President Obama’s Budget Impacts Intentionally Defective Trusts

If President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal passes then a grantor trust would be included in the grantor’s estate or used to pay gift taxes if trust assets are distributed before the grantor’s death or the grantor ceases to be treated as the owner.  This attempt to deter the

Please click the link below to view the Trust, Estates & Taxation Newsletter-Fall 2012. Adobe Reader is required to view the bulletin. If Adobe Reader is not installed on your PC, click here to download and install.

Trust, Estates & Taxation Newsletter-Fall 2012

Several thousand U.S. military personnel have recently returned or will soon return from tours of duty.  Employers have obligations to military personnel and their families under both state and federal laws.  

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects the employment rights of service members who are voluntarily or involuntarily absent from their

The past term’s insurance law decisions by the Court of Appeals generally did not involve the rather traditional slew of insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, and insurance fraud rulings that usually comprise the Court’s insurance law docket. The opinions, however, are by no means any less significant, or less interesting. Mostly rendered by a unanimous

New York health care providers employ almost one million employees in New York State and are subject to a wide array of employment laws as well as unique challenges and issues.  Most of these laws apply to health care providers regardless of whether they employ four or four thousand employees.  This column will briefly summarize

At a recent meeting, the Public Health and Health Planning Council (“PHHPC”) approved a preliminary plan to overhaul and streamline the Certificate of Need system in New York.  Previously, the plan was unanimously adopted by the Committee on Health Planning.  The plan is based on nine recommendations, which among other things, would reduce or

On August 6, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and the State of Nevada entered into a settlement with Renown Health (“Renown”) regarding Renown’s anticompetitive actions in the Reno cardiology market. The FTC alleged that Renown’s acquisition of two cardiology groups in the area effectively removed all competition from the market. As part of the

On July 6, CMS released its proposed rule (the “Rule”) for Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment Systems (“HOPS”) and Ambulatory Surgery Center Payment Systems (“ASC Payments”) which was published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2012.  The final rule is expected to be published on November 30, 2012.  The Rule would increase reimbursement for HOPS

The headline could read “ABA drags lawyers, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century,” but that would not tell the whole story. In reality, for the past decade or more, lawyers have increasingly relied on technology to practice law, but that reliance has grown so incrementally that its potential impact on ethical responsibilities may not

Appellate Court Reinstates Claims Against Homeowner’s Insurer

A homeowner sued his insurer for damage from a burst water pipe. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision to dismiss the homeowner’s claims for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, finding that the insurer’s alleged conduct “did not so transcend the bounds

Robert Mericle, the owner of Mericle Construction, a company that built private juvenile facilities, was sued for his alleged role in a judicial kickback scheme. After he tendered the claims to the insurance company that had issued him a commercial general liability insurance policy, the insurer denied coverage. The insurer then filed a declaratory

The plaintiff in this case worked as an engineer for the Boeing Company. Under Boeing’s long term disability plan, employees who were totally disabled as a result of accidental injury or illness were eligible for long term disability benefits. During the first 24 months of disability, the plan’s “own occupation” definition of disability applied, under

On June 22, 2012, the New York State legislature passed A8869-B Gottfried / S6228-B Hannon, an Act to Amend the Public Health Law, in Relation to Accountable Care Organizations.  The bill now only needs the signature of Governor Andrew Cuomo before becoming law.

The bill seeks to promote the formation of accountable care organizations (ACOs)

Taylor v. Harbour Pointe Homeowners Association, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16216 (2d Cir. Aug. 2, 2012)

While attorneys’ fees are more regularly awarded to prevailing plaintiffs under various federal anti-discrimination statutes, prevailing defendants in such cases are not typically awarded attorneys’ fees unless they can demonstrate that the plaintiff’s claims were “frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless,

Please click the link below to view Foreign Parallel Proceedings From the United States Perspective: Do the Courts Need A Crystal Ball? Adobe Reader is required to view the bulletin. If Adobe Reader is not installed on your PC, click here to download and install.

Foreign Parallel Proceedings From the United States Perspective: Do the