News

On September 24, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an approximately $36 million award to a whistleblower whose information led to successful enforcement actions by the SEC and another federal agency.  This award comes less than two weeks after the SEC awarded another whistleblower $110 million—the agency’s second largest whistleblower award ever—and brings…

What do you get when you play a country song backwards?  Your dog, job and trailer back.  This joke actually has some interesting parallels to one of the best estate planning and asset preservation strategies that you may have never heard of – the ILIT. If your estate is greater than the current estate/gift tax…

Trusts serve as the foundation of effective, integrated estate plans, and can help preserve and keep your assets from going through the probate process when you pass.  Without the protection of a good trust, your accumulated wealth and family’s future are on shaky ground. There are many different kinds of trusts, including revocable, irrevocable, and…

One of the best ways to keep assets available for retirement in California is the statutorily authorized Private Retirement Plan (“PRP”), which is entirely exempt from judgments and bankruptcy if properly drafted and used for retirement purposes. Under California law, non-qualified retirement savings plans may be protected if certain requirements are satisfied. According to case law,…

On July 27, 2021, Vice Chancellor Paul A. Fioravanti granted final approval of a stockholder derivative settlement which resolves stockholder derivative litigation pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.  Johnson Fistel serves as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the consolidated derivative action pending…

Johnson Fistel recently helped secure another impressive achievement for stockholders in Morrison et al v. Berry et al, (Case Number 12808, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware)  when on July 7, 2021, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III  approved a $27.5 million settlement,  ending a stockholder class action over the 2016 $1.4…

Why you need an Estate Plan You have worked hard to provide for your family and loved ones, and they are depending on you for their protection and security.  But as this past year has shown, we live in uncertain and challenging times, and even the best intentions might not be enough. It’s not always…

Summer is exciting for kids because there’s no school, but concerning for those who rely on school lunches.  That’s why we help raise money for Feeding San Diego.  For the past several years Johnson Fistel has participated (and raised the most money for small firms) in Food from the Bar, a two-week event calling upon San…

On April 13, 2021, The Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted final approval of a $9.875 million settlement in Glock v. FTS International, Inc., et al., a class action alleging that FTSI International, Inc. (“FTSI” or the “Company”) and certain of its officers…

Although President Biden has not yet attempted to overhaul the nation’s tax system, it is expected that his administration will soon attempt to make good on some of the tax policy reforms he proposed during the run up to the 2020 elections.  This advisory raises important considerations regarding how Biden’s tax reforms might negatively affect…