Taylor English Duma LLP

Obamacare Summary of Benefits and Coverage FAQs

ted — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:12:07 +0000

The Department of Labor last Friday released further guidance on how employers which sponsor healthcare plans are to comply with the requirement under Obamacare to provide a “summary of benefits and coverage” or SBC for open enrollment periods which begin on or after September 23, 2012. The guidance is in the form of 14 questions and answers. (Click here to see this Q & A). These questions and answers supplement final DOL regulations which were released on February 14, 2012 (see Federal Register Final Rules for EBSA for 2012 at dol.gov) and a set of 24 questions and answers which were released on March 19, 2012 (Click here to see this Q & A). Please contact us if you wish to discuss these questions and answers in specific or the requirement to provide an SBC in general.

Michael Trotter Talks to Lawyers Weekly about Why Big-Firm Economics Go Wrong

ted — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:04:07 +0000

This article discusses the implosion of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and Trotter’s books “Profit and the Practice of Law” and “Declining Prospects,” in which he chronicles the law firm profession changes since 1960 and make some predictions about its future.

Click here to read the article.

Additional DOL Guidance on Participant-Level Disclosures

ted — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:52:57 +0000

Late yesterday the DOL released further guidance on how to comply with the DOL’s participant-level disclosure regulations. There is a link to these regulations in our Employee Benefit Plan Alert dated February 28, 2012, which is on our Taylor English website. Click here to view The new guidance issued yesterday is in the form of 38 questions and answers and is set forth in Field Assistance Bulletin 2012-02. Click here to view The compliance deadline for the participant-level disclosures is August 30, 2012. Finally, the DOL has issued fiduciary disclosure regulations, and the compliance deadline for these disclosures is July 1, 2012. DOL representatives report that further guidance on how to comply with these fiduciary disclosure regulations will be released shortly.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Quoted in New York Times DealB%k

ted — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:19:51 +0000

In the New York Times DealBook Q&A, Trotter is interviewed and asked about his thoughts on the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP crisis. Trotter is asked how the publication of his book “Declining Prospects” comes at a moment when Dewey faces the risk of collapse and that the turmoil at the firm appears to be a manifestation of a lot of the issues that Trotter discusses in his book. His response: “I don’t think Dewey’s problems are just a matter of a management mistake here or there but instead reflect a change in the fundamental competitive environment in the legal services industry. Many of the larger firms that serve major business clients are caught up in these changes.”

Click here to read the Q/A online.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Quoted in Bloomberg BusinessWeek

ted — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:04:20 +0000

The Bloomberg BusinessWeek article discusses the turmoil surrounding Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. Trotter notes, “If their collective top line had increased at the rate of inflation, it would have been the equivalent of $6.9 billion in 2010.” As noted in the article, in Trotter’s book, “Declining Prospects,” he “quotes Robin Sangston, now the general counsel of Cox Communications Inc., on what happened when one specialty partnership merged into a mega-firm: ‘Their rates went up, their hourly requirements went up, and I started getting marketed’ to buy unwanted additional services.”

Click here to read the article.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Interviewed by Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s “On Point,” along with two others

ted — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:01:51 +0000

Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s show “On Point,” interviews Trotter, author of “Profit and the Practice of Law: What’s Happened to the Legal Profession,” along with Jennifer Smith, legal affairs reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Bill Henderson, professor of Law and Val Nolan Faculty Fellow at Indiana University. They discuss “the business of law, in trouble.”

Click here to listen to the podcast online.

Member Michael Trotter and Author of New Book, “Declining Prospects,” Quoted in Fulton County Daily Report’s ATLaw Blog

ted — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:55:48 +0000

The blog post recaps Trotter’s interview with the New York Times. The post states: “He told the Times that the future offers less work for more lawyers, lower compensation and longer hours.” Also recapping Trotter’s new book, “Declining Prospects,” the post says the book “makes the case that the legal profession is reeling from a painful reshaping brought about by changing market forces.”

Click here to read the article.

Workplace Bullies: How Employers Can Detect and Prevent Workplace Bullying Before It Escalates to Violence

ted — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:58:06 +0000

Bullying in the workplace is a real epidemic in our society. Courts and legislatures are steadily working to expand employer liability for bullying that occurs on the job. Thus, employers must begin to take bullying as seriously as more traditional forms of harassment, because of the consequences – from both a safety and liability perspective – are as severe. This article examines the negative personal and organizational effects of bullying bosses, how to spot an abusive supervisor, and the steps to prevent vertical bullying. Finally, the article explores a possible upside for employers to the increasing attention on bullying: earlier detection and prevention of workplace violence.

Click here to read the article.

Co-authored by Amy Loggins, Joseph M. English and Alison M. Ballard, ACC Docket, Association of Corporate Counsel, Vol. 30, No. 3, April 2012

Tax to Fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund

ted — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:17:19 +0000

The Internal Revenue Service on April 12 released a 61 page proposed regulation on the tax on group health plans which will fund Obamacare’s Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. The insurance company pays the tax for an “insured” group health plan, and the plan sponsor pays the tax for a “self-insured” group health plan. However, the proposed regulation clearly suggests that a group health plan will be treated as an “insured” group health plan only if 100% of the plan’s benefits are provided under an insurance policy. Thus a plan sponsor appears to be responsible for the tax unless 100% of the plan’s benefits are provided under an insurance policy. The tax for calendar year plans for 2012 is $1 times the average number of covered “lives” under the plan, and the tax for 2012 will be due no later than July 31, 2013. The tax will double for 2013 and then go up some more each year while the tax is in effect so the tax might be more than a rounding error down the road. Click here to read a copy of the proposed regulation. Please contact Don Kohla or Jan Marsh for additional information.

Crowdfunding Under the JOBS Act: The Bottom Line Impact on Private Equity Issuers and Market Intermediaries

ted — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:44:35 +0000

On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”), H.R. 3606, into law calling it “a potential game-changer” for startup companies. President Obama signed the JOBS Act just over a week after it was passed by Congress with strong bipartisan support. The stated purpose of the JOBS Act is to “increase American job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies.”

The JOBS Act contains several provisions that open new doors for both public and private emerging companies. However, Title III of the Jobs Act, named the “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2012,” or the CROWDFUND Act, has by far generated the most discussion and debate in the context of the private equity marketplace. The CROWDFUND Act has been added as new Section 4(6) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

The concept of “crowdfunding” – or raising money privately from a large pool of individuals – is not a new one. For example, a charitable organization soliciting donations from the public at large, oftentimes in small dollar increments, falls within the guise of crowdfunding. Additionally, private companies previously have been permitted to engage in crowdfunding activities pursuant to existing exemptions under federal securities laws, e.g., Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act, as long as all other conditions of such exemptions are met. Title III of the new JOBS Act codifies “crowdfunding” as a separate exemption for private securities offerings and provides parameters for issuers and market intermediaries that obviate the need to comply with other conditions of exemptions such as Regulation D.

Click here to read more