Supreme Court

Justices seem to favor IRS in dispute over shareholder’s life insurance policy

Justices seem to favor IRS in dispute over shareholder’s life insurance policy

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The justices were considerably more subdued in the argument in Connelly v. Internal Revenue Service than they were on Tuesday, when they confronted the FDA’s treatment of the abortion drug mifepristone. This is a case about the tax treatment of life insurance policies that closely held corporations use to manage the death of a shareholder. Assume, as is common, a small corporation owned by members of the same family. When one dies, if the surviving shareholders want to keep … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Courts may not “make up” new procedural rules to favor arbitration

Courts may not “make up” new procedural rules to favor arbitration

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In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court has insisted that the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to put arbitration contracts on “equal footing” with other kinds of contracts. These decisions have often favored companies seeking to enforce arbitration agreements, rejecting rules that give employees or consumers a way out from contract clauses requiring them to arbitrate their disputes on an individual basis. But Monday’s unanimous decision in Morgan v. Sundance clarifies that the equal-footing rule works both ways. … Read the rest