Buried in the 5,500-page Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021 among various COVID-19 relief was the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”). The TMA, which will become effective on December 27, 2021, makes several important amendments to federal trademark law (the Lanham Act) intended to modernize trademark application examinations and clean house of trademark registrations for marks not used in commerce. For litigants, the TMA also adds important clarity to the Lanham Act’s standard for obtaining…

The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal once again recognized the primacy of legislation as a source of law in the state and that the power to tax is reserved to the Legislature alone, not the Louisiana Department of Revenue (the “Department”). In Davis-Lynch Holding Co., Inc. v. Robinson, 2019-1574 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/30/20), ___ So.3d ___, the court invalidated a regulation that had the effect of increasing the corporate taxpayer’s Louisiana apportionment…

On December 27th, the President signed into law a second pandemic relief package as part of a larger government funding bill passed by Congress entitled The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”). In March of this year, President Trump signed the first pandemic-related stimulus bill: H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (Public Law No: 116-136, the “CARES Act”). The tax provisions in the CAA, are numerous, but for the most part, extend certain…

On December 21, 2020 Congress passed the lengthiest piece of legislation in its history—nearly 5600 pages. While most Americans are focused on the provisions of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” related to coronavirus response and recovery, it also included provisions that will directly impact pipeline operators. The “Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020” appears at page 2634. The Act contains two provisions which will expand federal regulation of the…

On Monday, December 21, 2020, Congress passed another stimulus package to provide certain coronavirus relief for individuals and businesses, among other things. One looming question was whether Congress would extend the emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid family leave (EFMLA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into next year? The answer is – no. The FFCRA paid leave laws have not been extended, and thus the paid leave law mandates…

In the recent 2-1 decision of Knight v. Kirby Offshore Marine Pac., L.L.C, No. 19-30756, 2020 WL 7393534, at *1 (5th Cir. Dec. 17, 2020), the Fifth Circuit held that a Jones Act Seaman was contributorily negligent for his injuries when following the general orders of his superior.  The Court analyzed the differences between general and specific orders for purposes of a seaman’s contributory negligence in emphasizing that a seaman must act with ordinary prudence…

One of the most confounding situations faced by corporate taxpayers engaged in a Louisiana income tax audit is the receipt of preliminary workpapers that disallow interest expense deductions with no opportunity to prove that the interest expense is properly deductible because it is directly attributable to the production of apportionable income. The Louisiana Department of Revenue (the “Department”) takes the position, based on what appears to be an incorrect interpretation of the applicable law, that…