#payroll tax lawyer

[thorgoodlaw]

Navigating Legal Complexities: How the Right Tax and Wage Attorney Can Protect Your Finances

In this blog, we’ll break down how a tax defense attorney can help in working with wage garnishment, payroll tax issues, and even criminal tax cases. We’ll also offer guidance on finding the best tax attorney NYC or criminal tax attorney near you, depending on your specific needs.

The Role of a Wage Garnishment Lawyer

Wage garnishment may seem to be a daunting experience for you. If your employer has been told to take out a specific part of your money due to a debt or tax situation, you really should not wait. A wage garnishment lawyer near you can:

First of all, carefully explore your financial condition and also check the legality of the garnishment.

Assist in talking to creditors and tax authorities to lessen or remove the garnishment.

Represent you in court to defend your wages.

When to Call a Payroll Tax Attorney

Many employers with payroll tax problems need attorneys that deal with these kinds of issues. Businesses that are noncompliant with payroll tax rules can face heavy fallout, even criminal charges. A payroll tax attorney will:

Assist in resolving tax discrepancies with the IRS or state tax agencies.

Avoiding payroll tax-related legal actions, for example, audits or wage garnishment are things that you can get help with.

To ensure you are compliant with the rules, which will curtail any problems in future, is the last way that we can help.

Defending Against Criminal Tax Charges

Facing criminal tax charges? It’s essential to get a criminal tax attorney near you involved immediately. Criminal tax issues can arise from:

Teeth issue

Shady or missing tax returns

Wrongly filed tax payments to payroll

A criminal tax lawyer is not easy to do, but through our support, you can fight back, get settlements, or we can even represent you in court to minimize the penalties, let alone the possibility of jail time.

Finding the Best Tax Attorney in NYC

If you’re in New York and need tax-related legal help, the search for the best tax lawyer NYC or best tax attorney NYC is vital. A top-notch lawyer will provide:

Legal help that includes advice, actions, or many other services covering the issue of wage garnishment of payroll tax collection or criminal tax issues.

On the one hand, with an attack over the institutions such as the IRS and state tax authorities, the attorney would make the suit as severe as possible, which would be quite a well-thought-out subtle move.

Utilize legal tactics that take into account the specific issues you would like to be addressed.

How a Tax Defense Lawyer Can Help

Hiring a tax defense lawyer can help give you peace of mind when you have to deal with the IRS. An attorney for tax defense can then advise you, for instance:

Protect your assets and income from aggressive IRS actions.

Negotiate favorable settlements and payment plans.

Represent you in court if necessary.

FAQs

1. When should I hire a payroll tax lawyer?

If you are a business person with some issue or in some way subjected to some penalty relating to payroll taxes then it is high time you sought a payroll tax lawyer to ensure compliance and avoid further penalties.

2. What are the consequences of not hiring a criminal tax lawyer?

If you’re facing criminal tax charges, failing to hire a criminal tax attorney may lead to fines, penalties and even imprisonment and should therefore not be encouraged by any company.

3. How can a tax defense attorney protect me?

A tax defense attorney can negotiate settlements, appear in court on your behalf and shield wages or assets from legal seizure by the IRS.

4. Who is the best tax attorney in NYC?

The best tax attorney NYC will have experience, expertise in local tax laws, and a strong track record of defending clients against IRS actions.

There is usually nothing wrong in knowing that one cannot be outwitted in court especially in period when ones financial or legal standing remains rather uncertain. This can range from wage garnishment, payroll taxes issue or a criminal tax case, thus the need to seek legal assistance from an tax defense lawyer can protect your finances and your future.

[edwincannan]

North Suburban Legal Services LLC provides legal services in a range of practice areas including personal injury, workers' compensation, and employment law. Their team of skilled attorneys is dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome for their clients. They offer personalized representation and compassionate service, helping clients navigate complex legal issues and protect their rights.

[democracyunderground]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.

Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”

The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January. He’s also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.

Clemency is the term for the power the president has to pardon, in which a person is relieved of guilt and punishment, or to commute a sentence, which reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesn’t exonerate the wrongdoing. It’s customary for a president to grant mercy at the end of his term, using the power of the office to wipe away records or end prison terms.

Those pardoned Thursday range in age from 36 to 75. About half are men and half are women, and they had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses, fraud or theft and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said. They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.

Louisiana resident Trynitha Fulton, 46, was one of the pardons; she pleaded guilty to participating in a payroll fraud scheme while serving as a New Orleans middle school teacher in the early 2000s. She was sentenced to three years of probation in 2008.

“The pardon gives me a sense of freedom,” Fulton said in a written statement to the AP. “The conviction has served as a mental barrier for me, limiting my ability to live a full life.”

“The pardon gives me inspiration to make more impactful decisions personally and professionally,” she added.

After her conviction, Fulton went on to earn a master’s degree. She helps lead the nonprofit Skyliners-Youth Outreach, which supports New Orleans youth by providing hot meals, clothing, shelter and mental health referrals.

The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. He’s also broadly pardoned those convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and 34 other lawmakers are urging the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years because of a contempt of court charge related to his work representing Indigenous farmers in a lawsuit against Chevron.

Others are advocating for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, paused federal executions. Biden had said on the campaign trail in 2020 that he wanted to end the death penalty but he never did, and now, with Trump coming back into office, it’s likely executions will resume. During his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions, carried out during the height of the pandemic.

More clemency grants are coming before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, but it’s not clear whether he’ll take action to guard against possible prosecution by Trump, an untested use of the power. The president has been taking the idea seriously and has been thinking about it for as much as six months — before the presidential election — but has been concerned about the precedent it would set, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

But those who received the pardons would have to accept them. New California Sen. Adam Schiff, who was a part of the House committee that investigated the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, said such a pardon from Biden would be “unnecessary,” and that the president shouldn’t be spending his waning days in office worrying about this.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., another target of Trump’s threats, said in a statement this week that his suggestion that she and others be jailed for the investigations “is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.”

Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly pledged not to do so. He said in a statement explaining his reversal that the prosecution had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put additional public pressure on the administration to use that same power for everyday Americans. It wasn’t a very popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

[mariacallous]

A former F.B.I. informant accused of making false bribery claims about President Biden and his son Hunter — which were widely publicized by Republicans — claimed to have been fed information by Russian intelligence, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

In the memo, prosecutors portrayed the former informant, Alexander Smirnov, 43, as a serial liar incapable of telling the truth about even the most basic details of his own life. But Mr. Smirnov told federal investigators that “officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story” about Hunter Biden.

Those disclosures, including Mr. Smirnov’s unverifiable claim that he met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as three months ago, made him a flight risk and endangered national security, Justice Department officials said. Mr. Smirnov had been held in custody in Las Vegas, where he has lived since 2022, since his arrest last week.

He was released from custody on Tuesday on a personal recognizance bond after a detention hearing, said his lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld.

Prosecutors did not specify which story Russian intelligence is said to have been fed to Mr. Smirnov, an Israeli citizen. But they suggested they could not believe anything he said. And they had many tales to choose from.

The memo describes Mr. Smirnov as a human hall of mirrors: He fed the F.B.I. bogus information about the Bidens and misled prosecutors about his wealth, estimated at $6 million, while telling them he worked in the security business, even though the government could find no proof that was true.

“The misinformation he is spreading is not confined” to his false claims about the Bidens, wrote prosecutors working for David C. Weiss, the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges.

“He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November,” they added.

