Eleventh Circuit Digs Deep to Revive SCAD Trademark Suit
Posted on Oct 10, 2017 in Intellectual Property | Comments Off on Eleventh Circuit Digs Deep to Revive SCAD Trademark Suit
In an October 3, 2017, opinion, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit reversed the Northern District of Georgia’s grant of summary judgment for the defendant in a trademark-infringement suit brought by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). In Savannah College of Art and Design, Inc. v. Sportswear, Inc., 2017 WL 4369451, the court held that the district court erred in concluding that...
You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: “Midco” Transaction Exposes Sellers to Transferee Liability
Posted on Oct 6, 2017 in Taxation | Comments Off on You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: “Midco” Transaction Exposes Sellers to Transferee Liability
Consider the following situation: You’re a major stockholder in a corporation whose assets have appreciated in value, and you want to sell. You would really like to structure the deal as a sale of stock in order to avoid capital gains tax on the corporation’s appreciated assets. When you contact potential buyers, you find that they all want to structure the purchase as an asset sale...
“This is a tax case. Fear not, keep reading.”
Posted on Oct 2, 2017 in Taxation | Comments Off on “This is a tax case. Fear not, keep reading.”
These are the opening words of Judge Kevin Newsom’s opinion for the court in Morrissey v. United States, 2017 WL 4229063 (11th Cir. Sept. 25, 2017). What interested the court in the case were two issues: whether the expenses that a gay man incurred to father children through in vitro fertilization are deductible medical expenses under section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code; and, if...
Government Official Entitled to Qualified Immunity—No Clearly Established First Amendment Violation in Not Promoting Employee Based on Father’s Speech
Posted on Sep 23, 2017 in Employment Law and Employee Benefits | Comments Off on Government Official Entitled to Qualified Immunity—No Clearly Established First Amendment Violation in Not Promoting Employee Based on Father’s Speech
In last term’s decision in White v. Pauly, the Supreme Court observed that it has “issued a number of opinions reversing federal courts in qualified immunity cases” in recent years. 137 S. Ct. 548, 551 (2017). In other words, lower courts have been too quick to conclude that challenged conduct violates “clearly established federal statutory or constitutional rights” (and therefore is...