By Juliya L. Ismailov, Joshua Hager, and Sarah B. Gleit

After years of contemplation, last week New York lawmakers enacted an annual "pied-à-terre" tax under the Fiscal Year 2027 State budget on second homes that have fair market value above certain thresholds. The term "pied-à-terre” is French for "foot on the ground," meaning that the tax applies to secondary residences used periodically, or held for investment purposes, by individuals who primarily live elsewhere.

By Juliya L. Ismailov

This article explores the status of digitizing the process of signing a Last Will and Testament in New York, and ways to use trust planning to, among other things, avoid probate of a Will and/or plan for real estate investment in retirement. 

​New York has recently passed new legislation, The Freelance Isn’t Free Act (“FIFA”), which was effective as of August 28, 2024 and is intended to provide certain protections to freelancers and independent contractors.

By Cynthia Botello, Esq.¹

This is your chance to help shape the local rules for the New York Federal Civil Courts. On July 8, 2024 the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) and Eastern District of New York (“EDNY”) issued a Notice to the Bar inviting the public to comment on proposed changes to their Joint Local Rules. Comments are due by October 6, 2024.​

​All business owners and investors should be aware of new federal and state legislation that may impact their corporate and business reporting requirements. 

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which went into effect on January 1, 2024, requires all entities to report certain basic information about itself and certain beneficial owner information (BOI) to the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  Specifically, any entity formed (or formed in a foreign country and registered to do business within the U.S.) before January 1, 2024 has until January 1, 2025 to file its BOI report.  Entities formed (or formed in a foreign country and registered to do business within the U.S.) after January 1, 2024 have to file that report within 90 days of formation or registration.  Entities formed (or formed in a foreign country and registered to do business within the U.S.) after January 1, 2025 have to file within 30 days of formation or registration.  Failure to file on a timely basis can lead to penalties.

​There has been recent turmoil in the crypto market, including a host of Chapter 11 crypto filings.  In the event that you or your clients need legal support during these challenging times in the industry, we are well-positioned to assist.  We have extensive experience providing crypto and fintech clients with a broad range of legal services and these are summarized in this article.

​In this article, we present a summary of the options available to companies in financial distress, including a discussion of the advantages of, and treatment of small businesses under, Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

​Most bankruptcy attorneys will confess that they delight in telling the non-bankruptcy attorney for the other side that a bankruptcy case has been filed and that a contractual termination provision or other right governed by state law is suddenly superseded and rendered superfluous by the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., which is federal law. In other words, my law trumps your law.
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When bankruptcy law and the policy considerations underlying it intersect (or collide) with intellectual property law, which is also primarily federal law and is based on its own compelling (and often competing) set of policy considerations, the analysis becomes much more complex. This article explores the attempts by Congress and the courts to resolve the issues that arise when intellectual property license agreements become part of a bankruptcy estate and describes the protections that may be available to, and the pitfalls that should be avoided by, licensors and licensees.

The bankruptcy court provides a forum for the prosecution of a variety of lawsuits. The most common complaints filed by or on behalf of a bankruptcy estate are for the avoidance and recovery of preferential transfers and fraudulent conveyances (under both the Bankruptcy Code and state law).