On March 11, 2024, Liskow lawyers Kathryn Gonski and Melanie Derefinko secured the denial of a motion to remand on improper joinder grounds and the dismissal of an intentional tort claim against Methanex, a major Louisiana plant owner, in Knight v. Turner Industries Group, L.L.C., et al., No. 23-469 (M.D. La.).

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional. Read more about the update here.

On February 15, 2024, Liskow lawyers Kathryn Gonski and Shannon Holtzman secured a unanimous, published United States Fifth Circuit Opinion in Shaw v. Restoration Hardware, Inc., affirming a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal without leave to amend. 2024 WL 640246 (5th Cir. Feb. 15, 2024). Through this opinion, the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed the pleading requirements for breach of contract and quasi-contractual claims.

Since 2016 the Financial Crimes Network of the Treasury Department (“FinCEN”) has issued orders requiring title insurance companies to report certain non-financed residential real estate transactions to entities and trusts above a certain price threshold. These “Residential Real Estate Geographic Targeting Orders” or “GTOs” are limited to certain locations in the United States. 

FinCEN published a notice of proposed rulemaking on September 28, 2023 and the final regulations were just promulgated on November 30, 2023 that would extend the initial filing period to 90 days. The new rule, along with the CTA, becomes effective on January 1, 2024.

Unfortunately, there are always people out there looking for new ways to steal our personal information.  The latest scam?  Sending ominous warnings that personal information must be filed immediately with bogus or non-existent entities pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act.

Under the Corporate Transparency Act companies are generally required to report detailed information about their beneficial owners, commencing January 1, 2024.  On November 7, 2023, The United States Treasury issued amendments to its regulations with respect to reporting for tiered entities where the lower tier entities have precisely the same owners. 

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Louisiana Third Circuit Appeal affirmed the authority of the Louisiana Tax Commission to correct property tax assessments of #pipelines when a local assessor uses values that are too high or do not reflect fair market value. Cheryl Kornick represented the taxpayer in this matter.