That appeared to refer to Mr. Smirnov’s claim, made in late 2023 to the F.B.I., that he had spoken to the head of a Russian intelligence unit who said he had intercepted phone calls made by guests at a hotel overseas. Those included “several calls placed by prominent U.S. persons the Russian government may use as ‘kompromat’ in the 2024 election,” according to prosecutors.

Mr. Smirnov also told his F.B.I. handler that he was involved in meetings to help resolve the war in Ukraine, and that he had knowledge of assassination squads operating in “a third-party country.”

Last week, Mr. Weiss charged Mr. Smirnov with fabricating claims that President Biden and his son each sought $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian energy giant, Burisma, demanding the money to protect the company from an investigation by the country’s prosecutor general.

Those allegations, which prosecutors now say were brazen fabrications motivated by Mr. Smirnov’s animosity toward the president, were widely promoted by congressional Republicans who cited it as a justification for their now-stalled effort to impeach Mr. Biden.

Mr. Smirnov was taken into custody last week as he walked off an international flight from what prosecutors described as “a monthslong, multicountry foreign trip.” During that trip, he claimed to have had contacts with multiple foreign intelligence agencies and had planned to embark on a similar trip days later, according to the memo.

What makes the Smirnov case so unusual, aside from its political significance, is the willingness of the F.B.I. to publicly burn a confidential informant who had been on the bureau’s payroll as recently as last year. The filing contained excerpts from his source reporting documents, raw notes from interviews between handlers and informants that are considered some of the most sensitive federal law enforcement documents.

Also on Tuesday, Hunter Biden’s legal team filed motions in federal court arguing that the arrest of Mr. Smirnov — while unrelated to the charges Mr. Biden faces — has tainted the public’s perception of their client, making fair trials impossible.

“It now seems clear that the Smirnov allegations infected this case,” said Abbe Lowell, Mr. Biden’s lawyer, who accused Mr. Weiss of following “Mr. Smirnov down his rabbit hole of lies.”

[racefortheironthrone]

Can we have your analysis of NY governors since Rockefeller like you did with the NYC mayors.

That's a bit trickier, but sure! (Interesting choice of starting point. No Al Smith, no FDR, no Lehman, no Dewey - that's a lot of famous NY governors out of the picture.)

Governors below the cut, because this one is going to run long.

Nelson Rockefeller (1959-1973):

Certainly a politically successful governor - the man won four elections in a row! - Rockefeller was the last of his kind, the quasi-liberal Northeastern Republican to which he gave his name. At the same time, when you dig into his record, there is as much to be ashamed of as to be proud of.

In the interests of fairness, let's disuss the positives first: Rockefeller believed in taxing and spending on a grand scale, whether that was for public works, state parks, state aid to education (SUNY grew sixfold during his tenure), low-income housing, pensions for public sector workers, mass transit, or Medicaid. On non-spending issues, Rocky was an early supporter of abortion rights, state-level civil rights legislation, the ERA, environmental conservation, and a state-level minimum wage.

When it came to the monuments that he hoped would become his legacy, Rockefeller liked to build big. Unfortunately, when it comes to the negatives of his governorship, they are of a similar scale. Chiefly, the problem was that Rocky was a pretty consistent "law and order" politician - the laws that authorized "stop and frisk" and "no-knock" warrants were passed with his enthusiastic support, state police payrolls and budgets balooned in size, and he was a consistent supporter of the death penalty pretty much until the end.

But when it comes to "law and order," two monuments stand taller than all the others: Attica and the drug laws.

On September 9th, 1971, over a thousand incarcerated men (overwhelmingly men of color) seized control of the Attica Correctional Facility in a protest over living conditions and political rights. They took 42 correctional officers and staff hostages, issued a list of 33 demands, and then negotiated for four days in good faith. Refusing to meet with the inmates and unwilling to either remove the unpopular superintendent or grant amnesty for the uprising, Rockfeller instead sent in the state police, armed corrections officers (for some ungodly reason), and the National Guard and gave them free reign.

On the morning of September 13th, troopers dropped tear gas into the main yard and then just started shooting indiscriminately. In fifteen minutes, 29 inmates were murdered - including most of the uprising's leadership, who were targeted by name for execution - and so were 10 hostages. (Often shooting blindly into the billowing clouds of tear gas with shotguns, the troopers were so undisciplined that they wounded another five corrections officers and one state trooper in friendly fire incidents.) Another 85 inmates were wounded, and hundreds and hundreds of survivors were made to strip naked, crawl through mud and shit and broken glass, and then tortured by corrections officers.

Rockefeller covered all of this up. The governor claimed that the prisoners had committed "cold-blooded killings" of all the hostages, and particularly trapped himself by claiming that the prisoners had slit the throats of the hostages - medical examiners concluded that all of the hostages were killed by law enforcement bullets. Although forced by public opinion to establish a Special Commission to investigate what had happened, Rockefeller did his level best to ensure that the truth of what happened never got out (it did eventually come out, but it took years and many couragous whistleblowers and crusading lawyers to make that happen), to ensure that not a single trooper was held criminally resppnsible, and to avoid as long as possible paying any restitution to the families of the dead, let alone the survivors.

All because he didn't want to look weak on crime.

When it comes to the Drug Laws to which he put his name, it's hard to see them as anything less than a political stunt that ruined the lives of thousands and thousands of people. Rocky had previously supported liberal treatment and social services approaches to drugs, but he wanted to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976, so he did a 180 to burnish his "law and order" credentials.

Under his laws, selling as little as two ounces or merely possessing four ounces of opoids, cocaine, or marijuana would be punished with a minimum of 15 years to life and a maximum of 25 years to life. Over the decades since the enactment of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, some 150,000 people would be incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses in New York, over 90% of whom were black or Hispanic men. It took until 2009 for these laws to be dismantled.

All because he wanted to run for president.

Verdict: like Jekyll and Hyde. Both an asshole and not an asshole, depending on the issue.

Hugh Carey (1975-1982):

The first Democratic governor of New York in almost 20 years, Carey was elected in the Democratic landslide of 1974. And like a lot of "Watergate baby" Democrats (like one Joseph Robinette Biden), Carey was an odd blend of fiscal conservative and social liberal.

This applied most immediately and most significantly to his handling of New York City's Fiscal Crisis. The city was massively in debt, New York financiers were engaging in a capital strike, the President of the United States was openly hoping for NYC's financial demise in order to punish American liberalism, and the one thing everyone knew and no one wanted to admit is that someone had to pay for a bailout.

As governor, Carey did bail out NYC - but at the cost of the city not only giving the bankers everything they had demanded (public sector layoffs, wage freezes, subway fare hikes, the closure of public hospitals, libraries, and fire stations, and the end of free tuition at CUNY), but also of surrendering the city's fiscal autonomy. As quid pro quo for state funds, Carey pushed through the creation of the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC) to handle the city's bonds and the Emergency Financial Control Board (EFCB) to control the city's taxation and budgets. These two unelected bodies continued in existance for decades, and set a precedent for the state government to call the shots when it came to local NYC governance, even while NYC's economy funded the state government.

All this at the same time as Carey was cutting income, capital gains, and corporate taxes for the wealthy, creating the modern suite of tax breaks for developers, and keeping state spending below the rate of inflation. On the flip side, he did build a bunch of fancy public works like the Javits Center, Battery Park City, and the South Street Seaport to attract tourists back to NYC.

However, on social issues Carey was quite progressive. On both the death penalty and abortion rights, he stopped the state legislature from rolling back reforms forced on them by the courts. He made the de-institutionalization of the mentally ill and the provision of community-based services a signature issue - although not enough to prevent a rise in homelessness among the mentally ill. Unlike Rockefeller, he tried to do the decent thing when it came to the aftermath of the Attica Rising by pardoning the rioters. Like Rockefeller, he was in favor of environmental regulation.

