1. JD Supra Morning Brief: Dodd-Frank, Immigration Reform, Objectionable Conduct, Paper Bags

    Start your day with a hearty helping of law news, hot and fresh from the JD Supra oven:

    The Outgoing Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission thinks that the Dodd-Frank rules are at least two-thirds complete (MarketsReformWiki) 

    From zero to three in (about) 60 days: what the competing immigration reform proposals look like (Ogletree Deakins) 

    New Jersey’s online gambling law is expected to go into effect sometime over the next nine months (Pillsbury Social Media, Entertainment & Technology Team) 

    Community banks may not need those holding companies after all… (Spilman Thomas & Battle) 

    First, ewww. Second, double-ewww. And third, Washington Supreme Court may have opened the floodgates to a wave of product liability lawsuits based on “objectionable” conduct (Sedgwick LLP) 

    Want file a housing discrimination complaint? There’s an app for that (y también en español) (BuckleySandler) 

    According to McAfee’s former VP for threat research, there are two types of companies: those that know they’ve experienced a cybersecurity breach, and those that don’t know it yet (Dechert) 

    Los Angeles County’s ten-cent charge for paper carryout bags is not a tax, says appeals court (Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard) 

    Just what do corporate social responsibility committees do, anyway? (Foley Hoag) 

    March isn’t shaping up to be a very good month for Mayor Bloomberg (Mintz Levin) 

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    Follow us on Twitter: @JDSupraBuzz»

  2. Celebrity Divorces, Taxable Scholarships, Background Checks, NFL Betting, More. Yes, It’s…

    … Monday’s JD Supra Buzz. For your reading enjoyment, here’s what we learned today: 

    The #1 factor driving quick celebrity divorce settlements? Money (Bloomberg Law) 

    Telemarketers doing business in New York will have to register with the state as of November 12, 2012 (Proskauer) 

    New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is determined to allow NFL betting in his state, whatever the cost (Dinsmore & Shohl) 

    Every employer should read the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s newly released guidance on criminal background checks (McCarter & English) 

    Required reading for the incoming class: the IRS rules on taxation of scholarships and fellowships (Davis Brown) 

    Tennessee’s unemployment law gets a facelift (Miller & Martin) 

    Wyndham is fighting back against FTC’s allegations that the company committed unfair and deceptive acts related to three data security breaches (Mintz Levin) 

    The Supreme Court has ruled on the Fox / CBS indecency case. So why don’t we have a better idea of what indecency is, exactly? (Womble Carlyle) 

    The beginning of the school year means the end of summer child labor rules (Pullman & Comley) 

    The Federal Housing Finance Agency is exploring a proposal to charge higher interest rates to borrowers who live in states with complex foreclosure processes. Really. (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

    The IRS has announced its “Streamlined Filing Procedure” that will allow delinquent tax payers living outside of the U.S. to catch up on their taxes without significant penalties (Moodys LLP Tax Advisors) 

    The Treasury Department wants government contractors to make good faith efforts at diversity (Orrick) 

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  3. Today’s Buzz: Conflict Minerals, Million-dollar Salaries, Data Held Hostage, DNA Patents, More

    What we learned today:

    One law professor thinks lawyers should be satisfied earning $1 million per year. (Bloomberg Law) 

    Will “your money or your privacy” become the new standard holdup line? (Mintz Levin) 

    A conflict minerals rule was finally adopted by the SEC, 16 months after it was due (Foley Hoag) (Ropes & Gray) (Sheppard Mullin) 

    The future of personalized medicine has been called into question by a recent court ruling on the patentability of DNA and DNA analyses (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) 

    You can copyright a building (Cole Schotz) 

    Note to gossip magazines: stealing celebrity photos and publishing them? Not “fair use” (Loeb & Loeb) 

    Venture capital fundraising for the first half of 2012 is up 31% over the same period last year (Fenwick & West) 

    Only one county in the nation’s most populous state regulates in-home caregivers (Hopkins & Carley) 

    TSA employees called up for active military duty are now entitled to get their jobs back when they come home (Xpert HR) 

    The Asia-Pacific region is a hotbed of geothermal energy development (Baker & McKenzie Australia) 

    Not declaring foreign bank accounts can cost non-citizens their U.S. residency (Moskowitz) 

    A New York judge has ruled that poker is a game of skill, not of chance. Really. (Pillsbury) 

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    Follow the Buzz on Twitter: @JDSupraBuzz

  4. Today’s Law News Buzz: Massive Poker Settlement, First Loan Modification Fraud Lawsuit, More

    Here’s what’s hot in law news right now, delivered as seen on Twitter:

  5. IRS Hits the Jackpot with Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (Taxpayers Do OK, Too)

    Cracking down on tax evaders who hide their money offshore is becoming big business for the Internal Revenue Service. From law firm Duane Morris:

    “According to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, the IRS offshore voluntary disclosure programs have so far resulted in the collection of more than $5 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties from 33,000 voluntary disclosures made under the first two programs. In addition, another 1,500 disclosures have been made already under the new 2012 program announced in January.”

    For delinquent taxpayers, the program offers a great way to come clean without running the risks associated with getting caught:

    “Taxpayers who do not submit a voluntary disclosure run the risk of detection by the IRS and the imposition of substantially higher penalties, including the 75% fraud penalty and foreign information return penalties, and an increased risk of criminal prosecution.”

    Something you might want to consider? Read Duane Morris’s comprehensive update first:

    • 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program FAQs and Compliance Plan for U.S. Citizens Residing Overseas 

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    And watch this video on the topic:

    [Link: Foreign Asset Disclosure Program - Sanford Millar]

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    Related Reading:

    • IRS Provides Long Awaited Guidance to Current Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and Announces a New Procedure to Assist U.S. - Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. 

    • New Guidance on the 2012 Voluntary Disclosure Program - Akerman Senterfitt 

    • A Third “Last” Chance to Disclose Income from Foreign Accounts to the IRS - Armstrong Teasdale LLP 

    • IRS Announces Third Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program - Cole Schotz 

    • IRS Releases Additional Guidance for U.S. Taxpayers Disclosing Unreported Foreign Accounts - Charles (Chuck) Rubin 

    • IRS Collects $5 bil from Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs - Darrin Mish 

    • Incentives for Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative - Sanford Millar 

    • IRS Tightens Offshore Tax Amnesty Participation Rules - Time Running Out - Brian Mahany 

    • IRS Has Reopened Its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program - Candida (CJ) Griffin, Esq. 

    • New 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program; Taxpayer Advocate Criticizes IRS “Bait & Switch”; Current Offshore Enforcement Initiatives - Duane Morris LLP 

    • IRS Reopens Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program - Polsinelli Shughart PC 

    • Third IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Just in Time for Many Taxpayers Prior Programs Net US$4.4 Billion for Uncle Sam - Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada, PLLC 

    • The Pursuit of International Tax Compliance; IRS Reopens Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program - Akerman Senterfitt 

    • IRS Announces New Off-Shore Voluntary Disclosure Program Without A Deadline - Bryan Cave 

    • Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Reopens - Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP 

    • IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Reopens - Morrison & Foerster LLP 

    • I.R.S. Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Update – Tax Client Alert - Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn 

    • The Third Time’s The Charm – IRS Announces Third Opportunity For Voluntary Disclosure Of Offshore Accounts - Lowenstein Sandler PC 

    • IRS Promises New Procedure for Taxpayers Who Haven’t Filed But Owe No Tax And Indefinitely Extends Offshore Voluntary Disclosure - Moodys LLP Tax Advisors 

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    Find additional tax law updates on JD Supra»