The Federal Lawyer (2017)

The sentencing of criminal defendants is a common practice that occurs daily in federal courts across the country. It is uncommon, however, for a criminal defendant to thank the sentencing judge for their sentence and initiate a hug with the judge who then comes off the bench to greet the defendant.

Transactions involving partnerships can be tricky to characterize for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to say the least. Too often, the results can be unexpected and counterintuitive, and the complexity can dramatically increase in cases identical letter rulings that involved a multistep transaction and the treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partnership division followed immediately after by a partnership merger can shed light on the issues.

Transactions involving partnerships can be tricky to characterize for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to say the least. Too often, the results can be unexpected and counterintuitive, and the complexity can dramatically increase in cases identical letter rulings that involved a multistep transaction and the treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partnership division followed immediately after by a partnership merger can shed light on the issues.

The U.S. District for the Northern District of Georgia convened for the first time on March 12, 1849. As with all U.S. district courts, the Northern District of Georgia’s lineage begins with the Judiciary Act of 1789, which organized the state of Georgia as a single judicial district with a single district judge.

The intersection between intellectual property (IP) law and bankruptcy law has gained
prominence lately in both legal fields. There is currently a case pending in the Supreme
Court involving IP rights in bankruptcy.

The bedrock of the federal criminal justice system is composed, in part, by privileges found in common law. Federal Rule of Evidence 501 requires federal judges to interpret common law privileges “in light of reason and experience.” The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) noted the attorney-client privilege, which may begin before or after a civil or criminal action commences, is the oldest common law privilege in the American judicial system.

Many see the “golden door” to the United States as a beacon of freedom, opportunity, and a better life than what they left behind. But for some noncitizens—“aliens” as they are defined by current immigration law—that “golden door” leads to an immigration detention center.

The Supreme Court’s non-decision in Dollar General v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is evidence not only of disagreement on tribal civil jurisdiction but perhaps also uncertainty in how to analyze divestiture of tribal sovereignty. Most scholars (including myself) have described the Court’s behavior in tribal sovereign authority cases as one of judicial supremacy, in that the Court merely makes policy choices based
on its own ideological views of tribal power.

Where the Law and the Military Meet

So—what’s in a name? Apparently, a lot. If you are named John, you will have a significant advantage over Jennifer when applying for a position, even if you both have the exact same credentials. If your name is José, you will get more callbacks if you change it to Joe. And if you’re named Emily or Greg, you will receive 50 percent more callbacks for job interviews than equally qualified applicants named Lakisha or Jamal.