Verdict: Mostly an asshole. Meeting baseline expectations for a Democrat doesn't cancel out fucking over NYC for a generation.

Mario Cuomo (1982-1994):

Writing about Cuomo the Elder is difficult, because for a generation of New Yorkers and others he represented liberal ideals and aspirations tbat were ultimately unconnected to the day-to-day business of governance. This was largely due to the way he exploded into national prominence with his "Tale of Two Cities" speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, which challenged the rosy rhetoric of Reagan's "Morning in America."

The problem is that, as governor, Mario Cuomo stressed "progressive pragmatism" and tried to straddle the line between liberal goals and business-friendly methods. As Saladin Ambar put it in American Cicero, "whereas Rockefeller oversaw a period of tremendous government expansion...Cuomo was later derided for having no big policy focus. His was an era of contraction, one of smaller progressive victories."

When we look at Cuomo's record, we see he prided himself on the "largest tax cut" in New York state history and balancing the budget through cutting spending, but also on expanding Medicaid to low-income children and pregnant women. He lowered the top income tax rate, but also increased the basic welfare grant. He trumpeted $500 million in state aid to education, but also spent $500 million to build new public prisons. He spent $850 million on environmental clean-up efforts, but $300 on paying down state debt.

Ultimately, the issue that defined Cuomo had nothing to do with economic policy or social spending - it was the death penalty. His opposition to the death penalty had cost him the mayoral election in 1977, but it won him the gubernatorial nomination in 1982 - both times in matchups against Ed Koch. As governor, he vetoed 12 different bills to restore New York's death penalty. Ultimately, it would be the issue that brought him down: running for a fourth term in 1994, Pataki attacked Cuomo for his oppositition to the death penalty. Highlighting a horrible case in which a child murder who had inexplicably been allowed to plead down to one count of manslaughter, and who then became a serial killer after serving his time in prison, Pataki hammered Cuomo as being soft on crime and the incumbent ended up winning a grand total of one county north of Yonkers (and losing Staten Island in the process).

Also, I have no patience for Cuomo's "Hamlet on the Hudson" bullshit when it came to seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 1992. If you're going to run, have the guts to say so.

Verdict: I'm not mad, I am disappoint.

George Pataki (1995-2005):

The great irony of the 1994 gubernatorial election is that Pataki would go on to reinstate the death penalty in his first year as governor - only to see the New York Court of Appeals declare it unconstitutional. Pataki prided himself on being "tough on crime," and ended up pushing through 100 laws increasing criminal penalties - which he erroneously claims caused crime rates to decrease.

When it comes to economic policy, Pataki was just as lousy as any other Republican - cutting income taxes on the rich and corporate taxes more than any other governor before him. This at the same time that he cut a million ooor people off of welfare. His commitment to the economic illogical of balanced budgets led him to propose significant spending cuts in 2003 even as New York was still wrestling with the economic fallout of 9/11, only to be overriden by the state legislature.

His social policies were somewhat better. There was a modest expansion of health care for the working poor through SCHIP, he supported gun control, he supported abortion rights, he was in favor of anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT+ people but opposed gay marriage (which was fairly good for a Republican in the early 2000s), he did put some money into environmental programs. His education policy rather sucked - he was strongly pro-charter schools (boo) and micro-managed CUNY to get rid of remedial education.

Verdict: bit of an asshole, but less so than most Republicans.

Eliot Spitzer (2007-2008):

It's hard to find much to say about Spitzer's time as governor, because he wasn't around for very long. Elected on the basis of his reputation as a crusading Attorney General, Spitzer came into office saying that he would "change the ethics of Albany." He spent most of his brief time as governor feuding with the (corrupt and convicted if it wasn't for the Supreme Court) leadership of the state legislature. While a lot of his proposals were quite good, Spitzer's "steamroller" strategy was pretty much ineffective in getting legislation passed (hey, turns out the Johnson Treatment is bullshit) and it's hard to point to a major accomplishment of his tenure as governor. But what Spitzer is primarily remembered for is the prostitution scandal that brought him down. As someone who thinks sex work should be legal, my main issue with his behavior is that he was "a real weasel" about not wanting to use condoms and used his money to get his way. This is an occupational health and safety issue for sex workers, being able to insist on condom use and reject clients who refuse to use them is a labor rights issue for sex workers, and clients who try to use their wealth and power to undermine the autonomy of sex workers should be blacklisted.

Verdict: an incompetent and an asshole to sex workers.

David Paterson (2008-2010):

Suddenly thrust into the limelight after Spitzer's resignation, David Paterson's tenure as governor started extremely unluckily, as both he and his wife admitted to having extamarital affairs the day after his inauguration - something that wouldn't have been as big a deal if it hadn't been for the Spitzer scandal intensifying the level of media scrutiny directed at the personal morality of elected officials.

He then had two weeks to negotiate the state budget at the height of the Great Recession, which hit particularly hard due to the outsized importance of Wall Street to New York's economy and state finances. This was never going to be a good budget, but it was highly noticeable that Paterson's budget leaned heavily on spending cuts rather than using state reserves or taxing the wealthy, while providing significant tax cuts to middle-class and affluent homeowners.

This was rather surprising given Paterson's liberal roots as a former Dinkins staffer. It was similarly surprising that when Paterson was called upon to appoint someone to fill the U.S Senate seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton becoming Secretary of State, that he went with Blue Dog Kirsten Gillibrand rather than Caroline Kennedy (the leading scion of the Kennedy family in New York) or Andrew Cuomo (the heir to his father's legacy). This led to something of a feeling that Paterson was turning out to be something of a liberal in name only.

The main issue where Paterson's liberalism seems to have remained strong was gay marriage, where Paterson did something of an end-run around the deadlocked state legislature by ordering New York State agencies to recognize out of state marriage licenses from same-sex couples. While successful in his efforts, this didn't help Paterson win support within the state legislature for a statutory legalization of gay marriage, and the bill went down to a 38-24 defeat in the State Senate.

Ultimately, however, I think Paterson's tenure as governor was hamstrung by the deadlock in the State Senate, which was evenly split between Democrats and Republicans with no lieutenant governor to break the tie (thanks to some truly stupid decisions by state courts on the issue). While most of the chaos had to do with two truly appalling conservative Democrats going over to the Republican side in exchange for personal considerations and wasn't really Paterson's fault, it did prevent him from achieving many legislative wins ahead of the primary election in 2010 - although two late-breaking scandals really did the fatal damage to his further political hopes.

One unanswered question is to what extent Paterson was knifed by then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, either/both in revenge for being overlooked for the U.S Senate and/or to clear the way for Cuomo's 2010 primary run for governor. After all, it was Cuomo who was handling the investigations into Paterson, who torpedoed Paterson's attempt to end the Senate crisis by appointing a new lieutenant governor, and presumably Cuomo who lobbied Obama to persuade Paterson to drop out. Moreover, given Cuomo's later penchant for conservative Democrats enabling Republican control of the State Senate, it's hard to avoid conspiracy theorizing that he had something to do with Monserrate and Espada's parliamentary coup.

Verdict: while Paterson was dealt the worst possible hand when he became governor, he played it badly. Kind of an asshole.

Andrew Cuomo (2011-2021):

In the interests of full disclosure, it's going to be very difficult for me to be objective about Andrew Cuomo since I was involved in several efforts to defeat him for public office and I personally loathe the man. So I'm going to try to focus as much as possible on what he did as governor of New York, because hopefully the focus on concrete actions will keep me from going off the rails.

