The Library

Robyn Smith Ellis On April 7, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security administration released Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-1 which provides enforcement guidance to field investigators on health savings accounts (“HSAs”). The guidance is intended to facilitate the adoption of health savings accounts by employers. The Department of Labor believes that HSAs will lead to more choices and lower health care costs for American workers and their families. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Act”) permits eligible individuals to establish HSAs effective January 1, 2004. Generally, eligible individuals are those who are covered under […]

W. David Paxton While neither the Fourth Circuit nor Virginia courts have yet addressed the issue, the California Court of Appeals has held that current or former employees who post defamatory statements about a business on the Internet can be held legally accountable for such false statements. In Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino, H024214 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003), two former employees posted numerous derogatory messages about Varian and two of its executives. A jury found the defendants liable for defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of contract and conspiracy, awarding $425,000 in general damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. On […]

Introduction The new Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Act”) permits eligible individuals to establish Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) starting January 1, 2004.  HSAs are similar to Archer Medical Savings Accounts (“Archer MSAs”) as well as Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”).  They offer tax-sheltered savings like an IRA, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free.  After a beneficiary attains the age of 65, withdrawals for anything other than qualified medical expenses (which continue to be tax-free) are treated the same as distributions from traditional IRAs. Like an Archer MSA, an HSA is established for the benefit of […]

A HIPAA Checklist and Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information is available in pre-formatted PDF format under the Additional Reading section.

BUSINESS VALUATIONS IN LITIGATION 101: A BASIC GUIDE James C. Joyce, Jr. Kevin W. Holt The need for business valuations arises in a variety of types of litigation from domestic relations to minority shareholder suits, from disputes over the sale of a business to taxation and estate litigation. In all such cases, the basic issue is the same—how much is the business or an ownership interest in it worth and how do you measure it. This article discusses business valuations in litigation.  The article explores general expert witness issues in the specific context of valuations for purposes of litigation.  The article reviews […]

Virginia’s new Industrial Storm Water General Permit, covering “point source” discharges of storm water “associated with industrial activity” to surface waters of the Commonwealth, became effective June 30, 1999. The general permit mandates the development and implementation of a facility-specific Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for each covered facility, and various monitoring and sampling requirements depending on a facility’s industry sector. Point source discharges are those that flow through any discernable, defined and discrete conveyance (such as, a ditch, channel or swale ), as compared to uncollected “sheet-flow” run-off. Facilities conducting industrial activities required to have registered under the […]

The aging process frequently produces results that are neither expected nor wanted. Such is the case with many former waste disposal sites sprinkled throughout the State. Recent news reports have alerted us to the proposition that in the near future the consequences of earlier unsophisticated, or careless, waste disposal practices are likely to revisit us. Indeed, we have seen that the regulatory authorities such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have identified dozens of old disposal facilities that are known to be “leaking.” Many of these facilities when operated were managed in […]

Foreign State Taxation of Intellectual Property Income Paying income taxes to the federal and Virginia state governments is unpleasant enough for most businesses, but an unexpected tax bill from a state in which your business has no employees, no real or tangible personal property and no sales can be especially distressing. If your business involves the licensing of intellectual property such as copyrights, trademarks, service marks or patents, your chances of encountering this situation increase. Under pressure to make ends meet while easing the tax burden on residents, several states are testing the limits of their power to tax nonresident […]

Family Limited Partnerships: A Panacea for All Estate Planning Ills Family limited partnerships are being touted by many as a miracle drug in the context of estate planning ills. In fact, the family limited partnership is a very sophisticated and effective tool, but appropriate for use only after careful consideration of a family’s circumstances and all state and federal laws. BACKGROUND: Family limited partnerships burst on the scene following a dramatic reversal by the IRS of its adverse position relating to the availability of minority discounts and discounts for a lack of marketability in the family context. This reversal came […]