February, 2018 - NCBarBlog

Fellow members of the YLD: My name is Bryan Norris, and I serve as your American Bar Association State Bar Delegate, representing the NCBA YLD within the North Carolina delegation to the ABA’s House of Delegates. On February 5, 2018, the American Bar Association held its Mid-Year Meeting, where the House of Delegates considered a slate of resolutions addressing issues relevant to young lawyers as well as members of the bar at large. This blog post is intended to provide you with a recap of resolutions of potential interest to young lawyers that were considered by the ABA House of Delegates. The resolutions are grouped by subject matter, and links to pertinent documents are provided for your reference. If you have any questions or concerns about the resolutions passed at the Mid-Year Meeting, or if you would like to become more involved in the ABA and its important work, please feel free to contact me via email.

February 23, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

We Must Embrace Diversity To Meet Today’s Challenges

Administrative Law

By Bain Jones

While seeing “The Darkest Hour,” the award-nominated movie about the early months of World War II in Britain, I was impressed that Winston Churchill chose to effectively use his coalition war cabinet, a group of diverse individuals. Reflective of the 1930’s, this group of leaders did not have gender or racial diversity. However, it did have a cross-section of diverse individuals. Members of the nobility, aristocracy, military, merchants, union representatives and other walks of life in Great Britain were present to advise the Prime Minister concerning policy and actions in those dark days. With the challenging issues facing our nation, our state, communities and our Bar and legal practice, I must believe that bringing diversity of life experiences, cultural backgrounds, intelligence and work experiences to the forefront would have to result in reasoned and successful decisions and experiences.

February 22, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Blockchain and Its Implications For IP

Intellectual Property Law Section

By Steve Snyder

As I continue to stay abreast of the latest technical developments involving computer related technology, the IP implications are becoming less clear. Being heavily involved in cybersecurity, I have been making the case that the cybersecurity field needs IP attorneys to bridge gaps that we are used to bridging—such as being a liaison between the highly technical engineers and the rest of society. Aside from cybersecurity, the technology I hear being discussed most is blockchain. As you may know, blockchain is a fundamental aspect of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, blockchain has much broader implications that will, in my opinion, pervade the practice of IP attorneys.

February 21, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

MacCord’s List: IP News & Notices From Art MacCord

Intellectual Property Law Section

By Art MacCord

Art MacCord is a patent attorney with 38 years of experience. He keeps an eye on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office for new rules and practice tips of interest to intellectual property attorneys. Please see below for the most recent updates.

Extension of the Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program until Jan 2, 2019

U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Final Rule Relating to Group Registration of Newspapers

February 21, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Final FDA Guidance: Keeping the Surgical Suite from Becoming a Manufacturing Facility

Health Law Section

By Justin M. Mann

An early focus of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the new leadership of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, has been regenerative medicines, which “hold significant promise for transformative and potentially curative treatments for some of humanity’s most troubling and intractable maladies.” One of the areas of regenerative medicine that can be particularly difficult to regulate is treatments with human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps), because these treatments tend to be fairly individualized and there is a fine line of demarcation between medical practice and processes regulated by FDA.

February 21, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

What BNPP Can Tell Us About Halkbank: Why Running Afoul Of U.S. Sanctions Regulations Is Bad For Business

International Law & Practice, International Practice

By Kemal Su

Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a high level banker at the Turkish state-controlled Halkbank, was convicted on January 3, 2018 of helping Iran circumvent international sanctions and gain access to billions in restricted petrodollar funds.[1] Throughout the trial, witnesses described a conspiracy to avoid U.S.-imposed Iranian sanctions that was allegedly supported by the highest levels of the Iranian and Turkish governments. Although six (6) other banks were named during the trial, Halkbank appeared to be at the center of the conspiracy. While the guilty verdict applied only to Mr. Atilla, the fallout for Halkbank is only just beginning. If the U.S. government finds that Halkbank engaged in wrongdoing, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) can impose a range of potentially debilitating penalties that will affect the future viability of the bank and may trigger a Turkish financial crisis. In order to understand what actions the OFAC may take, it is useful to have a look at what happened when U.S. authorities investigated BNP Paribas SA (BNPP).

February 21, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Attorney-Rapper Lex-Jordan Ibegbu Relies On Both Rhyme and Reason

February 21, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Federal Income Tax Update, Part I

Tax Section

By Keith A. Wood

This is the first of two installments of this article. Read the second installment here.

I. Audit Statistics; What Are Your Chances of Being Audited?

The 2016 Internal Revenue Service Data Book (IR-2017-69) contains audit statistics for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016. Here are the audit statistics for returns filed for calendar year 2015 (“CY 2015”):

February 20, 2018/by NCBARBLOG