I think the first thing to start with is that Cuomo deliberately undermined Democratic governance of the state of New York by engineering the formation of the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of conservative Democratic state senator who handed back control of the State Senate to the Republicans after Democrats won control of that chamber in the 2012 election.

Cuomo betrayed his own party and the policy agenda he nominally supported and had run for office on because he didn't want to be pressured by the left wing of the Democratic Party on progressive priorities and preferred to cut "moderate compromises" with the Republican leadership. Cuomo maintained this unholy coalition until it became a stumbling block to his hopes of winning the Democratic presidential nomination, at which point he terminated it just before the IDC's members were swept out of office by an enraged electorate.

As baseline expectations for Democratic elected officials go, I feel that supporting Democratic control of government and opposing conspiracies to hand over control of government to the Republican Party is about the minimum.

The second thing to understand about Cuomo is that while he has a long list of seemingly progressive accomplishments - gay marriage, gun control, marijuana legalization, paid family leave, and a $15 minimum wage, etc. - virtually all of them are cases in which actual progressive groups and elected officials had been pushing for years, where Cuomo had blocked their efforts either through executive inaction or outright opposition to legislation, and where he eventually took credit for compromise measures that repeatedly turned out to have regressive stings in the tail that made them much weaker.

And all of that is before he was brought down by his own manifest corruption, his total incompetence on COVID despite becoming a media darling on the issue, and his long history of sexual harassment and assault.

Verdict: the biggest asshole in New York political history.

Kathy Hochul (2021-present):

Normally, there wouldn't be much to say about a brand-new governor who was unexpectedly elevated to office by their predecessor's resignation in disgrace. For a good while, all that Hochul seemed to aspire to be was "not Andrew Cuomo" - not a bully, not a misogynist, willing to listen to everybody.

More recently, we've learned a bit more who Hochul is through how she's chosen to spend her political capital. In all but one case - building more affordable housing in suburban upstate New York - Hochul has shown herself to be a relentlessly conservative Democrat, who's willing to spend political capital in order to dismantle bail reform or try to get a conservative judge appointed to the Court of Appeal or appoint a Republican to lead the public power utility.

Except the problem for Hochul in her attempt to be Andrew Cuomo but without the misogyny is that Democrats control both houses of the legislature now, and the legislature from the leadership to the rank-and-file is no longer subservient to the governor as they were under Cuomo. When Hochul put up LaSalle for the Court of Appeals, she was repeatedly humiliated by getting stomped in committee and floor votes. When Hochul tried to appoint Justin Driscoll to the New York Power Authority, he was defeated too. And sadly, when Hochul tried to get her housing proposal by including it in the budget, suburban legislators stripped it out.

That's kind of the problem with Hochul: she's not very good when it comes to the core skills of a politician. She's not good at reading the room, otherwise she never would have nominated LaSalle after labor told her that anyone but him would be acceptable. She's not good at counting votes, otherwise she wouldn't have pushed votes on LaSalle and Driscoll and the housing package that she ended up losing by lopsided margins. And she's not very good at campaigning either, otherwise she wouldn't have needed to be bailed out by the progressives at the last minute in the 2022 election.

Verdict: an asshole, but thankfully not as good at being an asshole as Cuomo was.

[asablogs]

Transform Your Business with Anisha Sharma & Associates' Complete Financial and Legal Solutions

Comprehensive finance and legal solutions with Anisha Sharma & Associates

Anisha Sharma & Associates is a leading business and finance consultancy firm, offering a broad spectrum of services designed to meet the diverse needs of its clients. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a large corporation, or an individual seeking financial guidance, the firm provides tailored solutions to enhance your financial well-being and ensure regulatory compliance.

At the core of Anisha Sharma & Associates' service offerings are accounts, audits, and trademark registrations. The team ensures your financial records are meticulously maintained and compliant with the law, allowing you to focus on growing your business. With ROC (Registrar of Companies) services, they streamline company incorporation and filing processes, ensuring all regulatory filings are up to date.

For businesses and individuals seeking financial assistance, the firm specializes in loans, income tax, and GST consulting. Their experts provide sound financial advice, guiding clients through the complex world of taxes and helping to secure the best possible loan options. Additionally, their license and registration services cover various industries, ensuring your business operates legally and efficiently.

Insurance can be a complex area for businesses, but Anisha Sharma & Associates simplifies it with their insurance consultancy, helping clients choose the most suitable plans to protect their assets and employees. Outsourcing services further add to the firm's value, allowing businesses to delegate non-core activities like payroll management and bookkeeping, ensuring cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

In addition to these core offerings, Anisha Sharma & Associates provides software services to help businesses leverage technology for better management and operational efficiency.

Their specialized services go beyond the typical financial firm’s offerings. With stock broking and advisory, clients can invest smartly, backed by reliable market analysis. Their website and digital solutions ensure a robust online presence for businesses in today’s digital-first world. Furthermore, with a team of civil and criminal lawyers, the firm is equipped to handle any legal challenges that may arise, offering peace of mind to its clients.

Why Choose Anisha Sharma & Associates? Anisha Sharma & Associates combines financial expertise with personalized attention, ensuring that every client receives the best solutions for their unique needs. Their broad range of services, from financial consultancy to legal representation, makes them the ideal partner for businesses seeking a one-stop solution. Choose them for their commitment to excellence, reliability, and holistic approach to managing both financial and legal challenges.

[bpspldigital]

Benchmark Professional Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: Comprehensive Business & Finance Services with Expertise in Tally Solutions

Comprehensive legal and finance solutions with Benchmark Professional Solutions Private Limited

Benchmark Professional Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a certified partner of Tally Solutions, offers an extensive range of business and financial services to cater to the needs of modern enterprises. With an expert team, Benchmark delivers tailor-made solutions to its clients, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and growth. Whether you're a startup or an established business, their comprehensive services aim to streamline your financial and legal processes while providing expert advice on navigating complex regulations.

Core Services

1. DSC & Token : Benchmark offers Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) and tokens from leading providers like EMUDHRA, Capricorn, and more. These DSCs are essential for secure online transactions, filings, and authentications, ensuring your business remains compliant with digital regulations.

2. Accounts Audit: Benchmark provides detailed accounts auditing services, ensuring your business follows financial standards and maintains transparency. Their audits cover all aspects of financial reporting, helping identify areas for improvement and ensuring regulatory compliance.

3. Trademark Registration: Protect your brand identity with Benchmark’s trademark registration services. They assist in filing, securing, and maintaining trademarks, allowing businesses to safeguard their intellectual property and prevent unauthorized use.

4. ROC Compliance (Registrar of Companies): Benchmark ensures your company adheres to ROC guidelines by managing all filings, annual returns, and other documentation. This service keeps businesses compliant with government regulations and helps avoid legal penalties.

5. License & Registration: From obtaining business licenses to registering your company, Benchmark handles the entire process, ensuring that your operations meet local and national regulatory requirements.

6. Income Tax Solutions: Benchmark provides expert guidance on filing income taxes for businesses and individuals, offering strategies to minimize tax liabilities while staying compliant with current tax laws.

7. GST Compliance: The company’s GST services include filing, reconciliation, and audit support to ensure businesses remain compliant with GST regulations. Benchmark’s expertise in GST helps reduce errors and optimize tax benefits.

8. Consultancy: Benchmark offers professional consultancy services tailored to your business needs. Whether you’re seeking advice on tax planning, regulatory compliance, or business strategy, their consultants provide actionable insights to drive growth.

9. Outsourcing: The company offers outsourcing services for various business functions, including payroll, accounting, and legal processes. Outsourcing to Benchmark allows companies to focus on core operations while maintaining efficiency in back-office tasks.

