandem, these cases drive home the point that an ESOP trustee is ultimately accountable for determining fair  Continue Reading »

Fewer than 100 of the thousands of cases appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court each year get a full-blown hearing and ruling. Encino Motorcars v. Navarro is one case that did make it through in the current court term. We wrote about this previously in relation to the question of whether car dealer service advisors  Continue Reading »

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) may have interfered in some of your summer plans by scaling back or eliminating certain tax breaks. But individuals and small business owners in Maine still have lots of opportunities to save on their taxes. Check out these six ideas for this summer. Host an Employee Outing Under  Continue Reading »

In early January, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) put out a fact sheet that details how the agency is aligning its policy on intern employment status with new rulings by several U.S. appellate courts. In the past, it would have been much more difficult to bring interns on board without needing to pay them minimum  Continue Reading »

Would you be interested in investing in a business that allows you to later sell your stock tax-free? It may be an option for qualified small business corporation (QSBC) stock that was acquired on or after September 28, 2010. Sales of QSBC stock may be eligible for a 100% federal income tax exclusion. That would be  Continue Reading »