Does Your Company's Website Privacy Policy Pass the Test?
During the last year, Facebook®, Twitter®, and Google® each settled disputes with the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") relating to website privacy, and Google® has reported…
Your Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption - Use it or Lose it?
All individual taxpayers have a window of opportunity for passing their assets to family members or other individuals with less gift tax than ever under current tax law. But this window …
Conservation Easement Opportunities: Protect Natural Resources, Receive Tax Savings
Conservation easements may be a great example of "doing well by doing good." They help conserve fish and wildlife, clean water, natural habitats, historic properties, farmland, and timbe…
SPECIAL BULLETIN: Shale Gas Leases - Pitfalls for Unwary Landowners
Interest in shale gas development is reaching a fevered pitch in North Carolina. Shale gas is natural gas found in shale deposits a few thousand feet below the surface. The North C…
What do “Fairness” and the Middle Class Have to do With Your Independent Contractors?
The Obama Administration has been talking a lot about "fairness" these days. President Obama has identified this time in history as a "make or break moment for the middle class," and he …
Top Ten “Non-Tax” Estate Planning Recommendations
Effective January 1, 2011, a new federal law increased the federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax to $5,000,000. The new law also created "portability" with respect t…
It's Official: The “Race” is On...and Other Provisions of the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ("AIA") was signed into law by President Obama. The AIA ushers in the most dramatic change to U.S. patent law since the early 1…
The Importance of Being Prepared Before You Are Sued: Don't Let Broad Document Discovery Requests Take You By Surprise
Scholar and author James P. Carse has written: "[t]o be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated." Although Carse's comment was in …