10. Civil & Criminal Lawyer Services: Benchmark provides legal support through its civil and criminal lawyer services. Whether you're dealing with business disputes, legal compliance, or criminal cases, their legal team ensures you receive the right counsel and representation.

Why Choose Benchmark Professional Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

Choosing Benchmark Professional Solutions Pvt. Ltd. means partnering with a company that prioritizes your business success. Their expertise in Tally Solutions and diverse service portfolio ensures that your financial, legal, and operational needs are managed seamlessly. With a focus on accuracy, compliance, and client satisfaction, Benchmark becomes not just a service provider but a strategic partner in your growth journey.

[longwindedbore]

Sing a document and later testifying you had no comprehension at the time of signing as to the nature or basis of the assertions?

That could be construed as “having a reckless disregard for the truth”.

The Trump Organization has already been found liable in this court for civil fraud and criminally guilty of payroll tax fraud in another courtroom.

They are testifying like they still still think they can BS their way out of this horrendous mess.

I’m assuming that despite the attorneys best efforts they’ve been unable to to penetrate whatever shield of obliviousness the family is using.

Their position is economically and legally dire

All assets have already been seized which are owned by any New York based Trump entity. Which is most of the buildings, golf courses, and Mar-Lago.

They’ve lost all their appeals except the stay of dissolution pending the current penalties-only phase of the trial.

Former employees Weisselberg and Cohen have both gone to jail for tax evasion. The same evasions the Trumps have all participated in (coming to New York and Federal tax courts in the near future).

“I’m too dim despite my Ivy League education” defense doesn’t work when you sign notarize documents attesting that they are true and accurate.

Better not use the “I’m too stoopid” excuse if their are incriminating documents in the Plaintiff’s hands. Perjury is a criminal offense.

The family are on the Trump-built equivalent of a jerry-rigged carbon fiber submersible heading 12,000 feet deep.

[irstaxexpert]

Orange County real estate tax attorneys offer essential guidance for property owners. From tax planning to audit defense, they protect investments, ensuring compliance and minimizing liabilities.

[the-quasar-literata]

August 18, 2023

By Laura Italiano, Camila DeChalus, C. Ryan Barber

It's hard to keep track of Donald Trump's very busy legal docket.

The former president is the subject of at least four major investigations into wrongdoing relating to his handling of White House documents, the election, the insurrection, and his finances — probes based in Florida, Fulton County, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; and New York.

Trump's business also remains under indictment in Manhattan for an alleged payroll tax-dodge scheme. On top of all that, Trump is fighting or bringing a grab-bag of important lawsuits.

Keep up to date on the latest of Trump's legal travails, both criminal and civil, with this guide to the ever-evolving Trump docket.

Indictments

The Trump Organization Payroll Case

The Parties: The Manhattan DA is prosecuting The Trump Organization.

The Issues: Trump's real estate and golf resort business is accused of giving its executives pricey perks and benefits that were never reported as income to taxing authorities.

The company's co-defendant, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, has pleaded guilty to the 15-year, payroll tax-dodge scheme.

As part of his Weisselberg agreed to serve 5 months in jail and pay back $2 million in back taxes and penalties.

What's next: Weisselberg also agreed to testify for the prosecution if lawyers for the Trump Organization fight the indictment at trial; an October 24 trial date has been set.

Weisselberg would describe to jurors a tax-dodge scheme in which company executives, himself included, received some pay in off-the-books compensation that included free apartments, cars, and tuition reimbursement. But Weisselberg is hardly the ideal prosecution witness. He still works for Trump Org as a special advisor, and Trump's side is hoping to turn his testimony to its advantage.

The Trump Organization could face steep fines if convicted of conspiring in the scheme by omitting the compensation from federal, state, and city tax documents and by failing to withhold and pay taxes on that compensation.

Criminal Investigations

The Fulton County election interference probe

The parties: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump, and his Republican associates

The issues: Willis is investigating whether Trump and his associates tried to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Her probe has expanded to also include investigating an alleged scheme to send a fake slate of electors to Georgia's state Capitol in an attempt to overturn the elections.

She's notified Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former personal attorney, that he's a target in the investigation. Giuliani testified for six hours under court order on August 17.

What's next: A federal appeals court temporarily halted on Sunday a court order for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to testify before the Fulton County special grand jury on Tuesday, August 23.

The Justice Department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election

The parties: Federal investigators are increasingly scrutinizing the role Trump and his allies played in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The issues: The Justice Department is facing pressure to prosecute following a string of congressional hearings that connected the former president to the violence of January 6, 2021, and to efforts to prevent the peaceful handoff of power.

In a series of eight hearings, the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol described Trump's conduct in criminal terms and pointed to an April court decision in which a federal judge said the former president likely committed crimes in his effort to hold onto power. In that ruling, Judge David Carter called Trump's scheme a "coup in search of a legal theory."

Prosecutors have asked witnesses directly about Trump's involvement in the effort to reverse his loss in the 2020 election and are likely to issue more subpoenas and search warrants in the weeks ahead.

In June, federal investigators searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who advanced Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.

On the same day, federal agents seized the phone of John Eastman, a lawyer who helped advise Trump on how to overturn the 2020 election. A top prosecutor in the Justice Department's inquiry, Thomas Windom, revealed in late July that investigators had obtained a se cord warrant allowing a search of Eastman's phone.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the top Republican on the panel, lost her primary bid for reelection on August 16.

What's next: The Justice Department has remained largely silent about how and whether it would consider charges against Trump, but in July, prosecutors asked witnesses directly about the former president's involvement in the attempt to reverse his electoral defeat. FBI agents descended on Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022, with a search warrant.Darren Samuelsohn

The Justice Department investigation into the handling of classified documents

The parties: The FBI searched Trump's estate in South Florida, Mar-a-Lago, on August 8 as part of an investigation into the possible mishandling of government records, including classified documents. Trump and his lawyers alleged prosecutorial misconduct and condemned the search as politically motivated.

The issues: Early in 2022, Trump turned over 15 boxes of documents — including some marked as classified and "top secret" — to the National Archives. But federal investigators scrutinizing the former president's handling of records reportedly grew suspicious that Trump or people close to him still retained some key records. The FBI seized about a dozen boxes of additional documents during the raid of Mar-a-Lago, in a search that immediately demonstrated how Trump's handling of records from his administration remains an area of legal jeopardy.

What's next: A federal judge in South Florida granted Trump's request for an outside arbiter — known as a special master — to review the more than 11,000 documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago, including about 100 records marked as classified. Judge Aileen Cannon halted the review of those records as part of the Justice Department's criminal inquiry but said intelligence agencies could continue assessing the potential national security risk raised by Trump's hoarding of government records at his West Palm Beach estate. In response, the Justice Department said that bifurcation was unworkable and that Cannon's order had effectively paused the national security assessment.

The Justice Department asked Cannon to exclude the 100 classified documents from the special master review. If she declines to do so by September 15, the Justice Department signaled that it would go to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Civil Investigations

The NY AG's Trump Organization probe

The parties: New York Attorney General Letitia James has been investigating Trump, his family and the Trump Organization for three years.

The issues: James says she has uncovered a decade-long pattern of financial wrongdoing at Trump's multi-billion-dollar hotel and golf resort empire.

She alleges Trump misstated the value of his properties on annual financial statements and other official documents used to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in bank loans and tax breaks. Trump has called the probe a politically motivated witch hunt.

What's next: Court-ordered depositions of Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr., were delayed by the death of family matriarch Ivana Trump. But their depositions finally wrapped on August 10, when Donald Trump testified before investigators in James' Manhattan offices. He pleaded the Fifth more than 440 times.

