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Ex-Gov. Kirk settles IRS back-taxes suit
Lawyer News |
2007/10/24 12:41
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Months after protesting that he was a political whipping boy for the IRS, former Gov. Claude Kirk has agreed to settle his dispute with the federal government over $320,000 in unpaid taxes. In papers filed in U.S. District Court this week, the 81-year-old agreed to settle the lawsuit by allowing the federal government to put a $320,374 lien on his home in Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach. The roughly 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home with a pool has a market value of $264,000, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser.
Reached Tuesday, Kirk declined to say why he and his wife, Erika, 73, decided to settle the suit rather than fight the IRS in a trial scheduled for next month. "Let's let it lie for the moment," he said. "It's a long story, but an interesting one." In a lawsuit filed in March, the IRS claimed Kirk put the home in his wife's name to avoid paying taxes dating to 1995. In depositions, the couple insisted that she owns the house. However, government attorneys pointed out that on tax returns in 2001, 2002 and 2003 he deducted about $8,000 each year in mortgage interest. While acknowledging he signed the returns, he insisted: "It's my wife's home, and that is it." During an August deposition, he said he has been harassed by the IRS since he left the governor's office in 1971, having sealed his place in history as the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction and the most flamboyant chief executive of either party - ever. "I left the governor's office broke, b-r-o-k-e, because if you don't steal, it's not a very good job," he told government attorneys. "And I've been harassed by the IRS ever since. They had a system, started with the Carter administration, saying, 'Oh-oh, anybody who has been a politician has got money.' They've been rattling the cage forever." He declined to say how much he made annually or exactly what he does for a living. He bristled when IRS attorneys attempted to question him about his 2001 tax return that reported $183,540 in earnings. "I try to have people pay me for advice," he said. "Some of them take that advice and some don't pay me. It's not an easy business. I have no assets. I came out of being governor broke, and it hasn't changed." The IRS declined comment on the settlement that must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks. |
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Wall Street Falls After Merrill Report
Business Law Info |
2007/10/24 12:29
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| Stocks fell in early trading Wednesday as Wall Street grew more cautious after Merrill Lynch & Co.'s earnings revealed severe credit-related losses. The investment bank said it wrote down $7.9 billion in fixed-income instruments called collateralized debt obligations and from defaulting subprime mortgages _ more than the $5 billion writedown it estimated earlier this month. The result was a net loss for the quarter of $2.3 billion, after total revenue plummeted 94 percent. The worse-than-anticipated loss signaled to investors that the financial sector may be in a more dire situation than feared because of the credit squeeze that was triggered in part by spikes in mortgage defaults. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors' 10 a.m. EDT report on existing home sales was projected to show a drop in September for the seventh straight month. The technology sector appeared to be losing momentum from earlier in the week. Amazon.Inc. said late Tuesday its quarterly profit more than quadrupled, but it only beat per-share estimates by a penny. Investors didn't see enough reason to bring the Internet retailer's shares, already at their highest level since 1999, even higher. |
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2 plead guilty in O.J. Simpson armed-robbery case
Criminal Law Updates |
2007/10/24 11:39
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Two co-defendants, one of them a Mesa man, pleaded guilty to reduced charges Tuesday in the O.J. Simpson armed-robbery case, agreeing to testify against Simpson and three others in the alleged theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers. Behind the scenes, prosecutors prepared to file an amended criminal complaint increasing the number of charges in the case to 12, including a second felony charge of coercion against Simpson and two new coercion charges each against the three remaining co-defendants. The new complaint also alleges Simpson and Charles "C.J." Stewart conspired to persuade others to tell authorities that no guns were used. The revised document, obtained by the Associated Press, removes Walter Alexander of Mesa and Charles Cashmore from the case, while naming Thomas Riccio in the Sept. 13 meeting between Simpson and memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley. Riccio, who was given immunity from prosecution, is expected to join Cashmore and Alexander in testifying for the prosecution. Alexander pleaded guilty to the felony of conspiracy to commit robbery. The district attorney said he would seek a suspended sentence for Alexander, a golfing buddy of Simpson's. "I'm very much at peace at what I've done today and what I'm going to continue to do," Alexander said as he clutched a Bible outside court. "I'm not here to try to hurt or help O.J. Simpson. I'm only here to tell the truth."
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Law firm lands deal as stadium sponsor
Headline News |
2007/10/24 10:43
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Baker & Daniels on Tuesday joined a growing list of corporate sponsors of Lucas Oil Stadium, marking the venue's third such deal in the past month.
The stadium's upper and lower east club levels will be named for the Indianapolis law firm, said Tom Zupancic, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Indianapolis Colts.
