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11.10.2015

New IRS audit guide targets entertainers’ tax bills

By Nathan Vinson Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP If you are working in the entertainment industry, the IRS has your tax returns in its sights. In a new “Entertainment Audit Technique Guide,” the IRS recently instructed its auditors to closely examine tax returns from those in the entertainment business.  Auditors will be scrutinizing deductions claimed on tax returns for expenses which, according to the guide, entertainers have historically been “aggressive or abusive” in taking. The IRS wants to reign in these perceived industry norms to ensure that the entertainers are legitimately entitled to the claimed deductions. In tax parlance, the expenses giving rise to deductions must be “ordinary and necessary.” As the guide puts it, “The distinction between ordinary/necessary and extravagant must be more clearly drawn.” Those in the entertainment business can include, but are not limited to, comedians, musicians, singers, songwriters, actors, producers and those involved behind the scenes. The IRS wants to see that the deductions entertainers are taking are substantiated with legitimate receipts and records, and that the expenses truly are business-related (i.e. “necessary”). Read More

11.03.2015

Using drones in accident reconstruction cases

By Kyle Roby Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Drones can get bird's eye view of a roadway like nothing else can. Telling a story about an event is one thing. But it's so much more powerful when you can show what happened. That's the job of accident reconstructionists, and their work is extremely important in helping juries and judges understand how, exactly, a crash occurred. Accident re-constructionists now have a new tool available that has been a game-changer for showing what happened: drones. If you aren't familiar with drones, these are remote-powered cameras that fly. They're lightweight and powerful, and can take both video and still photos, and they're becoming very popular as they've come down in price. The drones can get a view of a roadway like nothing else can. Drones can show exactly how an intersection comes together from many angles, including from directly above and from all sides. With video footage and still photos from a drone, accident re-constructionists can create an animation of how vehicles crashed together on a roadway. The footage a drone shoots can also be rendered into CAD drawings that contain complete information on measurements, scale, size of vehicles and other scientific information that helps court officials properly review a case. Read More

11.03.2015

Five hard questions to ask yourself about your estate executor

By Elizabeth McKinney Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Most people don’t give much thought to who will be their estate executor. Often, the automatic choice is a spouse or a child. The person chosen is often the person closest to the person creating the will. But this isn’t always the best strategy. As we know, and you have no doubt seen at some point in your life, emotions run high after a death, and items that were near and dear to the decedent’s heart become prized possessions, and sometimes, those items are worth a lot of money. A prized piece of art may have much more than sentimental value. The executor of your estate may not be prepared to deal with all of these emotions, and if they’re someone close to you, they may find that they’re processing their own grief while trying to meet the demands of friends and family waiting to receive inherited items or money. This is why we recommend that those creating a will take a long, hard, objective look at who they choose as the executor of their estate and really examine if the person they’ve chosen is capable of carrying out your wishes without creating long-term problems for your family and friends. Read More

10.29.2015

Five things to bring with you to meet with your personal injury lawyer

By Kyle Roby Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP For someone who has little experience with law firms or the court system, meeting with a personal injury lawyer can be intimidating. The question we're asked the most often by our clients is "What do you need me to bring?" For my personal injury clients, I've condensed it down to a short list that you can use as a guideline. These are all documents that are not essential, but they're very helpful to have with you so your attorney can get to work right away. Read More

10.21.2015

How you document your charitable donations matters to the IRS

By Nathan Vinson, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Almost everyone makes charitable donations of some kind, and many of us expect to deduct the value of those donations from our income when our taxes are being prepared. While it’s not a primary motivator for most who give to charity, it certainly helps spur some giving and motivates some to meet charitable obligations prior to the end of the calendar year. Here are a few tax rules to keep in mind when making charitable donations of property (i.e. noncash donations), as federal tax law and regulations require certain documentation of gifts depending on the value of the gifts.  In tax parlance, these rules are called “substantiation” requirements. For gifts under $250, minimal documentation is required to claim a tax deduction. While it is generally required that the taxpayer obtain a receipt from the charitable organization, the taxpayer is excused from doing so if getting a receipt is “impractical.” An example that the tax regulations use is dropping off property (i.e. clothing) at a charity’s unattended drop site (i.e. a Goodwill drop box after store hours).  In that instance, taxpayers are required to retain in their own records (but not submit to the IRS) documentation containing: the name and address of the charity; the date and location of the donation; a description of the property, including its value; the fair market value of the property contributed and the method used to determine the fair market value; and possibly other documentation. As you can see, it may just be simpler to get the receipt! Read More

10.15.2015

$2.5 Million Punitive Damages Award Vacated in Kentucky Product Liability Case

By Jessica Surber, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP When a person is injured because of a defective or unreasonably dangerous product, he or she may be entitled to damages such as payment of medical expenses, reimbursement of lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering. Although it is the exception rather than the rule, there is also the possibility of punitive damages in some cases. In order to qualify for a punitive damages award, a plaintiff must show particularly egregious conduct on the part of the defendant (typically, the manufacturer, distributor, or retail seller of the product). Read More

10.13.2015

Tennessee Statute of Limitations barred recovery in government case

There's an old riddle that asks, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?" We may never know the answer to that question, but it seems that, if a tree located on state property falls onto a car passing over a bridge, there is a good chance that the state's high court will eventually hear about it, especially if there is any question as to whether the injured person's lawsuit was promptly filed. As we've mentioned before, the statute of limitations is important in any lawsuit, but some cases have other time limitations and procedural requirements that must also be complied with. In cases involving governmental entities, the timing can be especially tricky. Read More

10.11.2015

Change beneficiaries on your accounts when you change your will

By Elizabeth McKinney, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Many people believe that if you have a will, that document controls who receives every asset you own. But that’s not necessarily true. A will or other similar documents, such a trust, can dictate who gets most assets, but beneficiary designations for certain assets, such as 401(k)s and life insurance, as well as transfer on death or payable on death designations on bank or brokerage accounts, supersede that. Those accounts should be reviewed periodically, but particularly after a major life change such as a death or a divorce. For example, if you change your will to indicate your new spouse should receive your assets after your death, as you probably should, but you didn’t change the beneficiary for your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), your ex could end up with the proceeds of that account, much to the surprise of your new spouse.  Most people set up those accounts and never revisit the information attached to it, which is where problems come in. Read More

10.06.2015

Tennessee Court was proper forum for medical product injury lawsuit against maker of hip replacement

By Jessica Surber Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Product liability lawsuits proceed under the theory that manufacturers and sellers should be held accountable for injuries resulting from defects that make a product unreasonably unsafe. As with other lawsuits, a trial court must have jurisdiction (both personal and subject matter) over a defendant before it can proceed to adjudicate the issues between the parties. Sometimes, a defendant may argue that, although the court technically has jurisdiction over the case, the court should decline to exercise that jurisdiction because justice would be better served in another forum. In the recent case of Pantuso v. Wright Medical Technology, Inc., a Utah man filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, seeking to recover damages resulting from an allegedly defective hip replacement device. Although the defendant manufacturer admitted that its principal place of business was Tennessee, it filed a motion to dismiss the man's complaint on the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Read More

09.29.2015

Choosing a potential guardian for your children in your will

By Elizabeth McKinney, Attorney and Partner English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP Estate planning often involves thinking about things you’d rather not, and perhaps the most unpleasant of tasks is to consider who you’d appoint as guardians for your minor or special needs children in the event of your death. Read More