The contentious, massive probe — involving more than 5 million pages of documents — appears close to filing a several-hundred-page lawsuit that could seek to put the Trump Organization out of business entirely.

Lawsuits against Trump

Lawsuits alleging 'incitement' on January 6

The Parties: House Democrats and two Capitol police officers accused Trump of inciting the violent mob on January 6.

The Issues: Trump's lawyers have argued that his time as president grants him immunity that shields him from civil liability in connection with his January 6 address at the Ellipse, where he urged supporters to "fight like hell."

A federal judge rejected Trump's bid to dismiss the civil lawsuits, ruling that his rhetoric on January 6 was "akin to telling an excited mob that corn-dealers starve the poor in front of the corn-dealer's home."

Judge Amit Mehta said Trump later displayed a tacit agreement with the mob minutes after rioters breached the Capitol when he sent a tweet admonishing then-Vice President Mike Pence for lacking the "courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country."

What's Next: Trump has appealed Mehta's ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and requested an oral argument. In a late July court filing, Trump's lawyers said the immunity afforded to the former president cannot be "undercut if the presidential act in question is unpopular among the judiciary."

Galicia v. Trump

The Parties: Lead plaintiff Efrain Galicia and four other protesters of Mexican heritage have sued Trump, his security personnel, and his 2016 campaign in New York.

The issues: They say Donald Trump sicced his security guards on their peaceful, legal protest outside Trump Tower in 2015.

The plaintiffs had been demonstrating with parody "Make America Racist Again" campaign signs to protest Trump's speech announcing his first campaign for president, during which he accused Mexican immigrants of being "rapists" and drug dealers.

Trump fixer-turned-critic Michael Cohen said in a deposition that Trump directly ordered security to "get rid of" the protesters; Trump said in his own deposition that he didn't even know a protest was going on until the next day. His security guards have said in depositions that they were responding to aggression by the protesters.

What's next: Trial is set for jury selection on October 31 in NY Supreme Court in the Bronx.

E. Jean Carroll v. Trump

The Parties: Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for defamation in federal court in Manhattan in June 2019.

The Issues: Carroll's lawsuit alleges Trump defamed her after she publicly accused him of raping her in a Bergdorf-Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-90s.

Trump responded to Carroll's allegation by saying it was untrue and that she was "not my type." Trump also denied ever meeting Carroll, despite a photo to the contrary.

What's next: Arrangements for the sharing of evidence are ongoing behind the scenes, including for the possible collection of Trump's DNA.

Carroll has said she wants to compare Trump's DNA with unidentified male DNA on a dress she wore during the alleged rape. The trial is tentatively set for Feb. 6, 2023; Carroll has said she would never settle the case.

The 'multi-level marketing' pyramid scheme case

The Parties: Lead plaintiff Catherine McKoy and three others sued Trump, his business, and his three eldest children, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, in 2018 in federal court in Manhattan.

The Issues: Donald Trump is accused of promoting a scam multi-level marketing scheme on "The Celebrity Apprentice." The lawsuit alleges Trump pocketed $8.8 million from the scheme — but that they lost thousands of dollars. Trump's side has complained that the lawsuit is a politically motivated attack.

What's Next: The parties say in court filings that they are working to meet an August 31 deadline for the completion of depositions.

Michael Cohen's 'imprisonment' case

The Parties: Trump fixer-turned-critic Michael Cohen sued Donald Trump, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and more than a dozen federal prison officials and employees, in federal court in Manhattan in 2021.

The Issues: The president's former personal attorney is seeking $20 million in damages relating to the time he spent in prison for financial crimes and lying to Congress about Trump's dealings in Congress.

Cohen says in his suit that he had been moved to home confinement for three months in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, but was then vindictively thrown into solitary confinement when he refused to stop speaking to the press and writing a tell-all book about his former boss. A judge ordered him released after 16 days.

What's Next: A decision is pending on defense motions to dismiss the case.

The Electric Avenue copyright case

The Parties: Eddy Grant, the composer/performer behind the 80s disco-reggae mega-hit "Electric Avenue," sued Donald Trump and his campaign in federal court in Manhattan in 2020.

The Issues: Grant is seeking $300,000 compensation for copyright infringement. His suit says that Trump made unauthorized use of the 1983 dance floor staple during the 2020 campaign. About 40 seconds of the song played in the background of a Biden-bashing animation that Trump posted to his Twitter account. The animation was viewed 13 million times before being taken down a month later.

Trump has countered that the animation was political satire and so exempt from copyright infringement claims. He's also said that the campaign merely reposted the animation and have no idea where it came from.

What's Next: There was an August 21 deposition completion deadline for both sides — including for Trump and Grant. Pretrial motions are not due to be filed until October.

Mary Trump v. Donald Trump

The Parties: The former president's niece sued him and his siblings in 2020 in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The Issues: Mary Trump alleges that she was cheated out of at least $10 million in a 2001 court settlement over the estate of her late father, Fred Trump, Sr.

Mary Trump alleges she only learned by helping with a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times article that she'd been defrauded by her Uncle Donald, her aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, and the late Robert Trump, whose estate is named as a defendant.

The Times' 18-month investigation "revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges," the Pulitzer Committee said in praising the piece. Lawyers for the Trumps have countered that it's far too late for Mary Trump to sue over a 2001 settlement that she had knowingly participated in.

What's next: The defendants' motion to dismiss, including on statute of limitations grounds, is still pending.

Lawsuits brought by Trump

Donald Trump v. Mary Trump

The Parties: The former president counter-sued his niece Mary Trump — and the New York Times — in 2021 in New York state Supreme Court in Dutchess County.

The Issues: Mary Trump, the Times and three of its reporters "maliciously conspired" against him, Trump alleges, by collaborating with the Times on its expose of and breaching the confidentiality of the family's 2001 settlement of the estate of Mary Trump's father, Fred Trump, Sr.

What's Next: Mary Trump's motion to dismiss is pending in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, where the case has since been transferred to.

Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton

The Parties: Trump has sued Hillary Clinton, her campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and prominent Democrats including former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and former Clinton campaign chair John Podesta in a federal court in southern Florida in March, 2022.

The Issues: Trump alleged in this unusual use of federal racketeering statutes that Clinton and her campaign staff conspired to harm his 2016 run for president by promoting a "contrived Trump-Russia link."

The defendants succeeded in getting the massive lawsuit dismissed in September; a federal judge in Florida said the suit was structurally flawed and called it "a two-hundred-page political manifesto" in which Trump detailed "his grievances against those that have opposed him."

What's Next: Trump's side has promised to appeal the dismissal.

[delicatefury]

Lawyer here. Here’s some more mundane/modern ones for you:

Invoices.

Intake sheets (information about new clients. The one for my firm is 13 pages and requires an hour long meeting. Then you have to do something with the info gathered)

Data entry for invoices and intake sheets.

Billing. (More involved than timesheets because you’re justifying to clients why you’re getting paid so much).

Form letters.

Taxes. Including 1099s for any contracted work.

Bank statements/accounting spreadsheets. Gotta track how expenses are trending.

Insurance documents.

General messages. Lots of office still use a paper system for missed calls and “important” stuff because it just works better than emails and chats for some people.

Memos. Big enough office to have at least one attorney on payroll? You’re getting memos about every legal question and concern and contract. It’s how we’re trained to communicate in formal settings.

We don’t talk enough about how fanfiction writers love to give character large amounts of non-specific paperwork they hate doing

[militantis]

How to Streamline Accounting for Insurance Agencies with Technology?

