Elder financial exploitation has been called “the crime of the 21st Century.”1 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) defines elder financial exploitation as the “illegal or improper use of an older person’s funds, property or assets.”2 It is a serious issue with severe consequences for older Americans, as valuations of annual losses range from $2.9…
Year: 2018
Using the Federal Tax Code to Combat Money Laundering in Real Estate
Real estate transactions are an attractive vehicle for criminals looking to launder their money.1 Sanctioned foreign officials, organized crime syndicates, and even terror groups move money domestically and internationally through real estate transactions.2 The problem of money laundering in real estate (MLRE) has been prevalent in the United States for decades: the Mafia built Las…
T-Mobile-Sprint Merger and Antitrust Scrutiny
On April 29, 2018, Sprint and T-Mobile announced an agreement to merge the two companies. Though this is exciting news, we have been here before. On-and-off discussions between Sprint and T-Mobile have been ongoing for over four years. The most recent set of discussions took place in the fall of 2017. However, on November 4,…
Automated Vehicles and Michigan’s No-Fault Auto Insurance Act
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), human error causes 94% of serious vehicle accidents.1 In response, the latest vehicles have implemented driver assistance technologies that use sensors, cameras, and computers to identify safety risks and reduce error-caused accidents.2 While still in development, automated vehicles that “can see more and act faster than…
Off The Grid: FERC Rejects DOE’s Grid Resiliency Pricing Proposal
In December 2017, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry proposed a new rule that sent shockwaves through the energy industry. In response to the financial struggles and potential early retirement of some of the United States’ coal and nuclear power plants, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that asked the Federal…
California Climate Lawsuit Highlights Risks of an Overzealous Litigation Strategy
Stating exaggerated claims at the beginning of a lawsuit can be a standard practice in litigation; however, a recent climate change lawsuit filed by seven California municipalities should remind litigators that unsupported exaggerations can cause collateral damage. The essence of the cities’ case is a public nuisance claim filed in California state court against several…
CLOUD Act: An Update Long Overdue
On March 23, 2018, President Trump signed the CLOUD Act–which was attached to the omnibus spending bill–into law. The CLOUD Act is a necessary update to the United States’ laws concerning issued warrants to businesses located in the United States for data stored overseas. The CLOUD Act modifies the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”). When the…
Ninth Circuit Rules on Equal Pay
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling could be a significant step towards eliminating gender pay discrimination in the workplace. The federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 attempted to eliminate gender wage discrimination by prohibiting employers from paying male employees higher wages than female employees for the same work.1 There were four exceptions to the general rule of…
California’s Proposition 65 and the Danger of Over-regulation
During the week of March 26, 2018, California announced that coffee shops are required to post warnings that the coffee customers are drinking may cause cancer.1 Such warnings are common in California thanks to Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”)—a thirty-year old California law mandating businesses to post cancer warnings if they sell products that contain substances…
SEC Begins Evaluation of NYSE Proposal to List Bitcoin ETFs
In March 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it will begin proceedings to determine whether it will permit a NYSE Arca rule change proposal to list and trade two bitcoin-related exchange traded funds (ETFs). 1 In its review, the SEC will seek to determine the rule’s consistency with the Securities Exchange Act…