Law Commons^™

Feature Comment: Ethics, Compliance, And The Dispiriting Saga Of Craig Whitlock’S Fat Leonard, Steven L. Schooner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay discusses the forthcoming book, Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy (480 pp, Simon & Schuster, 2024), authored by Washington Post investigative reporter, Craig Whitlock. The book chronicles the extraordinary ''Fat Leonard" saga (or scandal), involving Glenn Marine, an Asia-based ship husbanding contractor, and its "business" with the U.S. Navy. The animating character, not surprisingly, is Leonard Francis, and the book spans his career and demise, which eventually prompted investigations (of hundreds of Naval servicemembers, including 90 admirals), multiple criminal plea bargains, and a staggering number of military administrative actions.

On the one …

Fireside Chat With Dean Cole And Notre Dame Law Student Rachel Schneider, Marcus Cole, Rachel Schneider

2019–Present: G. Marcus Cole

Dec 13, 2022

Dean G. Marcus Cole and Rachel Schneider '23 share their journeys to Notre Dame Law School, their connection to the Order of St. Thomas More, and the impact your gifts have on Notre Dame Law students.

Law Library Blog (November 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

2019-2020 Annual Report: Roger Williams University School Of Law, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (December 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Patriotic Philanthropy? Financing The State With Gifts To Government, Margaret H. Lemos, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

Federal and state law prohibit government officials from accepting gifts or “emoluments” from outside sources. The purpose of gift bans, like restrictions on more explicit forms of bribery, is to protect the integrity of political processes and to ensure that decisions about public policy are made in the public interest — not to advance a private agenda. Similar considerations animate regulations on campaign funding and lobbying. Yet private entities remain free to offer gifts to government itself, to foot the bill for particular public projects they would like to see government pursue. Such gifts — dubbed “patriotic philanthropy” by one …

Options For An Indigenous Economic Water Fund (Iewf), First Peoples' Water Engagement Council

Indigenous Water Justice Symposium (June 6)

Presenter: Phil Duncan, Gomeroi Nation, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

15 pages

Contains footnotes

"OPTIONS PAPER for the First Peoples' Water Engagement Council (FPWEC)"

"DATED 20 APRIL 2012"

Abstract: This paper highlights the options for a path forward to establish an Indigenous Economic Water Fund (IEWF) through acquisition of water entitlements¹ by indigenous people in systems where the consumptive pool is fully allocated. The water allocation that comes from indigenous holdings in the consumptive pool is an important mechanism for enabling Indigenous communities to achieve economic development and as such is a legitimate strategy for ‘Closing the Gap’. …

Cancellation Of Debt And Related Transactions, Jeffrey H. Kahn, Douglas A. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

If a taxpayer borrows money, the borrowed funds are not included in the taxpayer’s gross income. That treatment is proper even though the taxpayer has increased his assets by the amount he borrowed because he also has created a corresponding liability to pay back the loan. The taxpayer’s net wealth has not increased. The more difficult and interesting questions arise when the taxpayer fails to repay the loan. At first blush, it would appear that upon cancellation of a loan, the taxpayer should have income for the amount that was cancelled. However, the current tax treatment is not that simple. …

Greetings From The Office Of The Dean, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Hannah Buxbaum (2011-2013 Interim)

No abstract provided.

Gifts, Hospitality & The Government Contractor, Jessica Tillipman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The government procurement process demands the highest commitment to ethical and unbiased conduct. To ensure that the individuals involved in the procurement process adhere to these standards, government entities in nearly all jurisdictions around the world have enacted codes of conduct, ethical restrictions, and anti-corruption laws designed to protect the integrity of government and ensure that government officials act impartially and do not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual. To further these goals, most jurisdictions have enacted restrictions on the gifts and hospitality that government officials may accept from individuals and organizations that sell goods and services …

Unseating Privilege: Rawls, Equality Of Opportunity, And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article is the second in a series that examines the estate tax from a particular philosophical position in order to demonstrate the relevance and importance of the wealth transfer taxes to that position. In this Article, I explore Rawlsian equality of opportunity, a philosophical position that is at the heart of much American thought. Equality of opportunity requires not only ensuring that sufficient opportunities are available to the least well-off members of society but also that opportunities are not available to other members merely because of their wealth or other arbitrary advantages. Therefore, an income tax alone, even one …

Death, Taxes, And Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism, And The Estate Tax, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The primary purpose of this Article is to dispute the moral claims to post-death property rights made by libertarians when they argue against the estate tax. As I will show later in this Article, my argument does not necessarily entail enacting an estate tax, nor does it require a particular level of tax. I am merely trying to demonstrate that those who argue that the estate tax is an immoral violation of the private property rights of the deceased are mistaken. This is not to say that the estate of the deceased should necessarily pass to the government. It is …

The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Greetings From The Office Of The Dean, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Hannah Buxbaum (2011-2013 Interim)

No abstract provided.

Of Charities And Clawbacks: The European Union Proposal On Successions And Wills As A Threat To Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

In the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent the United States, an inter vivos gift, once given, cannot be reclaimed by the giver's heirs. In civil law countries the situation is quite different: Not only spouses, but issue and in some cases even ascendants, are entitled to a forced share of a decedent's estate--and these forced shares are assessed against a notional “estate” that includes the testator's inter vivos gifts. If the total of these forced shares exceeds the amount actually available in the decedent's estate at death, the recipients of the gifts, or their successors, may be forced …

Book Review - Richard Hyland's Gifts: A Study In Comparative Law, Iris Goodwin

Scholarly Works

This essay is a lengthy review of Richard Hyland's Gifts: A Study in Comparative Law (OUP, 2009), a masterpiece of comparative law scholarship.

