On Wednesday, February 10, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (Dem.-California) introduced a draft bill with the explicit purpose to “provide short-term water supplies to drought-stricken California and provide for long-term investments in drought resiliency throughout the Western United States.” Entitled, “California Long-Term Provisions for Water Supply and Short-Term Provisions for Emergency Drought Relief Act”
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Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal Rejects Disguised “Primary Purpose” Test for Application of the Further Processing Exclusion from Sales Tax to Dual Purpose Materials
By Linda Akchin
Kean Miller partner Linda S. Akchin represented Graphic Packaging International in its initial trial and appeal.
Since 1948, Louisiana’s General Sales Tax Law has provided an incentive to the manufacturing industry in the form of an exclusion from tax for materials purchased for further processing into tangible personal property for sale at retail. Undoubtedly, this…
No Issuance of Federal Offshore Fracking Permits Until May 2016
By Mike Mills
On January 29, 2016, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”), agencies within the federal Department of the Interior (“DOI”), agreed to put a temporary moratorium on issuance of fracking permits in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf until environmental review is conducted. The temporary moratorium is…
NINTH CIRCUIT REJECTS CHALLENGES TO UPDATE OF PRESIDIO TRUST MANAGEMENT PLAN
In Presidio Historical Association v. Presidio Trust, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 1287, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgement in favor of the Presidio Trust and rejected challenges to a planned “lodge” adjacent to the Presidio’s Main Parade Ground.
The Presidio is managed by the Presidio Trust (“Trust”), a federal government…
Terminating Corporate Life in Louisiana
The Louisiana Business Corporation Act (“LBCA”) became effective on January 1, 2015. The changes to Louisiana corporation law embodied in the LBCA are extensive, especially in the areas of dissolution and termination of a corporation.
Simplified Termination
The LBCA allows corporations to terminate by simplified articles of termination if the corporation: (1) does not owe…
Low Energy Prices, Low Interest Rates, Rise in Federal Estate Tax Make Estate Freeze Transactions Attractive
By Kean Miller
The recent downturn in energy prices has given consumers a welcomed break at the gasoline pump. The people producing the energy, however, from landowners, to oil companies, to oil field service providers, have felt the full negative effects of the steep price decline. Those producers are seeing price pressure at every turn, reducing their net…
Court Rules Clean Power Plan Implementation Can Continue
By Kean Miller
President Obama’s centerpiece of his climate policy agenda, the “Clean Power Plan,” has become one of the most heavily litigated environmental regulations ever. Twenty-seven states and numerous industry groups have filed more than fifteen separate lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) statutory authority to promulgate the regulations. Seventeen states, the District of Columbia, the…
2016: Resolve to Consider Joint Employment Issues… the Department of Labor Has Already Done So!
This New Year, many employers have resolved to examine their employment relationships to determine if any joint employment relationships are lurking. On January 20, 2016, the United States Department of Labor issued an administrator’s interpretation on joint employment and confirmed that the DOL has resolved to continue its program of pursuing issues related to joint…
The Louisiana Supreme Court Issues Strong Guidance about Manifest Error Standard: Hayes Fund for the First United Methodist Church of Welsh, LLC v. Kerr McGee Rocky Mountain, LLC
By Kean Miller
On December 8, 2015 the Louisiana Supreme Court attempted to clarify the manifest error appellate review standard. Hayes Fund for the First United Methodist Church of Welsh, LLC v. Kerr McGee Rocky Mountain, LLC, 2014-2592 (La. 12/8/15); — So. 3d –, pitted plaintiff mineral royalty owners against mineral lessee and working interest owner defendants in…
Proper Form and Content of a Louisiana Private Works Act Lien
By Kean Miller
By the Kean Miller Construction Team
Louisiana’s Private Works Act [1] allows an unpaid contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier to file a “statement of claim or privilege” (i.e., lien) upon the property improved by their work or materials. A properly filed lien in the amount of the unpaid balance can then form the basis for…