...A contingent fee agreement is a contract with the client to take a specified percentage of the money collected as compensation. Only civil cases are appropriate for a contingent fee agreement because there is no financial recovery in a civil trial. A benefit of a contingent fee agreement is that the client does not have pay the attorney up front. This allows people who, under normal circumstances might not be able to afford an attorney, the ability to prosecute a claim effectively. In some instances, contingent fees are negotiable allowing for some flexibility in payments. Another advantage is that the attorney does not collect a fee if the client doesn’t win the case. On the other hand, there are several disadvantages to a contingent...
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...1. Concerning Joe Accountant, he should be found violating article of AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct by the Joint Trial Board and should receive a revoking of his CPA credentials by the Board as punishment. At the issue Joe Accountant is whether or not violated article of AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct, Joe found out the unethical and illegal actions taken by his superior, John Boss, and his client, Barbara Doctor, during his attest performance; However, He did take the proper action to address his findings and failed to prepare an amended tax form for Barbara’s 2011 taxes. As John ordered Joe to do before John left the firm, Joe did destroy material audit records. According to AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct, members of the AICPA are responsible for the rules addressed in the Code. Joe Accountant’s actions should be considered under the following rules: Article II (The public interest): “members should accept the obligation to act in a way that will serve the public interest, honor the public trust…” Article III (Integrity): “to maintain and broaden public confidence, members should perform all professional responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity.” Under the section of Subordination of Judgment, “the Code provides a three-step procedure so that members may rest assured that they have not improperly subordinated judgment.” (The Ethical and Legal Environment of Accounting, 2-4) The three steps are summarized as: 1. Consider if...
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...Attorney FEES – Lovell * American rule: - every party takes care of Attorney fees * Some states have embraced the catalyst theory – * England has fee shifting in every civil case: - there is a SC that determines nothing in England but attorney fees. * The reality with this is that there is less litigation because any losing party has to pay the others fee. * The cost should be reasonable so you can’t just say that you billed all the amount and now need to be paid. * Civil rights attorney fee: - The second front: - The battle lines for civil rights – there is grudging attitude on court awarded attorney fees – since 1987 we have had the grudging area of the court allowing attorney fees – hard to get fees if prevailing party, hard to calculate – grudging – * The attorney fee is statutory – so congress can change the rules. * The case below – if negotiating on fees as a plaintiff then negotiate the fees in the agreement (attorney fees) – so you negotiate the fee with the settlement decree or you will be out of luck. * Dissent: - * Pg. 912- there is a 2 tier standard for a prevailing P: - * You get the fees regularly absent circumstances that would render the fee unjust. E.g pro se representation. * Garland independent school: - ct held that you don’t need a central issue standard; - just need to point to a ….. Civil Rights Attorneys’ Fees Award Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)) 1. In any action or proceeding to enforce...
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...Civil Justice Tutorial III i. What is proportionality and why is it so “new” in the Civil Procedure Rules? To extent does it different proportionality a. under the EHCR (Campbell case) to assess different right sets of rights b. after the Jackson reforms? Jackson is just in relation to costs – cases that are justly and in relation to proportional costs focus on the system as a whole Campbell v Mirror Group Newspaper Ltd (Costs) HL (2005) A model sues a newspaper for breach of confidence. The case go through HC and CA. On appeal to HL, Campbell solicitors and barristers work on a CFA basis (95% success fee for solicitors, 100% success fee for barristers. She wins case (3,5000 compensation awarded) + costs (1, 086, 295 inc. success fee of 279, 981) The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story showing a picture of her leaving a drug addiction clinic, along with details of her addictions and the treament she had received. Held: The law of confidence is now better characterised as misuse of private information. “The need to be free to disseminate information regarding Miss Campbell’s drug addiction is of a lower order than the need for freedom to disseminate information on some other subjects such as political information. The degree of latitude reasonably...