Baker & Daniels also will get media advertising rights as part of the six-year agreement. The deal is a "shrewd move" by the firm, said Larry DeGaris, director of the academic sports marketing program at the University of Indianapolis.
"I think obviously they see the value in the number of businesses and corporate decision-makers who are going to pass through those turnstiles," DeGaris said. "You need to keep in mind who's going to be sitting in (club-level) seats."
Zupancic declined to discuss how much the deal is worth, but DeGaris estimated the firm could be paying $500,000 to $1.5 million per year, depending on the specifics of the media package. Advertising opportunities include in-stadium spots, game programs and local spots broadcast on the Colts' television show, "Colts Up Close.'' Representatives from the Colts and Baker & Daniels said the deal is a logical step from previous partnerships. As part of the sponsorship, the firm has been named one of the stadium's "founding partners."
"We have been so integrated with this facility and with this team that it was a logical place for us to be," said Jack Swarbrick, a Baker & Daniels partner.
"Literally without the people at Baker & Daniels we wouldn't be here today," Zupancic said.
He pointed out that David Frick, an attorney at the firm, was involved in the 1983 negotiations to bring the Colts to Indianapolis. Frick also serves as chairman of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, which is overseeing stadium construction.
Lawyers at the firm also helped orchestrate the new stadium deal and have worked to attract the Super Bowl to Indianapolis, Zupancic said.
A total of 12 founding partnership deals at the stadium are for sale, with naming rights for entrances, seating levels and lounges up for bid. The stadium is set to be completed by mid-August.
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Class-action lawyers rack up rare victory on fees
Headline News |
2007/10/24 10:36
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In a decision closely watched by plaintiffs' lawyers, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the fees awarded to a class-action firm, but not because the payment was too high.
The court, in an opinion earlier this month, raised the possibility that the law firm, New York's Milberg Weiss, was undercompensated for its representation of shareholders of the now-defunct Chicago-based Internet consulting company MarchFirst Inc.
It's a rare victory for class-action lawyers, who have been vilified for taking excessive cash fees while their clients receive awards of little economic value. Indeed, Congress has twice created laws aimed at addressing abuses in the system.
In this case Milberg Weiss asked for 28 percent, or $5.04 million, of the $18 million settlement it reached with lawyers for the defendants, which included MarchFirst founder and former Chief Executive Robert Bernard. U.S. District Judge John Grady rejected the fee as excessive, considering that the settlement equaled a recovery of 19 cents per share. He reduced the amount to $2.6 million, or 15 percent of the settlement.
In support of his decision the judge cited the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which directs judges to determine attorneys' fees based on the results achieved for the class. Milberg Weiss appealed his 2006 ruling.
The 7th Circuit objected to Grady's method for coming up with the fee percentage, saying the judge did not consider anything besides the amount recovered for the class.
The court "did not factor into its assessment the value that the market would have placed on Counsel's legal services had its fees been arranged at the outset," Judge Ann Claire Williams wrote for the majority.
The ruling is consistent with previous decisions of the appellate court that have directed district courts to consider the market price for legal services.
That should take into account the risk that plaintiffs' lawyers will not be paid if they lose the case. Like other lawyers who work on a contingent-fee basis, class-action practitioners get paid only when litigation concludes successfully. These large-scale cases often require a steep upfront investment of time and money, with no guarantee of any return.
But Grady had dismissed that risk in his calculation, declaring that "this is a common argument in support of large fees in class actions, but it has no relationship to reality."
The appellate court did not make its own calculation of the attorneys' fees, instead sending the case back to the district court for further proceedings. Officials at Milberg Weiss were not available for comment.
Chicago lawyer Joel Chefitz, who represented MarchFirst, said the defense lawyers did not have a stake in the fees awarded to Milberg Weiss and did not support or oppose its original request for 28 percent.
He said he thinks most plaintiffs' lawyers will applaud the 7th Circuit decision because it will make fee awards less subjective. "It's sending a consistent message that we want to replicate a marketplace," Chefitz said. "What it means is that plaintiffs' lawyers will be less subject to the vagaries of which judge they get." |
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Ex-city worker pleads guilty to stealing NYC 9/11 funds
Court Feed News |
2007/10/24 09:40
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| A former New York City worker has pleaded guilty to defrauding the medical examiner's office of millions of dollars in federal aid sent to the city after the 2001 attacks. Rosa Abreu faces a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison when she is sentenced next year on charges of embezzlment and money laundering. The 41-year-old former employee of the chief medical examiner's office was indicted in 2005 and accused of helping to steer $11.4 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to companies that did little or not work. |
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