For Birmingham businesses in the film industry, proposed tax incentives could help bring more of Hollywood to Alabama. A bill is currently pending that would expand the state’s program that provides rebates and tax breaks to production companies that film in the state, giving back sometimes as much as 25 percent of the costs to make a film.

As reported by the Birmingham News, the bill would increase the $10 million cap on the program’s funding over three years. In 2013, the limit would be increased to $15 million, then to $20 million in 2014, and $25 million in 2015. The bill would also make incentives available for bigger projects, with rebates and tax breaks available on $20 million of a project’s cost, doubling the current level.

State Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, a sponsor of the bill, says the state’s film industry has started to take off, and proposed legislation will help bring more entertainment industry jobs and companies to Alabama.

“When we use film-type incentives to create some of that business environment, it gives you the added benefit of positive public relations because of the film and TV shows that happen in the area,” she said.

As evidence of the programs success, supporters point to shows such as CMT’s Sweet Home Alabama and History’s Big Shrimpin’ and movies such as October Baby, all of which were filmed in the state.

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

A long-standing legal feud between Alabama and two neighboring states is likely headed to the Supreme Court. The dispute centers around how much drinking water metro Atlanta can take from Lake Lanier on the Chattahoochee River.

Lawyers for Florida and Alabama asked the Supreme to step in after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Georgia. The ruling was a major setback for the two states, which contend that Congress never intended that the federally funded reservoir would provide local drinking water.

They argue that the 1946 Rivers and Harbors Act authorized Buford Dam and Lake Lanier for hydropower, navigation, and flood control, not for drinking water. In addition, the two downstream states claim that metro Atlanta is using so much water upstream that it is having a negative economic and environmental impact, threatening the water supply for factories, industries, and wildlife.

“In terms of dollars and cents, the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling has the potential to shift the need for billions of dollars of infrastructure expenditures from the Atlanta region to downstream communities, including those in Alabama and Florida,” lawyers for Alabama said.

The balance of power is this dispute has seesawed back and forth over the past several years. In 2009, Florida and Alabama scored a victory when U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson agreed that metro Atlanta had little legal authority to draw water from Lake Lanier. He also set a July 2012 deadline for officials from the three states to reach a deal resolving their dispute over water rights. Georgia subsequently appealed and negotiations have failed, leading to the inevitable Supreme Court showdown.

Assuming the Supreme Court agrees to hear the matter, this will be an interesting case to watch. It will also finally bring closure to a feud that has been going on for over twenty years.

Sources: The Associated Press and Anniston Star

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

Intellectual property is becoming increasingly valuable to businesses in Birmingham and across the country. As a result, many more companies are filing lawsuits to protect it.

Just this month, a Hoover seller of athletic protective masks filed a patent infringement lawsuit against a sporting goods store chain and a California-based company. The Alabama business lawsuit was filed by Sportshields LLC, based in Hoover, in U.S. District Court in Birmingham.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are Academy Sports and Outdoors and Pro Performance Sports LLC, a San Diego, Calif., company that does business as SKLZ.

According to the complaint, Sportshields has been selling its patented sports face masks since 2008. However, over the past year, SKLZ and Academy have been making, importing and selling one or more masks that infringe on the Sportshields patent, according to the lawsuit.

Among other things, the lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Academy and SKLZ from infringing on the patent rights and damages in an amount at least equal to Sportshields’ lost profits, plus other damages.

Source: Birmingham News

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a bill that would allow lawmakers to rewrite the state constitution to protect a proposed business incentive plan from legal challenge. The underlying plan aims to attract new business to Alabama and encourage existing businesses to expand.

As reported by the Birmingham News, the proposed constitutional amendment, House Bill 159, now goes to the Senate for debate. If the measure passes, it must still be approved by voters in a statewide referendum.

As we discussed in an earlier post, the bill is designed to protect the tax incentive bill from lawsuits based on the state constitution or other laws. That bill, House Bill 160, has already passed the House.

Under House Bill 160, the governor would have the discretion to permit an Alabama business, in return for building a new or expanded facility in Alabama, keep from 50 percent to 90 percent of the state income tax withheld from the pay of people working at the facility.

While the two bills have the support of the business community, the Alabama Education Association opposed the bill, arguing it would take funds away from local schools.

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

In the latest development in the hostile takeover bid of Birmingham’s Vulcan Materials, Martin Marietta Materials has announced that it will seek Department of Justice Approval this spring. By doing so, Martin Materials would address one legal hurdle standing in the way of its attempted acquisition of Vulcan.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company reached an agreement with DOJ to discuss the merger in late April, ahead of Vulcan’s next shareholders meeting in May. At this time, the parties will address the DOJ’s antitrust concerns in an attempt to come to terms on a consent order. If an agreement with the DOJ is not reached in April, the agreement provides that Martin Marietta will not seek to close the transaction prior to mid-August without the consent of the DOJ.

“We believe that both sets of shareholders will be best-served by Vulcan and Martin Marietta commencing active, good-faith negotiations with a view toward reaching mutual agreement on a compelling transaction,” said Martin Marietta President and Chief Executive Ward Nye.

“We are ready and willing to meet with Vulcan and their advisers immediately to accomplish this objective,” he added.

In a statement, Vulcan said, “This timing agreement is a routine procedural step by the DOJ and is fully consistent with our expectations and analysis. We think it’s important for both sets of shareholders to have clarity on the impact of the DOJ process.”