Simplifying accounting for lawyers can be challenging, but with the right approach, it’s manageable. At Advanced Professional, we offer a step-by-step approach to streamline your financial processes. Start by organizing your financial records with specialized software designed for law firms, ensuring all income, expenses, and trust accounts are properly tracked. Next, establish a routine for regularly updating and reconciling your accounts to prevent errors. Outsourcing some accounting tasks can also ease your workload, allowing you to focus on your legal practice. Finally, work with professionals who specialize in accounting for lawyers, ensuring compliance with regulations. With Advanced Professional, you can maintain efficient, accurate accounting practices that support the success of your law firm.

Implementing Effective Accounting Software for Lawyers with Advanced Professional

When it comes to accounting for lawyers, utilizing specialized accounting software can make a significant difference in simplifying your processes. Advanced Professional recommends investing in software designed specifically for law firms, which helps you manage billable hours, trust accounts, and legal expenses with ease. These tools automate many time-consuming tasks such as invoice generation, time tracking, and financial reporting. By integrating software into your practice, you reduce the risk of errors and ensure compliance with legal accounting regulations. With the right system in place, you can streamline your entire accounting workflow, ultimately saving time and allowing you to focus on your clients and legal work.

Establishing a Routine for Regular Financial Reconciliation in Your Law Firm

Consistency is key when it comes to accounting for lawyers, and Advanced Professional strongly recommends setting up a regular routine for financial reconciliation. Regularly reviewing your accounts ensures that all transactions are accurately recorded and that no discrepancies go unnoticed. Whether it's monthly, quarterly, or annually, scheduling time to reconcile your accounts keeps your finances in order and provides peace of mind that your law firm is financially sound. By staying on top of financial records, you reduce the likelihood of costly mistakes or missed deadlines, and you’ll always be prepared for tax season or audits.

Managing Client Trust Accounts Efficiently with Accounting for Lawyers

Properly managing client trust accounts is one of the most critical aspects of accounting for lawyers. Advanced Professional emphasizes the importance of maintaining accurate records for every trust transaction to comply with regulatory requirements and avoid ethical violations. Trust account management involves segregating client funds from the firm’s operating accounts, which ensures transparency and prevents mismanagement. Law firms should implement a system that tracks each client’s deposits, withdrawals, and balances. With the right accounting system in place, you can efficiently monitor trust account activity, avoid errors, and uphold client trust in your firm’s financial practices.

Outsourcing Accounting Tasks to Specialized Professionals for Maximum Efficiency

Outsourcing some aspects of accounting for lawyers can greatly simplify your practice’s financial management. Advanced Professional offers specialized accounting services that cater to the unique needs of law firms. By outsourcing tasks such as tax preparation, payroll management, or trust accounting, you free up valuable time and resources, allowing your team to focus on what matters most: providing legal services. A professional accounting firm ensures that all financial processes are handled accurately and in compliance with regulations. This way, you avoid common accounting pitfalls and maintain the financial health of your law firm without overburdening your internal staff.

Creating Clear Financial Policies and Procedures for Your Law Firm’s Accounting

Establishing clear financial policies and procedures is essential for streamlining accounting for lawyers. Advanced Professional suggests creating a set of standardized practices for all accounting-related tasks within your firm. This includes guidelines for billing clients, managing expenses, handling reimbursements, and processing payments. Having a clear structure in place ensures that every employee is on the same page and reduces the likelihood of errors. By documenting financial procedures and regularly reviewing them, your law firm can maintain consistency, improve accountability, and make financial tasks more straightforward and transparent for everyone involved.

Leveraging Tax Services to Simplify Year-End Tax Filing for Lawyers

Tax filing can be one of the most complex aspects of accounting for lawyers. However, with the help of Advanced Professional, you can simplify this process significantly. Our tax services are designed to help law firms navigate the complexities of tax laws and ensure timely, accurate filings. By working with professionals who understand the specific needs of law firms, you can take advantage of tax deductions and credits that apply to your practice, ultimately reducing your tax burden. We assist with everything from quarterly estimated payments to year-end filings, ensuring compliance and providing you with peace of mind during tax season.

Keeping Track of Billable Hours and Expenses for Accurate Client Invoicing

Accurate tracking of billable hours and expenses is essential for maintaining financial integrity in any law firm. Advanced Professional advises law firms to use integrated accounting tools that allow you to track client hours and expenses in real-time, ensuring accurate invoicing. This helps to avoid discrepancies and ensures that clients are billed fairly for the services they receive. A solid system for managing billable hours and expenses also streamlines the invoicing process, making it easier to generate invoices and receive payments promptly. With proper tracking, you can maintain healthy cash flow and avoid billing errors, which could impact your firm’s reputation.

Conclusion

Simplifying accounting for lawyers doesn’t have to be complicated. With the help of Advanced Professional, you can implement systems, software, and best practices that will streamline your law firm’s financial operations. From organizing client trust accounts to managing tax filings and outsourcing specific tasks, our step-by-step approach ensures that your accounting is accurate, efficient, and compliant with all legal regulations. By leveraging our expertise in accounting services, financial consulting, and tax services, your firm can focus on serving clients while leaving the financial details to us. Partnering with Advanced Professional helps ensure your law firm’s financial success and peace of mind.

[lizseyi]

Kinstellar Announces New Series Of Promotions Across Multiple Service Lines In Our Bucharest Office

Kinstellar is proud to announce a recent series of promotions within our Bucharest office for both attorneys lawyers and tax and finance specialists. These promotions underscore our firm's commitment to recognizing and rewarding our team members who have excelled in developing their practices, shown independence in managing matters, and brought significant contributions to serving our clients' needs.

We highly appreciate their efforts and are therefore pleased to announce the following:

Promotions to Managing Associate

Andrei Balus, Nicoleta Florea, Iunia Nagy, Andrada Popescu, and Corina Stanciu are all promoted to Managing Associate. Their expertise spans across Corporate M&A, Banking and Finance, Tax and Financial Advisory, Real Estate & Construction, Renewable Energy, and Employment and Labour Law, thus strengthening our focus and capabilities in these areas.

Andrei Balus specialises in M&A and corporate governance, boasting extensive experience in managing M&A transactions, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance matters across diverse sectors, including financial services, food and beverages and IT. He is also well-versed in handling cross-border financing and refinancing projects, anti-money laundering, and consumer protection issues.

Nicoleta Florea leads the Accounting and Payroll division of KTFA (Kinstellar Tax and Financial Advisory) and is a seasoned Financial Advisor. Over the past 15 years, she has specialised in financial advisory concerning M&A, liquidation, business transfers, and equity restructuring. Her expertise spans multiple sectors such as manufacturing, real estate, IT and healthcare. Additionally, Nicoleta is proficient in ERP systems implementation, tax controls, and financial reporting.

Iunia Nagy specialises in real estate and construction matters and has nearly two decades of legal experience. She is well-known for her advice on complex real estate projects, particularly in the office and retail sectors, covering the full spectrum of transactional and development matters. Her deep sector knowledge earned her the reputation of a trusted advisor for both international and domestic clients.

Andrada Popescu specialises in employment & labour law firm. Her broad expertise includes handling diverse employment issues for clients across a wide range of sectors such as IT, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. Andrada is skilled at navigating complex labour negotiations, dismissal procedures, internal policies, and compliance with employment regulations. She is also a regular speaker at renowned conferences on the local market.

Corina Stanciu focuses on real estate, construction, planning and renewable energy. She advises on all aspects of real estate transactions and developments, related to retail, commercial, logistics, industrial, residential and renewable energy projects. Corina’s track record includes managing acquisitions, sales, leases, construction permitting and development issues. Also, Corina has significant expertise in the renewable energy sector, particularly in the acquisition and development of ready-to-build as well as fully operational photovoltaic and wind projects.