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...Ampersand LLP Beaumont, TX TO: Partner FROM: Staff Accountant DATE: March 24, 2016 ------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Memorandum Privileged and Confidential Relevant Facts In 2013, Mr. Hobby suffered serious bodily injury while working at a local refinery in Beaumont. On his 2013 tax return, he deducted medical expenses of $25,000. On his 2014 tax return, he deducted medical expenses of $15,000. In 2015, Hobby won a civil lawsuit connected to his injury in 2013. He was awarded as follows: Punitive damages $150,000.00, reimbursement of medical expense $40,000.00, emotional distress $75,000.00, pain/suffering $200,000.00, interest $7,500.00, and attorney’s fees $25,000.00, totaling $497,500.00. Specific Issues Which portion of the award for damages is taxable in 2015? Support and Analysis Per IRC §104(a)(2), any damages (excluding punitive) received on account of personal physical injury are excluded from gross income. Therefore, both $75,000 for emotional distress and $200,000 for pain and suffering are a result of the injury and can be excluded from income. Treas. Reg. §61.1-14(a) specifies “for example, punitive damages…are gross income” meaning that the $150,000 of punitive damages from this lawsuit are considered gross income. These are considered income because the punitive award is primarily to punish the wrongdoer, and is not compensatory for the physical injury. However, IRS publication 4345 (Rev 4-2015) explains that income...
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...This agreement is BETWEEN _______________(bodyguard’s name) hereinafter referred to as Bodyguard and Individual and/or Company:________________________________________Client’s name on above line. Represented by: _____________________________________ Address:_________________________________________City:_________________________State:________Zip:_______ Hereinafter referred to as Client. A usable copy of this contract follows this explanation. All the first part, above, is doing is stating that this contract is between (fill in your name) and the client. (Fill in his personal name, company name, address). The client may want to have his attorney see this contract. 1. Purpose of Agreement: Circumstances have lead Client to believe that he, or other parties, are being targeted by criminal forces of some kind and he hereby agrees to contract with Bodyguard to provide personal protection services for himself and/or other parties for the length of time specified in this agreement. NOTE: Purpose of agreement. This is a statement stating that your client needs your assistance, and you are negotiating this agreement. 2. Duration: This contract shall be for a period of____________________________ from the below date. Contract must be signed by both parties and will remain in force unless terminated under conditions listed in Paragraph 3. If this contract should be terminated, for any reason, before the expiration date payment client agrees to pay bodyguard...
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...HECS-HELP Commonwealth supported places information for 2016 IMPORTANT The Australian Government has proposed changes to the higher education system. It is important that current and future students understand how these changes may affect them. Visit www.studyassist.gov.au for up-to-date information on these proposed changes. www.studyassist.gov.au YOU MUST READ THIS BOOKLET BEFORE SIGNING THE COMMONWEALTH ASSISTANCE FORM BELOW. WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR FORM, YOU DECLARE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOKLET AND THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS A COMMONWEALTH SUPPORTED STUDENT AND UNDER HECS-HELP. Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form If you do not submit a form or finalise your payment by the census date you risk cancellation of your enrolment as a Commonwealth supported student (your institution may have set an earlier administrative date for this deadline—check with your institution). USING THIS BOOKLET • As you read through, you will notice that certain terms are highlighted in pink. These terms are defined in the glossary. • If you have a specific question after reading this booklet, the contacts list at the end of this booklet will help you. • More information is available at www.studyassist.gov.au. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Department of Education and Training has endeavoured to ensure that the information in this publication is consistent with the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) and guidelines made...
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...1. Fact Pattern - Biotech License and R&D Contract Biotech Company (Biotech) enters into an agreement with Pharmaceutical Company (Pharma) on January 1, 20X1. The agreement includes Biotech (a) licensing certain intellectual property rights to Pharma and (b) providing research and development (R&D) services to Pharma with the objective of developing a viable drug candidate and receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug candidate. Arrangement consideration is as follows: • • Biotech receives $5 million in licensing fees upon signing the agreement Biotech receives $250,000 per year for each full-time equivalent (FTE) that performs R&D activities • Milestone Events: 1. Biotech receives $2 million upon identification of a viable drug candidate 2. Biotech receives $3 million upon successful Phase II clinical trial completion 3. Biotech receives $5 million upon FDA approval. The license and FTE fees are comparable to rates charged by Biotech in other arrangements and are also considered comparable to rates charged by Biotech's competitors and contract research organizations. None of these payments, once received, are refundable, even if FDA approval is never received. In addition, while Biotech must perform on a best-efforts basis, it is not obligated to achieve the milestones. Biotech’s analysis of its other R&D arrangements indicates that R&D projects usually terminate (a) at five years if no viable drug candidate is identified, (b) at nine...
