Employment Agreements and Severance
August 31, 2006
Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code was enacted on Oct. 22, 2004 in an effort to regulate executive pay practices through the federal tax system. Failure to account for ' 409A's impact can seriously and adversely affect the economics of employment agreements, severance agreements, and other similar plans or other arrangements providing for a deferral of compensation. Consequently, this article details how ' 409A applies to these arrangements.
Records Management Goes 'C Suite'
August 31, 2006
Just 5 years ago, if you were to approach a C-suite executive about discussing his company's record-keeping policies and procedures, you likely would have been shown the door. After all, wasn't record-keeping, file storage and electronic data retrieval the purview of middle management; perhaps residing somewhere in facilities management, information technology, or human resources? Today, a few years and numerous perspective-changing developments later, a topic that once resided quietly in back offices and file rooms has emerged at the epicenter of high-level business conversations around internal controls and risk management. What happened?
Disposal of Computer Systems: Removal of Information
August 16, 2006
Your business is in the process of upgrading and replacing its computer assets and deciding what to do with the old servers, computers, and laptops. You might sell them, donate them to charity, or simply toss them in the garbage because they are 5 or more years old. Before you choose any disposal option, however, you should first consider what type of information may be stored on those old computer assets and then determine whether your business has a duty to protect that information as part of the disposal process.
Retiring a Defined Benefit Pension Plan
August 01, 2006
According to a 2005 report of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC, the agency that administers the federal insurance program for DB plans), more than 2700 DB plans ' nearly 10% of all PBGC-insured plans ' were frozen as of 2003, and more than 165,000 DB plans were terminated between 1975 and 2004. This same period has seen a rise in popularity of defined contribution (DC) and other individual account plans (IAPs), such as 401(k) plans. This article explores the thinking that has led many employers to freeze and/or terminate their DB plans as a means of managing the risk/reward attributes of their tax-qualified deferred compensation programs, as well as some special considerations for law firm financial managers.
What Every U.S. Employer Should Know About Workplace Privacy
August 01, 2006
Through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Congress called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations that would help ensure the privacy and security of health information. The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (the Privacy Rule) and the Security Standards (the Security Rule) promulgated pursuant to HIPAA apply to 'covered entities' and limit the ability of such entities to use or disclose protected health information (PHI). The Privacy Rule defines a 'covered entity' as a health plan, health care clearinghouse, or health care provider who transmits health information in electronic form in connection with certain specified transactions. While the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule do not directly apply to employers, the requirements of these rules do apply to ERISA-covered 'group health plans' that are sponsored by many employers.
Court Watch
July 31, 2006
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Compliance Programs for Private Companies
July 31, 2006
We all know that a proactive Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), combined with implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), and activation of the Public Company Auditor Oversight Board (PCAOB), has triggered intense scrutiny on corporate ethics and accountability. One by-product of this is that the public company has come to serve as a mentor of sorts to the private company in the arena of corporate compliance programs, offering certain 'best practices' that may also be useful to the privately held company, its management, and its shareholders or owners.
The Bad News: You Have a 401(k) Plan
July 31, 2006
This article is intended by the author to comprise Part Four of Four in a series on lawyer retirement planning. Parts One and Two, 'What In the World Is Going on with Lawyer Retirement Planning?' were published in the November and December 2005 issues of LFP&B. Part Three, last month, examined the history of the 401(k) and why there are problems with the popular retirement vehicle. In this part, we find out how to make things better.
Checklist for a New Partner; or, the 12 Most Important Things for a New Partner to Do
July 31, 2006
The late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun once said: 'A wedding is an event; a marriage is an achievement.' Much the same could be said about the attainment of ownership in your professional practice. Your ascension is an event; partnership is an achievement. And so the analogy goes that a law firm partnership is much like a marriage, and a breakup much like a divorce. Life repeats itself in business. But as newly minted partners settle into their new roles, this article provides guidance (some serious, some lighthearted) to begin what I hope will be a long and satisfying achievement ' a partnership. Congratulations.
New Kinds of e-Commerce
July 31, 2006
As more people live in the virtual world ' sometimes also called the digital or synthetic world ' in one of the many so-called massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMPORGs) available online, the potential for monetary abuse and malfeasance grows.
