Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Jones Day, P.C.

Grassley Turns Up Heat on Community Benefit Standard
Two apparently related developments coming out of the Senate Finance Committee have once again brought the nonprofit hospital sector under fire to justify the contributions it makes to the community to support continuing tax-exempt status. At the nomination hearing on July 13 for Eric Solomon, nominee for Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Senator Grassley asked Mr. Solomon to commit to reexamine the Revenue Ruling 69-545, which established the community benefit standard for hospital exemption. Mr. Solomon agreed to do so. Senator Grassley also asked Mr. Solomon to provide all documents that the IRS and Treasury have regarding Revenue Ruling 69-545, the name of the specific person who will be assigned to do this review, and the time frame will be for completing this review. Senator Grassley has also asked for-profit hospitals to supply statistics regarding the amount of charity care and uncompensated care they provide as well as their bad debts, presumably for purposes of comparison with exempt hospital activities. There has been no fundamental change in the standards for hospital exemption in nearly four decades, and the continuing pressure from Congress, state attorneys general and the plaintiffs' bar may soon challenge that status quo on a national level. With this continued barrage of challenges, even greater emphasis is likely to be placed on nonprofit hospitals effectively communicating to the public the various community benefits provided by the hospitals.

07-01-2006

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Jones Day, P.C.

Jones Day Cited Among BTI's Market Movers
Consulting Group. ""Market Movers"" are firms that ""captivate corporate counsel and key decision makers with their strategic prowess,"" and ""Trailblazers"" stand above all others in truly moving the legal market.

Each year, BTI interviews more than 240 individual corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 companies, probing clients on all aspects of law firm relationships and performance. The clients and corporate counsel delineate 40 law firms who stand out as true movers and shakers - firms they believe make innovative changes their approach to delivering legal services. Clients often see evidence of this strategic thinking that is likely to find its way into the work being performed on their behalf.

Cited as, ""... really well-positioned in a globalizing economy,"" Jones Day received high marks for its client-focused delivery of services, innovative insights and approach, market-driven growth strategy, and high-value service. In addition to ranking high among the Market Movers, Jones Day recently ranked high in BTI's Power Elite, number one in three of the last four years in BTI’s Client Service 30 (making it BTI’s first ever three-time client service champion), and earning it a place in BTI’s Client Service Hall of Fame.

07-01-2006

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Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C.

FWRV in Top Rank of Media & Entertainment Firms Chambers USA names Franklin Weinrib one of four top-ranking Media and Entertainment commercial practice firms in New York.
In the 2006 edition of America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA has named Franklin Weinrib one of only four top-ranking New York firms in Media and Entertainment commercial practice. Citing commentators, Chambers describes the firm as "One of the finest media practices not just in the city but in the country" with "experienced lawyers for every conceivable matter." In its description of the firm, Chambers further notes, "The firm is active on a broad spectrum of matters across the television, film, book publishing and theater sectors. It also has substantial involvement in the exploitation and development of new media content…. The group's media clients run the full gamut of actors, writers, producers, publishers, financiers and corporations. " Four of the firm's partners also were cited as "leading individuals" in the Media and Entertainment category: Michael Rudell, Elliot Brown, Nick Gordon and Neil Rosini. The Chambers rankings are independently researched, published annually in book form, and available online at http://www.chambersandpartners.com/.

07-01-2006

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Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP

Wetlands and Water Bodies Must Have "Significant Nexus" with a Navigable Water to Fall Under the Jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act
On Monday, June 19, 2006, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in the consolidated cases of Rapanos et ux., et al. v. United States and Carabell et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers et al.

07-01-2006

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Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

FCC Releases Universal Service Reform Order and Notice
On Tuesday, June 28, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) released an Order and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to Universal Service Fund (“USF”) contribution mechanisms. The Commission styled its Order as “interim,” noting that it expects to take further action on its USF contribution methodology, pursuant to the Notice or otherwise.

With regard to wireless providers, the FCC increased the interstate ""safe harbor"" percentage from 28.5% to 37.1%. Accordingly, wireless providers electing to utilize the safe harbor going forward will need to base their USF contributions on the assumption that 37.1% of their traffic is interstate, and thus subject to USF contribution. Alternatively, wireless providers may remit payment based on actual interstate usage or on a traffic study estimating interstate usage. Providers electing to utilize actual a traffic study, however, must submit the study to the Commission and to the Universal Service Administration Corporation for review. The Commission expressed concern that carriers may be under-reporting interstate calling in traffic studies, and stated that requiring providers to submit traffic studies for review would minimize any such under-reporting.

Interconnected VoIP providers – which essentially includes any voice application over a broadband connection that allows for calling to the traditional phone network – must contribute to USF under the existing revenue-based methodology used for landline voice services. The FCC established a 64.9% safe harbor for interconnected VoIP providers. The Commission also concluded that interconnected VoIP providers may utilize traffic studies to estimate actual interstate usage, however, any such traffic studies must be approved by the Commission before implementation.

Interconnected VoIP providers will need to register with the Commission using FCC Form 499-A to obtain an FCC Registration Number and file an FCC Form 499-Q beginning on August 1, 2006. Finally, interconnected VoIP providers are required to begin filing FCC Form 400-A on April 1, 2007.

In the Notice, the Commission requests comment on a number of items related to the safe harbors established, as well as on the appropriate means of establishing the jurisdiction of calls for traffic study purposes. For example, some parties utilize the originating and terminating telephone numbers as a proxy for determining the jurisdiction of a call. Because of the “nomadic” nature of mobile wireless services and interconnected VoIP services, others have asserted that merely comparing originating and terminating telephone numbers is insufficient to establish the jurisdiction of a call. The Commission also seeks comment on whether and to what extent it can (and should) adopt a revised methodology for interconnected VoIP providers to contribute to USF. Comments are due 30 days after the Notice is published in the Federal Register, and reply comments are due 60 days after publication of the Notice.

07-01-2006

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.

SEC Announces Postponed Internal Control Compliance Date for Non-Accelerated Filers and Makes Plans To Improve Implementation of Section 404 Requirements
On May 17, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it would grant a brief postponement of the date by which non-accelerated filers must comply with the internal control reporting requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

07-01-2006

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Disney Decision
On June 8, 2006, a unanimous Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Chancery Court's opinion in the Michael Ovitz compensation case, confirming that Disney directors did not violate their fiduciary duties or act in bad faith in connection with the hiring and subsequent termination of Ovitz, which resulted in a severance package worth close to $130 million after only 14 months of employment.

07-01-2006

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