For more information about what the DOJ will be considering at the April hearing, please see our previous post here.

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

Many government agencies require that some percentage of their procurements be set aside for small businesses. In fact, federal, state and local governments offer businesses a wealth of opportunity when it comes to selling products and services. Therefore, it is important to know if your Birmingham business fits the bill.

In order to register as a government contractor, you must adhere to industry size standards established by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Birmingham business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form.

The SBA, for most industries, defines a “small business” either in terms of the average number of employees over the past 12 months, or average annual receipts over the past three years. In addition, SBA defines a U.S. small business as a concern that:

• Is organized for profit;
• Has a place of business in the US;
• Operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor;
• Is independently owned and operated; and
• Is not dominant in its field on a national basis.

Since all federal agencies must use SBA size standards for contracts geared towards small business, you will need to determine the NAICS codes that best fit your Alabama business and then determine if you meet size standards for the selected NAICS codes. These tools are available at the NAICS section of the Bureau of the Census website.

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

Last week, opening statements were held in the retrial of State House vote-buying case. As we discussed on this blog, the case was first tried last summer but ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on all charges.

VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor, Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb, former state Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt, lobbyist Tom Coker and former Country Crossing casino spokesman Jay Walker face charges accusing them of offering, or accepting, cash and campaign contributions in connection with a proposed gambling bill.

According to both prosecutors and defense attorneys, the new trial won’t be a rehashing of the arguments made this summer. “I think it’s going to be different. I think you’ll hear some different things from the government and also some different things from us,” lawyer Joe Espy said.

Like the first trial, the government will have to explain to the jury the difference between bribery and permissible campaign contributions. Then, prosecutors must convince the jury that McGregor and the other defendants did indeed break the law.

The case is expected to last up to two months.

Source: Birmingham News

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

Jefferson County can’t seem to stay out of the courtroom. Bank of New York Mellon has filed a business lawsuit against Alabama’s bankrupt county, accusing it of improperly cutting the amount of money owed to holders of its sewer-system debt.

Specifically, BNY alleges that the county is improperly charging attorneys’ fees and other costs against the system’s net revenue. The bank is an indenture trustee of $3.6 billion of sewer system warrants, tasked with managing the administrative aspects of loans like payments.

According to the lawsuit, the county has violated the creditors’ rights by reducing the system’s net revenue due creditors by deducting certain costs, which include depreciation and amortization, money for planned capital expenditures and other non-operating costs.

The lawsuit comes just after the bankruptcy court handed control of the sewer system back to county officials from a state-appointed receiver. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett required county officials to continue payments to creditors from the system’s revenue but did dictate the amounts to be paid.

The BNY lawsuit asks Bennett to bar Jefferson County from charging any expenses beyond labor and other customary operating costs from the monthly amounts due to sewer system warrant holders.

Source: Reuters

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

Opponents of Alabama’s tough immigration law are seeking to form powerful alliances with the business community in hopes of overturning the law. They are asking local manufacturers to help them push for a total repeal of the law during the upcoming legislative session.

As reported by the Huffington Post, a group of advocacy organizations, including the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, the United Auto Workers and the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, are hoping to meet with the Alabama executives of Daimler AG, Honda, and Hyundai to discuss the social and financial ramifications of the law and the image of companies doing business in the state.

“We’re not asking the automakers to engage in a high-profile public campaign,” Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a conference call. “We’re asking them to use their influence; we’re asking them to their persuasive voice and their impact on the economy to encourage legislators to do the right thing.”

While the groups are looking for support from all Alabama businesses, its focus on the auto industry is likely in response to the carmakers first hand encounters with the unintended consequences of the tough new law. As we reported on this blog, foreign executives from Honda and Mercedes-Benz were arrested last year after they were pulled over by police and failed to produce sufficient documentation.

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.

As Birmingham business attorneys, we are not surprised to see the attempted takeover of Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Co. is headed to the court. A Delaware Chancery Court judge is scheduled to hear the business lawsuit on Feb. 28. The issue before the court the legality of Martin Marietta Materials Inc.’s hostile takeover bid.

As we have been discussing on the blog, the contentious takeover bid has spurred a number of different lawsuits, including those by Vulcan shareholders who favor the deal. In the Delaware lawsuit, Martin Marietta is seeking a declaration that a non-disclosure agreement between it and Vulcan will not stand in the way of its takeover bid.

In its countersuit, Vulcan contends that Martin Marietta used confidential information in in hostile takeover bid. Specifically, the Alabama company alleges Martin Marietta violated a letter of agreement and separate confidentiality agreement when it used private information from Vulcan to publicly argue the benefits of a merger last December. It argues that these breaches should bar any takeover attempt.

Vulcan further argues that Martin Marietta sought to “cover its tracks” by filing the current lawsuit that seeks a declaration that it complied with the letter of agreement.

Source: Birmingham Business Journal

Rutledge & Yaghmai is a full service litigation firm that offers more than fifty-seven years of diverse legal experience. The attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai leverage that experience to assist large and small businesses throughout Alabama in achieving their business goals while minimizing their risks.

In addition to offering transactional business services such as Alabama business formation and planning, Rutledge & Yaghmai prides itself on the diversity of Alabama business litigation cases it has handled successfully.

To learn more about the wide range of transactional and business litigation services we offer Alabama businesses, please contact the attorneys of Rutledge & Yaghmai today.