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...Case 8-4 The Bear Minimum Provision 1 According to 840-10-25-5 (b) it seems that the legal fees being paid by Big Bear for Goliath Co. would be excluded from the minimum lease payment. Reading further in 840-10-25-6 (e) it says “Fees that are paid by the lessee to the owners of the special-purpose entity for structuring the lease transaction. Such fees shall be included as part of minimum lease payments” so you would include these fees paid by Big Bear for the structuring the lease. In the Intermediate Accounting SIXTH EDITION p.832 under the Executory Costs “These expenditures simply are expensed by the lessee as incurred” So, for the legal fees paid by Big Bear to Stripe, Berry, Mills and Buck LLP they should be expense when incurred and not included in the minimum lease payments. So, the legals fees that were paid for Goliath Co. for the structuring of the lease would be included in the minimum lease payments but the fees paid to Stripe, Berry, Mills and Buck LLP by Big Bear for its own legal fees would not be. ASC 840-10-25-5 For a lessee, minimum lease payments comprise the payments that the lessee is obligated to make or can be required to make in connection with the leased property, excluding both of the following: a. Contingent rentals b. Any guarantee by the lessee of the lessor's debt and the lessee's obligation to pay (apart from the rental payments) executory costs such as insurance, maintenance, and taxes in connection with the leased property...
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...Loan Origination Fees Origination fees consist of all of the following: a. Fees that are being charged to the borrower as prepaid interest or to reduce the loan's nominal interest rate, such as interest buy-downs (explicit yield adjustments) b. Fees to reimburse the lender for origination activities c. Other fees charged to the borrower that relate directly to making the loan (for example, fees that are paid to the lender as compensation for granting a complex loan or agreeing to lend quickly) d. Fees that are not conditional on a loan being granted by the lender that receives the fee but are, in substance, implicit yield adjustments because a loan is granted at rates or terms that would not have otherwise been considered absent the fee (for example, certain syndication fees addressed in paragraph 310-20-25-19) e. Fees charged to the borrower in connection with the process of originating, refinancing, or restructuring a loan. This term includes, but is not limited to, points, management, arrangement, placement, application, underwriting, and other fees pursuant to a lending or leasing transaction and also includes syndication and participation fees to the extent they are associated with the portion of the loan retained by the lender. Provision 2) > Non-Performance-Related Default Covenants 05-8Some lease agreements contain default provisions that are unrelated to the lessee's use of the property, such as financial covenants (for example...
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...as the increase in the consumer price index (CPI). Thus, the problem here is whether the $1 million rent and the probable increased rental fees (due to increase in the CPI) should be included in minimum lease payments. According to FASB ASC paragraph 840-10-25-5, “minimum lease payments comprise the payments that the lessee is obligated to make or can be required to make in connection with the leased property”. Annual rent of $1 million is the stipulated payments that the lessee is obligated to make, so that it should be included in minimum lease payments. In regard to the probable increased rental fees (due to increase in CPI), we consider it not to be included in minimum lease payments. Firstly, we find FASB ASC paragraph 840-10-25-4 states that lease payments depending on an existing consumer price index shall be included in minimum lease payments, whereas any increases or decreases in lease payments resulting from subsequent variation in the index are classified as contingent rentals. Secondly, it is clearly written in FASB ASC paragraph 840-10-25-5 that, for lessee, contingent rentals should be excluded from minimum lease payments. Thirdly, we also find that, in FASB ASC paragraph 840-10-25-7, minimum lease payments, for lessor, include the payments described in paragraph 840-10-25-5. Thus, the subsequent change of CPI is contingent rentals and should be excluded from minimum lease payments for both lessee and lessor. Summary In conclusion, the $500,000 external legal...