Promotions to Senior Associate

In addition, the promotions of Ioana Popescu and Dana Sarbu to Senior Associate further bolster our firm's capabilities in Corporate M&A, Environmental Law, Regulatory Compliance, Public Procurement, PPP, and Defence.

Ioana Popescu specialises in corporate and M&A, and she is involved in acquisitions, restructurings, and day-to-day corporate housekeeping matters across various sectors, including agribusiness, consumer and retail as well as technology. She has been recently involved in our office’s flagship transactions, with remarkable commitment and hard work. Her involvement includes support in complex due diligence processes, corporate restructuring, and consumer protection law aspects.

Dana Sarbu has been focusing on public procurement, concessions, and PPPs. She has extensive experience in tendering processes, from bid preparation to litigation support and other complex matters. Her knowledge and experience extend to environmental and regulatory matters, areas in which she has been designated as our local expert. Her focus further extends to the defense sector.

[brazenskies]

Accounting for Lawyers: How to Manage Your Firm’s Finances Efficiently?

In any legal practice, managing finances efficiently is crucial for long-term success and growth. Accounting for lawyers isn't just about balancing books—it's about maintaining compliance, optimizing profitability, and ensuring smooth financial operations within a law firm. Proper accounting practices allow lawyers to track revenue, manage trust accounts, prepare for tax season, and make informed financial decisions. Whether you're a solo practitioner or managing a large firm, accounting for lawyers should be viewed as an integral part of your operations. This comprehensive guide will explore key principles, best practices, and tools for achieving financial success in the legal profession.

Key Principles of Accounting for Lawyers for Financial Success

One of the core principles of accounting for lawyers is maintaining accurate and timely records of all financial transactions. Lawyers must track income from billable hours, retainers, and other client payments while also accounting for expenses related to running a firm, such as salaries, office supplies, and utilities. Understanding the distinction between business and personal expenses is vital to avoid costly errors and tax complications. Another principle of accounting for lawyers is the importance of maintaining proper trust accounting. Client funds held in trust must be segregated from the firm’s operating funds and must be accounted for with the utmost accuracy to prevent potential legal issues. Adopting an effective accounting system that adheres to these principles ensures that a law firm remains financially compliant, transparent, and efficient.

Streamlining Your Law Firm's Financial Operations with Accounting for Lawyers

Streamlining financial operations in a law firm is essential for saving time, reducing errors, and enhancing overall business performance. Accounting for lawyers provides an effective way to organize finances, from invoicing to payroll and tax preparation. By adopting a digital accounting system, law firms can automate tasks such as invoicing clients, processing payments, and generating financial reports. Cloud-based accounting platforms allow lawyers to track their firm’s financial health in real time, enabling them to make data-driven decisions. With streamlined accounting processes, lawyers can focus more on their legal work and less on administrative tasks, leading to improved client service and profitability.

How to Track Expenses and Income with Efficient Accounting for Lawyers?

Tracking expenses and income is a crucial component of accounting for lawyers, as it helps ensure that your firm remains profitable and compliant with tax laws. An efficient accounting system will categorize income sources, such as billable hours, retainers, and settlements, and track expenditures, including office rent, utilities, and legal research costs. Utilizing accounting software designed for law firms can make it easier to manage these financial elements. For example, these systems can automatically categorize transactions, generate expense reports, and highlight areas where costs can be reduced. Regularly reviewing your income and expenses allows lawyers to identify financial trends, adjust budgets, and make strategic decisions to enhance cash flow.

Maximizing Profit Margins Through Effective Accounting for Lawyers

Maximizing profit margins is a critical goal for any law firm, and effective accounting for lawyers plays a significant role in achieving this. By monitoring income and expenses closely, lawyers can identify inefficiencies, reduce unnecessary costs, and increase profitability. For example, by carefully analyzing billing rates, lawyers can determine if their fees are competitive while ensuring that they are not undervaluing their services. Additionally, effective cost management is key—by analyzing overhead costs like office space, technology, and staff compensation, firms can identify opportunities for savings. Accounting systems also help lawyers keep track of client billing, ensuring that all work is accurately billed and payments are collected promptly, preventing cash flow issues.

Essential Tools for Efficient Accounting in Your Law Practice

Efficient accounting for lawyers requires the use of the right tools to track finances accurately and consistently. Modern law firms often use specialized legal accounting software designed to meet the unique needs of legal professionals. These tools can manage everything from time tracking and invoicing to trust account management and financial reporting. Some of the most popular accounting tools for lawyers include Clio, QuickBooks for Law Firms, and Xero. These platforms are tailored to handle the specific requirements of law firms, including compliance with legal regulations, and they offer integration with other legal practice management tools. Implementing these essential tools ensures that accounting processes are streamlined, and financial data remains organized and easily accessible.

Understanding Tax Implications in Accounting for Lawyers

Taxation is an area where proper accounting for lawyers is particularly important. Lawyers must be mindful of tax implications on both personal and business levels. Law firms are subject to various tax laws, including income tax, payroll tax, and sales tax, depending on their location and business structure. Efficient accounting helps ensure that lawyers are aware of potential deductions they can claim, such as business expenses, legal fees, and office equipment. It also ensures that client trust accounts are managed in compliance with tax regulations, preventing potential audits. Working with an accountant who specializes in law firms can help attorneys navigate complex tax laws, optimize deductions, and avoid penalties for non-compliance.

Best Practices for Financial Planning and Reporting in Law Firms

Financial planning and reporting are essential components of accounting for lawyers. By establishing a comprehensive financial plan, law firms can set clear goals for revenue generation, expense management, and profitability. Best practices for financial planning include creating detailed budgets, forecasting future expenses, and evaluating potential investment opportunities. Regular financial reporting is also vital for tracking progress toward these goals. Lawyers should regularly review balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash flow reports to ensure that their firm is on track financially. By implementing these best practices, law firms can make informed decisions, adjust strategies when necessary, and maintain financial stability in a competitive market.

Conclusion

Accounting for lawyers is much more than just keeping track of money—it is a comprehensive practice that ensures the financial health and long-term success of a law firm. By understanding the key principles of accounting, streamlining operations, and utilizing the right tools, lawyers can better manage their finances. Efficient accounting practices enable law firms to track expenses and income, maximize profit margins, and understand the tax implications of their activities. Additionally, following best practices for financial planning and reporting ensures that law firms remain competitive and compliant. In an ever-evolving legal landscape, accounting for lawyers plays a vital role in building a financially stable and thriving legal practice.

[teawitch]

I worked for Disney for years, until they laid me off, because they do that, but I am still chortiing with amusement over this one. So, for those not in Florida

Disney is the 3rd largest employeer in the state and the largest single site employer. In Central Florida nearly everyone is related to or knows someone who works for the Mouse and needs that paycheck.

Disney is a big draw for tourism in the state and Florida is a big tourism state. So even competitors don't want to see Disney fail.

Disney USED to be a heavy support of Republican candidates in the state. Guess who changed that all of a sudden. So fellow Republicans aren't happy, regardless of what they say.

One of good ol' Ron's board members was quoting as saying they'll need to raise taxes because of this legal battle that Ron has thrown the state into. (This possibly means raising taxes they get from Disney, but no one wants to risk it not meaning that.)

Disney has lawyers. They don't have to hire lawyers. They already have dedicated lawyers on the the payroll, so they think they have a case.

This is going to be the best "romp in the swamp" the state has seen for a long time.