The IRS announced that it is withdrawing proposed regulations released last September that would have allowed charities to file information returns with the IRS and donors instead of providing contemporaneous written acknowledgments of charitable donations (REG-138344-13).  Charities that elected to use the new procedure would have been required to obtain donors’ Social Security or other tax identification ...

Should Pension Participants Take the Lump-Sum Option? Traditional pensions are increasingly offering participants a lump-sum payment in lieu of monthly payments over the rest of their lives.  This option makes sense in some cases, but a monthly payment can reduce the chances of running out of money in retirement.  Ann Carrns explains how, unfortunately, not all employees are able to make informed decisions. ...

Last week, Lands’ End, Inc. announced it would write down the value of its flagship trade name asset.  Management’s preliminary guidance could lower the asset’s value by 20%.  Lucas M. Parris, senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, explores that obviously, a non-cash impairment charge is just that, non-cash, but what does it mean for stakeholders and how is such a charge actu ...

Post-Grant Review, Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Ex Parte Re-Examination (EPR) alternatives to Litigation Litigation of Intellectual Property is costly. What alternatives do parties have to costly and protracted litigation? This article discusses various options to litigation. ...

A Meaningful New Year’s Resolution Why is compliance so important to business? What are the reasons and consequences for failing to have a compliance program? In this article, Peter J. Comodeca, Esq. with the law firm of Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP discusses the legal reasons to comply and costs of failing to comply. ...

The Best Source of Referrals is One Not Readily Considered How can one maximize referral opportunities? What separates the most successful professional services firms from the rest? One key difference is surprisingly simple, and often overlooked: successful firms understand the process of referrals. Most firms work under long-held referral assumptions that are not effective. Most believe that winning new bu ...