In his speech before the 23RD Annual Institute on Current Issues in International Taxation in Washington, DC on December 9, 2010, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said that the IRS is “seriously considering” a new partial amnesty program for taxpayers who report secret offshore bank accounts. Shulman said that the IRS may repeat a voluntary disclosure…

As we await the release of the FTC Green Guides, advertisers also should be aware of the BBB’S National Advertising Division (“NAD”) as a potential means for dispute resolution for false advertising claims. The Better Business Bureau’s NAD offers a self-regulatory mechanism for remedying false advertising claims made in nationally distributed advertisements. The system is designed to provide a streamlined…

San Francisco-Based Firm Expands to New York with Keystone Hire New York, NY, October 19,  2010–Rimon Law Group, a growing law firm comprised of partner-level attorneys, is pleased to announce that Robin Powers has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office. She brings more than a decade of experience as a…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) was created in 1914 to regulate unfair trade practices. It issued its first set of Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (commonly known as the Green Guides) under in 1992, which it then updated in 1996 and 1998. The Green Guides are meant to provide guidance to marketers so they can avoid…

Pipe dreams of trademark protection for marijuana go up in smoke . . . On April 20, 2010 the USPTO issued a federal service mark registration to Sunny Chan d/ba Good Leaf Collective for the mark GOOD LEAF COLLECTIVE for “Retail store and on-line retail store services featuring medical marijuana”. Ironically (and probably much to the delight…

On June 23, the Obama Administration approved $1.5 billion in “Hardest Hit Fund” foreclosure-prevention funding for state Housing Financing Agencies. The funding is meant to support struggling homeowners in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada. President Obama established the “Hardest Hit Fund” in February 2010 in order to provide aid to those most affected by…

The Supreme Court recently held in City of Ontario v. Quon that in certain circumstances an employer has the right to read text messages sent from and delivered to a pager issued by the employer to one of its employees. While reading employee text messages may generally violate the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against “unreasonable searches and seizures,”…

On May 28th, the House passed H.R. 4213, the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act.” The Act addresses an array of issues, but has particular signficance for certain partnership and LLC “carried interests” for investment fund managers. If it goes through, the Act would prevent investment fund managers of venture capital, private equity, hedge…

In the recently decided case of Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, the Ninth Circuit upheld a 2004 district court’s decision to certify a class that could potentially consist of 1.5 million women employed by Wal-Mart since 1997. Through this gender discrimination class action, the employees seek back pay, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief. The plaintiffs allege that…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 10-22 on April 20, 2010. The notice, which came in light of recent abuses in Regulation D offerings, was intended to be a reminder to broker-dealers of their obligation to conduct a reasonable investigation of the issuer and the securities they recommend in offerings made under…