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...Citation: 1989 Duke L.J. 27 1989 Content downloaded/printed from HeinOnline (http://heinonline.org) Mon Dec 3 16:27:50 2012 -- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at http://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. -- To obtain permission to use this article beyond the scope of your HeinOnline license, please use: https://www.copyright.com/ccc/basicSearch.do? &operation=go&searchType=0 &lastSearch=simple&all=on&titleOrStdNo=0012-7086 FAIRNESS OPINIONS: HOW FAIR ARE THEY AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? LucIAN ARYE BEBCHUKt AND MARCEL KAHAN* INTRODUCTION Fairness opinions have become a regular feature of every major corporate control transaction. Whether in negotiated mergers,1 freeze-out mergers, 2 hostile tender offers, 3 friendly tender offers,4 self-tenders, 5 leveraged buyouts, 6 negotiated share repurchases, 7 or negotiated sales of treasury stock,8 directors seek the blessing of investment banks before approving transactions or adopting defensive measures. These banks give their blessings in the form of fairness opinions, which usually consist of short letters that state an opinion about whether a proposed transaction is "fair" or "adequate." 9 In addition, the banks often give presentat Professor of Law, Harvard Law Schaool; Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research. * Visiting John M. Olin Scholar...
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...method in accounting for a business combination. The key steps in this method are: The above steps result in determining the existence of any goodwill or excess on combination. 1 Accounting for a business combination: identifying the acquirer The business combination is viewed from the perspective of the acquirer The acquirer is “the combining entity that obtains control of the other combining entities or businesses” Accounting for a business combination: selecting the right date The following dates are relevant to a business combination: Acquisition date Agreement date Date of exchange Accounting for a business combination: determination of fair value IFRS 3 requires that the fair value of assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities is determined in performing the relevant calculations in a business combination. Fair value is basically market value Fair value is determined by judgement, estimation and a three-level ‘fair value hierarchy’ as follows: Note the similarities between these requirements and those of IAS 38, relating to intangible assets. 2 Accounting for the cost of a business combination The acquirer measures the cost of a business combination as the fair values (at the date of exchange) of: PLUS Accounting for the cost of a business combination: forms of consideration The consideration paid by the acquirer may consist of one...
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...3-30 1 202 - Compliance with standards 2 501 - Acts discreditable 3 502 - Advertising and other forms of solicitation 4 503 - Commission and referral fees 5 302 - Contingent fees 6 101 - Independence 7 101 - Independence 8 201 - General Standards 9 101 - Independence 10 505 - Form of organization and name 11 102 - Integrity and objectivity 12 203 - Accounting principles 13 302 - Contingent fees 14 301 - Confidential client information 15 202 - Compliance with standards 3-35 1 a - The independence has been impaired b - A partner cannot be employed by a client. This violates Section 101 2 a - Ethical Manufacturing Co. has been involved in fraud. b - Herb standard did not violate any section. His client refused to fix the audited financials and he reported them to the IRS. 3 a - b - 4 a - The independence has been impaired b - This violates Section 101-5. A member cannot can not have a loan to or from an audit client. 5 a - The independence has not been impaired b - As long as Herb does not get involved in the transactions between the two clients, the Code of ethics is not violated. 4-20 Constructive fraud -...
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...SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin: No. 101 – Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements Securities and Exchange Commission 17 CFR Part 211 [Release No. SAB 101] Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101 Agency: Securities and Exchange Commission Action: Publication of Staff Accounting Bulletin Summary: This staff accounting bulletin summarizes certain of the staff's views in applying generally accepted accounting principles to revenue recognition in financial statements. The staff is providing this guidance due, in part, to the large number of revenue recognition issues that registrants encounter. For example, a March 1999 report entitled Fraudulent Financial Reporting: 1987-1997 An Analysis of U. S. Public Companies, sponsored by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission, indicated that over half of financial reporting frauds in the study involved overstating revenue. Date: December 3, 1999 For Further Information Contact: Richard Rodgers, Scott Taub, or Eric Jacobsen, Professional Accounting Fellows (202/942-4400) or Robert Bayless, Division of Corporation Finance (202/942-2960), Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549; electronic addresses: RodgersR@sec.gov; TaubS@sec.gov; JacobsenE@sec.gov; BaylessR@sec.gov. Supplementary Information: The statements in the staff accounting bulletins are not rules or interpretations of the Commission, nor are they published as bearing the Commission's official...
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