MA Health Care Reform Law
June 28, 2007
On April 12, 2006, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ('Commonwealth') enacted legislation requiring most state residents to carry health insurance either through their employers or individually. The goal of the legislation is to 'provide access to affordable, quality, accountable healthcare' to everyone in the state, while reducing the percentage of uninsured residents to as close to 0% as possible. The reform law maintains employer-sponsored health insurance as the primary source of coverage for Commonwealth residents. While beneficial to employees, employers are faced with new obligations and the financial burdens of providing health benefits to employees. Employers that fail to provide health insurance to their employees may be subject to a surcharge of $295 annually per employee plus additional penalties.
News Briefs
June 28, 2007
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Inside the Booming Private Equity Market: Experts Share Experiences at IFA Legal Symposium
June 28, 2007
Private equity investors eager to purchase franchise operations have brought a new dimension to franchising in the past few years and have the potential to keep franchising invigorated in the future. A panel discussion at the International Franchise Association's Legal Symposium in May explored the motivations of sellers and buyers in private equity deals and the role that legal counsel plays in getting deals done.
e-Commerce for Credit Managers
June 26, 2007
Collecting bills from firms that exist only on a computer server and monitors is becoming as much a part of Main Street in the 21st century as selling to the corner store was in the19th, and as selling to the mall store was in the 20th century. Suppliers to e-commerce firms, whether of inventory for resale online, or of servers or other equipment used in operations, must be paid, or they will cut off credit or sell only C.O.D.
e-Commerce Continues to Grow
June 26, 2007
The economy racked up another apparent e-commerce activity record in the first quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. The government says that e-commerce sales, which include Internet and other electronically conducted transactions, rang up at a little more than $31.5 billion from January through March, plus or minus a 1.3% margin of error.
Where Does All That Associate Money Go?
May 31, 2007
Kathryn Cole, a 25-year-old who earned her J.D. last year from the University of Michigan Law School, accepted a position at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP in Silicon Valley. Her starting pay was $135,000, but before she even began working she got a $10,000 raise. Then in January, just a few months into the job, her salary went up another $15,000.
Firms Hunting for Stars Re-examine Partner Compensation
May 31, 2007
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP managing partner Mark Walker is old school when it comes to partner compensation. He sees no reason to change Cleary's seniority-based lockstep scheme, in which the spread between the highest- and lowest-paid partner is less than 3:1. It's a no-hassle system — no long meetings explaining bonus decisions and no disputes among partners over credit for bringing in business. And it is the foundation of Cleary's culture, Walker says, which emphasizes the collective over the individual. If the firm is not a magnet for hot lateral candidates who want to be paid like A-Rod, that's okay with Walker. 'My view is that if someone says I'm not going to Cleary Gottlieb because [another firm] is guaranteeing me a salary of X, then they don't belong at our firm anyway.'
Confronting Corrupt Practices: Maintaining a Moral Compass in International Business
May 31, 2007
<i>Hide a dagger in a smile. Murder with a borrowed knife. Loot a burning house.</i> If you cannot anticipate these and the other classic 'Thirty-Six Stratagems' that are widely studied and practiced in China, you may be perilously unprepared to pursue business, including legal business, in the world's largest market. And while China may be an extreme example, analogs of these deceptive and sometimes corrupt practices appear in other cultures worldwide.
Associates Need Financial Savvy: Ten Concepts Managing Partners Wish Associates Knew Better
May 31, 2007
A solid grasp of financial and accounting fundamentals can enormously enhance the value of a young attorney's work product. I often saw evidence of this in my previous legal administrator role for a 50-attorney Denver law firm. In my current CPA practice, in which I serve more than 20 law firms on an ongoing basis, I see the same pattern in working closely with attorneys on tax planning and compliance, financial reporting, fraud investigations, forensic accounting, and business appraisals.
