November 2022 The importance of consumer protection laws can seem unfathomable when you see a label on a sweater reminding you to remove the child before laundering, but laws prohibiting deceptive trade practices and false advertising exist because the incentives to run roughshod over consumers are significant. Since the individual harm resulting from consumer fraud is often small, those laws often provide for statutory damages to give consumers an incentive to pursue their claims and for producers to refrain from defrauding customers. For businesses selling and promoting their products nationally, statutory damages can mount quickly. This article discusses Monera v.…
-
-
Part 1: The Income Tax Treatment of Personal Economic Damages Awards Financial experts are frequently asked about the tax impact of damage awards, both paid and received. The complexities of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) and judicial interpretations thereof make determining the taxability of receipts or payments difficult. The same is true when dealing with the taxability of economic damages awarded to plaintiffs in civil actions. Nuances in the IRC and the judicial interpretations may make it difficult for a taxpayer to determine the taxability of his or her proceeds from a litigation award of personal economic damages. Whether or…
-
Case Summaries from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Appeals Courts of the Sixth and Seventh Circuits A corporation lies in applying for federal loan guarantees—and faces treble damages in United States v. Anchor Mortgage. In Naylor v. Invacare, plaintiff’s request for information plays a key role. Find out more.