| Volume 112 Number 9 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Do you buy or sell things on eBay? If you do it is a good idea to read the terms and conditions on the user agreement. When you buy and sell over long distances and something goes wrong, it may not be practical to file a small claims court case against someone out of state. Because of this, you need to know and use the dispute resolution process in the user agreement. Click here for more.
IRS Announces Steps to Combat Fraudulent FIlings
Given the problems this year with fraudulent electronic IRS filings, the IRS has announced steps to combat the computer fraud. While the IRS's current filters prevented more than 700,000 false filings, many still got through. The IRS is going to tighten it's computer systems to better identify computer "bots" and malicious programs pretending to be taxpayers filing returns, and to verify that the computer filings are actually tied to the taxpayer. Click here for more.
Your Money
Do you save enough for retirement? Studies indicate that few Americans are actually saving enough to insure a comfortable retirement. What may surprise you is that many people who could be considered wealthy are still concerned that they have too much debt and are not saving enough for their futures. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Bankruptcy court may not award fees to professionals for defending fee applications. The United States Supreme Court held that Section 330(a)(1) of the bankruptcy Code does not permit bankruptcy courts to award fees to section 327(a) professionals for defending fee applications. The American Rule provides the basic point of reference for attorney’s fees: Each litigant pays his own attorney’s fees, win or lose, unless a statute or contract provides otherwise. Congress did not depart from the American Rule in section 330(a)(1) for fee-defense litigation. The phrase “reasonable compensation for services rendered” necessarily implies “loyal and disinterested service in the interest of” a client, Time spent litigating a fee application against the bankruptcy estate’s administrator cannot be fairly described as “labor performed for”—let alone “disinterested service to”—that administrator. Requiring bankruptcy attorneys to bear the costs of their fee-defense litigation under section 330(a)(1) creates no disincentive to bankruptcy practice. Baker Botts L.L.P. v. ASARCO LLC Click here for more.