News

NEW YORK—(BUSINESSWIRE)—The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP is proud to announce that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) has awarded approximately $700,000 to a whistleblower it represented.  Under the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s Whistleblower rules, a whistleblower who provides valuable information is entitled to between 10% and 30% of monetary sanctions collected by the Commission for commodities law violations.

SANTA DOMINGO – As general counsel of the World Jurist Association, KM Partner David Kovel presented the act of conferral of the World Peace and Liberty award to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor during the World Law Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  The World Peace and Liberty award is considered the Nobel Prize of Law and has been awarded to, among others, Winston Churchill, René Cassin, Nelson Mandela, H.M. King Felipe VI of Spain, Ruth Bather Ginsburg, Andrew Young and the Colombian people represented by their President Iván Duque, and the European Commission represented by its president Ursula von der Leyen.

KM Partner Randall Fox was quoted by Bloomberg Tax on April 3 in an article discussing a California bill (S.B. 799) recently introduced by State Attorney General Rob Bonta and Sen. Ben Allen to include tax matters within the state’s whistleblower law, the California False Claims Act.  The bill is modeled on New York’ State False Claims Act, which has applied to tax violations since 2010, and has resulted in the recovery of more than $674 million by the state and local governments.  Mr. Fox, the former (and founding) Bureau Chief of New York Attorney General’s Taxpayer Protection Bureau who now represents whistleblowers, expressed support for the bill.

NEW YORK -- KM Partner Randall Fox was quoted by Law360 on January 28 in an article discussing what to expect for the IRS Whistleblower Office under the Trump Administration.  Since assuming office on January 20, President Trump has begun staffing and budget cuts across government departments. However, there are hopes that the office – which helps to efficiently identify illicit tax activity while rewarding and protecting those that bring it to light – will be seen as aligning with the administration’s goals and remain unscathed.

NEW YORK -- KM Partner Randall Fox was quoted by Tax Notes on November 21 in an article discussing Sotheby’s recently announced $6.25 million settlement with the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James resolving charges that the auction house helped clients to dodge millions of dollars in taxes.

KM partners Daniel Hume, Tom Elrod, and associate Lauren Wands have filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the SEC's recently introduced climate disclosure regulations.