Corporate Governance
February 24, 2005
Recent amendments to the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines make several significant changes to the provisions concerning corporate compliance programs, and reinforce broader shifts taking place in the field of corporate governance. Just as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act imposes additional duties on corporate boards for the integrity of a company's financial controls, the new guidelines seek to make boards responsible for promoting the effectiveness of a corporation's legal and ethical controls. Boards of directors must assume responsibility for the effectiveness of compliance programs, which now encompass not only criminal laws but also ethics and corporate culture.
Executive Compensation: Are You In Compliance?
February 24, 2005
What does the in-house lawyer need to be doing today to be prepared for the upcoming Proxy Statement season and to ensure that his client's deferred compensation plans and agreements are in compliance with (or exempt, <i>ie</i>, grandfathered, from) IRC '409A?
Surviving a Malpractice Fiasco: 10 Views
February 24, 2005
Recently I asked members of <i>A&FP</i>'s Editorial Board and several new contributors for their thoughts on how a law firm might best deal with the financial blow of an unusually large settlement or penalty assessed against the firm. <br>Although a large financial hit could arise from many scenarios, including a client slipping on a banana peel near the firm's negligently wide-open elevator shaft, our 10 discussants immediately zoomed in on professional malpractice as the source of liability on which to focus.
Health Savings Accounts: Recent Improvements
February 24, 2005
The federal government is bending over backwards to simplify, liberalize and encourage the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). In a recent announcement, for example, the Treasury Department detailed just how easy it is for banks to offer HSAs to their customers. Recent guidance from the IRS has tried to allow as many taxpayers to qualify as possible.
Leasehold Improvements: New Window of Opportunity for Tax Savings
February 24, 2005
Perhaps inadvertently, Congress gave a double profitability boost to law partners when it recently enacted the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 ' a provision of which slashes the recovery period for leasehold improvements. To take advantage of these benefits, however, firms must invest in qualified leasehold improvements during 2005.
A&FP Congratulates Bill Brennan
February 24, 2005
Legal management consultancy Altman Weil, Inc. has named our Board Member William F. Brennan, CPA, CMA, as the firm's newest principal.
Joseph A. Bailey, Jr. Rejoins A&FP Board
February 24, 2005
<i>A&FP</i> warmly welcomes back PwC Tax Partner and U.S. Law Firm Tax Services Leader Joseph A. Bailey, Jr. for a new tour of duty on our Board of Editors.
Can Your Firm Serve Small Clients Profitably?
January 27, 2005
In one chapter of his 2004 book, <i>The First Myth of Legal Management is that It Exists</i>, Ed Wesemann argues that small clients disproportionately drain the resources of law firms while providing a disproportionately small contribution to firm profits. He proposes ways to help firms focus on serving larger clients, while also improving the profitability of small clients who stay with the firm.
Welcoming Ed Wesemann to A&FP's Board
January 27, 2005
<i>Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms</i> is pleased to announce that H. Edward Wesemann has joined our Board of Editors.
New Tax Rules May Affect Payments To Retiring Partners
January 27, 2005
One of the most important provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 establishes a new regime for taxing deferred compensation. Newly created Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code likely will affect every arrangement now in place or hereafter adopted that promises the payment of deferred compensation to current and former employees, directors and other service providers. Such an arrangement may well include a partnership's unfunded retirement program for its partners.
