Stephen Kranz and Diann Smith criticized a tax activist’s proposal to a US House Judiciary subcommittee that states should be prohibited from taxing people who do not live within their jurisdictions. Mr. Kranz called such views “unfounded and inconsistent with our federalist system… with how the Constitution arranges matters between and among the states and persons who interact with them.” Ms. Smith agreed, saying that “this question of who’s an in-stater and who’s an out-of-stater becomes, I think, very complex”

Stephen Kranz and Diann Smith were authors of an article, “Delaware Senate Passes Unclaimed Property Reform Bill,” that was cited in this blog post. Read the full article

McDermott is pleased to announce the Firm’s rankings in The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 2015. McDermott maintains its key service rankings and is recommended in 27 practice areas in the Belgium, France, Germany and Italy country chapters, receiving an additional new recommendation for France: Healthcare and Life Sciences.

Four of McDermott partners have been included in the guide’s elite „Leading lawyers“ list and 29 partners are recommended in the Legal 500 EMEA editorial for Belgium, France, Germany and Italy.

The Firm is recommended in the following jurisdictions and practice areas:

Belgium
– Competition
– Customs, Trade, WTO and Anti-Dumping

France
– Administrative and Public Law
– Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration
– EU Competition and Distribution
– Employment
– Healthcare and Life Sciences
– Mergers and Acquisitions
– Tax

Germany
– Corporate and M&A Mid-Sized International Deals
– Corporate: International
– Corporate: Domestic
– Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration
– Employment
– Information Technology and Outsourcing
– Media: Entertainment
– Private Equity: Transactions
– Real Estate
– Restructuring
– Tax
– Telecoms Regulatory
– Telecoms Transactions

Italy
– Corporate and M&A: Milan and Rome
– Dispute Resolution
– EU, Regulatory and Competition Law
– Energy
– Tax

Partners included in the elite „Leading lawyers“ list:

Tax – Leading individuals
– Carlo Maria Paolella

EU, regulatory and competition law – Leading individuals
– Veronica Pinotti

Tax – Leading individuals
– Dirk Pohl

Energy – Leading individuals
– Carsten Steinhauer

For full details on Firm’s rankings and editorial commentary please click here
or visit Legal 500 EMEA at www.legal500.com

Russell Hayman, Ankur Goel and Joshua Rogaczewski, as part of their California federal court defense of companies facing whistleblower allegations related to Medicare reimbursement, have demanded that the plaintiff return more than 26,000 documents he allegedly took after he was fired and since has refused to turn over.

Stephen Kranz and Diann Smith assessed two upcoming Supreme Court state and local tax cases, Direct Marketing Association (DMA) v. Brohl and Comptroller of the Treasury v. Wynne. Mr. Kranz said DMA “is focused on application of the TIA [Tax Injunction Act],” which “will have relevance to whether similar state legislation can be challenged in federal court — and that’s something that all of us will be interested in.” Ms. Smith added that Wynne “has the risk of fundamentally changing the way we think of — at the very least — how personal income tax laws are administered if the court sides with the state in this case. I can’t imagine that will happen.”

McDermott’s 250-person-strong tax practice was recognized as a “Tax Group of the Year” for handling complex deals and litigation. “Tax is anything but an afterthought here. We have the firm’s full backing and … support to do what we need to develop our clients,” state and local tax practice leader Jane Wells May said, while U.S. and international tax practice head Lowell Yoder agreed that “clients come to McDermott for tax and then stay for other services. Our clients recognize they’re getting the most sophisticated, thoughtful and careful thinking,” Work by Robin Greenhouse and William Goldman on a groundbreaking First Circuit ruling for a global pharma company was cited as an example.

Raymond Jacobsen and Jon Dubrow were noted as counsel to Impax Laboratories in the FTC’s antitrust review of the company’s proposed acquisition of privately held drugmaker Tower Holdings Inc. The FTC has extended its review of the $700 million transaction.

Matthias Kampshoff, who led the McDermott team that helped the Mühleck Family Office purchase the shares of Strauss Innovation in reorganization, said that “insolvency plans are very demanding, especially in retail, because the facts are quite complex. We gradually overcame the challenges and created a solid foundation that will bring Strauss is back to its former strength.” The McDermott Düsseldorf restructuring team for the insolvency plan also included Marc Oberhardt, Philipp Kutscher, Shiro Angele, Jan Hückel, Volker Teigelkötter, Sandra Urban-Crell, Thomas Gennert, Jens Ortmanns, Anja Zelfel and Thomas Beisken. Read the full article

Stephen Kranz and Diann Smith said it would be “great” if the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) undertook a proposed study on state reporting requirements after the IRS issues a revenue agent’s report (RAR), with Mr. Kranz calling it “exactly the type of project that taxpayers and revenue authorities can work on together.” Both lawyers said such a study should likely start by revisiting why more states haven’t adopted the MTC model.