School Naming Rights And The First Amendment’S Perfect Storm, Joseph Blocher

Faculty Scholarship

In the past five years, public schools across the country have begun to explore a new avenue of fundraising: selling naming rights to school facilities. The popularity and monetary value of these sales, however, only highlight the importance of the First Amendment concerns they raise. This Article uses school naming rights as a lens through which to examine the conflicts between government speech, commercial speech, and forum analysis, three categories of First Amendment analysis that are simultaneously and problematically implicated by school naming rights sales. Courts and scholars have long noted the internal ambiguities within these three categories, but have …

Class Gifts Under The Restatement (Third) Of Property, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

The new Restatement (Third) of Property (officially the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers), in tandem with the Restatement (Third) of Trusts, is systematically proceeding through the whole field of wills, will substitutes, trusts, and estates. Both of the new Restatements should prove to be handy resources for trust and estate lawyers, not only in preparing to argue cases at both trial and appellate levels, but also in the everyday work of drafting and construing dispositive provisions in wills, trusts, and other types of donative documents. Each Restatement section is followed by a set of Comments explaining …

Is A Gift Forever?, William I. Miller

Articles

What are the rules regarding gifts you receive? Can you give them away? If so, must you conceal that you have done so from the original giver? Or is there a statute of limitations, after which any right the original giver has to feel wronged or to burden you with guilt for undervaluing it by giving it away rightly expires? Even an heirloom might exhaust its sacredness. Sometimes the sacred has a half-life, as might be the case, for instance, with your grandmother’s dining set. Can the giver ask for his gifts back if you try to give them away? …

Subcommittee Membership, Governor's Task Force On Ethics Reform

Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform (2006)

This is a list of subcommittee members of Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform.

Discussion Group Report: Governmental Conduct, Hilary Tompkins, Gaye Kernan, Maralyn Budke, Justin Miller

Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform (2006)

Governmental conduct' covers behavior by a wide range of individuals, engaging in a broad scope of activities, and is addressed by a variety of statutes, rules, and codes of conduct. This report concerns the conduct of all persons occupying a position of public trust in New Mexico: elected officials, appointed officials, and classified and exempt state employees. All of these individuals owe important ethical duties to the citizens of New Mexico. Laws and rules regulating government conduct are largely concerned with 1) restrictions on the behavior of individual actors, and 2) disclosure and reporting of government activities so that those …

Governmental Conduct, Hilary Tompkins, Gaye Kernan, Maralyn Budke, Justin Miller

Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform (2006)

This presentation covers the following issues of governmental conduct: gifts, nepotism, lobbying, and conduct of government officials.

Subcommittee Report On Legislative Compensation, Gary E. Carruthers, Maralyn Budke, Jim Noel, Barbara Brazil

Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform (2006)

Currently, under Section 1-19-29.1 NMSA 1978 legislators may use campaign funds for expenditures \u2026 reasonably related to performing the duties of office held, including mail, telephone, and travel expenditures to serve constituents, but excluding personal and legislative session living expenses'. An unintended consequence of allowing campaign funds for performance of duties of the office may be that a legislator(s) may be dependent in some measures on funds given to them by third parties who have specific interests they are promoting or supporting. In addition to the perception that legislators may be receiving contributions for political consideration, there is an even …

Subcommittee Report On Gifts, Suellyn Scarneccia, W. Ken Martinez, Matt Brix

Governor Richardson's Task Force on Ethics Reform (2006)

The giving of gifts to show ones appreciation is a valued tradition in New Mexico. However, the giving of gifts to public officials by persons financially interested in their official actions may have a corrupting influence. A clear statutory bright line definition as to when gifts are not acceptable, beyond the current quid pro quo standard, would provide a necessary foundation for effective regulation of lobbying and campaign finance. A clear definition would also make it easier for both public officials and citizens to comply, and thus increase the publics confidence in its government. This report reviews some options for …

Selling The Name On The Schoolhouse Gate : The First Amendment And The Sale Of Public School Naming Rights, Joseph Blocher

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Giving Intellectual Property, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Articles

The interdisciplinarity of intellectual property and taxation poses many challenges to the disparate existing norms in each respective field of law. This Article identifies and critiques the current tax regime governing the giving of intellectual property as a manifestation of the failure to understand the principles and policies underlying intellectual property and the firm. It proposes an economic, incentives-based system that would encourage firms to extricate part of their repository of residual rights by surrendering their monopolistic ownership of intellectual property for the benefit of charitable organizations and, in turn, the development and growth of society.

Slides: New England Forestry Foundation: Private Forests For The Public Good Since 1944, Frank Reed

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Frank Reed, New England Forestry Foundation

9 slides

Gifts, Gafts And Gefts: The Income Tax Definition And Treatment Of Private And Charitable 'Gifts' And A Principled Policy Justification For The Exclusion Of Gifts From Income, Douglas A. Kahn, Jeffrey H. Kahn

Articles

Gifts have been given special treatment by the income tax laws since the first post-16th Amendment tax statute was adopted in 1913. The determination of how the income tax law should treat gifts raises a number of issues. For example: should gifts be given special treatment? If so, what should qualify as a gift? Should gifts to a private party be taxable to the donee? Should gifts to a private party be deductible by the donor? Should the donee's basis in a gift of property be determined by reference to the basis that the donor had, and should any modifications …

26th Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Turney P. Berry, Jerold I. Horn, David Ackerman, Sheldon G. Gilman, Cassie Spencer, Theodore B. Atlass, John T. Bondurant, Eric A. Manterfield, Norvie L. Lay, James W. Turner, Jeffrey M. Yussman, Homer Parrent Iii, David Tachau

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 26th Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute held by UK/CLE in July 1999.

Testamentary Substitutes: Retained Interests, Custodial Accounts And Contractual Transactions—A New Approach, Sidney Kwestel, Rena C. Seplowitz

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.