Commissioner v. Banks, Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Kennedy, January 24, 2005 . Excerpt: To clarify why the issue here is of any consequence for tax purposes, two preliminary observations are useful. The first concerns the general issue of deductibility. For the tax years in question the legal expenses in these cases could [...]

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law: "I am very reluctantly coming to believe that there's about a 50% chance that a senior administration official will face a war crime trial either for ordering or condoning torture, or for the excessive bombing and civilian casualties in Iraq. I think it's most likely to happen [...]

US Senate Republicans Monday announced that in the new Congressional session they will consider putting limits on awards in class-action lawsuits before taking on President George W. Bush's top domestic goal of Social Security privatization. In an attempt to limit forum-shopping, a proposed GOP bill would remove to federal court most lawsuits seeking more than [...]

Senators supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage said Monday they will press for passage of the amendment in the new Congress despite President Bush's recent indication that he will not lobby for its passage . GOP Senate leaders are expected to bring the amendment to a vote before the 2006 mid-term elections. The [...]

The UN General Assembly opened its 28th Special Session Monday commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Jews from Nazi death camps. Various world leaders and Nobel Laureate author Elie Wiesel , a World War II death camp survivor, spoke at the session. Speakers remembered the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust [...]

Tensions escalated in the dispute between Venezuela and Colombia Sunday as a celebration of Venezuelan independence quickly turned into a march of supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez , expressing approval for his response to the December arrest of FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Grande. Grande was captured on Venezuelan territory; it was first thought the [...]

In Monday's environmental law news, British company JD Wetherspoon , owner of 650 restaurants and pubs, announced that it will be banning smoking in its establishments, with all of them becoming smoke-free by May 2006. The company has been a proponent of non-smoking areas, but has decided to take the action of completely banning smoking [...]

Israel has reportedly begun seizing land in east Jerusalem land owned by Palestinians in the West Bank under a law passed in 1950. The land has been transferred to the Custodian of Absentee Property , a body formed by the law, according to documents from Israel's finance and justice ministries. The law allows Israel to [...]

Thousands of abortion opponents marched on Washington Monday, commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade which fell Saturday. In a phone call from Camp David President Bush addressed the March for Life rally, stating that "this movement will not fail." Every anniversary of the January 23 decision prompts demonstrations [...]

Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, ImClone Systems Inc. has agreed to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit from 2002 for $75 million. The lawsuit accused the company of making false and misleading statements about a prospective drug. The settlement comes a week after ImClone's former CEO settled an insider trading case with the SEC [...]