Dean Craig M. Boise

Eaton Corporation is buying a rival company and incorporating the new merged company in Ireland rather than the United States.   Eaton expects to save $160 billion in taxes annually as a result of the merger and Irish incorporation.  An article in the May 22, 2012 edition of The Plain Dealer, Eaton Corp. plans to buy Cooper Industries in a $11.8 billion deal; move incorporation to Ireland, by Robert Schoenberger, indicates that Cooper Industries is already incorporated in Ireland, where the corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent.  The U.S. rate is 35 percent.  Overseas incorporation will shield Eaton from some overseas profits, though it will continue to be responsible for taxes on income earned in the U.S.

According to Dean Boise, a “secondary benefit could come from patents and other intellectual property. When a company develops new technology, it tends to license those inventions to its own subsidiaries and other companies. If those patents are held in the U.S., the profits from those licensing fees generate U.S. profits. But if Eaton is an Irish company, it can hold those patents in Dublin, and licensing fees will be subject to that country’s lower rates.”

Boise stated that “[t]hat’s one of the biggest reasons that pharmaceutical and technology companies hold their intellectual property offshore, to avoid U.S. taxation.”

To read the article, click here: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/05/eaton_corp_plans_to_merge_with.html

C|M|LAW Professor Milena Sterio will appear on “Talking Foreign Policy” at 8:00 PM (EST) on Thursday, May 24.  “Talking Foreign Policy” is an hour-long radio program hosted by Michael Scharf (Case) , in which experts discuss the salient foreign policy issues of the day.  For those outside of Cleveland, the  show will be streamed live on the Internet at wcpn.org.  In Cleveland, you can hear it on 90.3 FM — Cleveland’s NPR station.

The May 24th program will examine the controversial policy of using drones to kill Americans abroad, the challenges of bringing indicted tyrants to justice, and America’s Afghanistan exit strategy.

The expert panel for the May 24th program is composed of:

James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law Chris Sagers was quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal, for his thoughts on a potential antitrust enforcement action by the Federal Trade Commission against Google.  While no complaint has yet been filed, indications are that the Commission will sue Google for having monopolized the market for “internet search.”  Google acknowledged in summer 2011 that the Commission had begun an internal investigation, and observers believe recent steps indicate that an FTC complaint is imminent.  Prominently, in April the Commission announced its hiring of a high profile Washington litigator to head a potential Google prosecution team, and just this week Google announced the publication of two Google-sponsored white papers written by prominent academics in its defense.  Asked whether these steps increased the likelihood of a complaint, Sagers said “the ‘mutual saber-rattling’ is an indication that both sides are girding for battle. Google ‘is laying out its legal strategy as a way to make the FTC blink’ . . .  while the agency’s move to bring in Ms. Wilkinson ‘demonstrates that they’re not going to back down.’ ”

The article is available here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304543904577396483337361246.html

Legal Writing Professor Sandra Kerber has been selected as one of 20 to 25 professors from across the country to participate in a Lexis Summit in Desert Palm Springs in June of 2012.   The subject is “Legal Research and Writing Trends and Challenges about New Approaches to Teaching: adapting to changing student and market demands.”  This Summit is open by invitation only.

On May 1, Professor Phyllis L. Crocker participated in a panel discussion at An Eye for An Eye: Is Capital Punishment Justice or Revenge?, a special program of Baldwin-Wallace’s Leadership & Public Policy Institute in Partnership with the Levin College Forum Program.  The event took place at the Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University.

Professor Alan Weinstein

On, April 16, C|M|LAW Professor Alan Weinstein spoke recently at the annual national conference of the American Planning Association (APA) in Los Angeles.   This presentation was part of a conference session titled “Constitutional Challenges to Local Sign Regulations.” It also featured  Randal Morrison, a San Diego attorney with a national practice focused on drafting and defending local sign regulations. 

Weinstein also participated in a national teleconference sponsored by the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA).  For the one-hour IMLA Teleconference on April 18, Professor Weinstein was interviewed by Professor Daniel Mandelker of Washington University (St. Louis) and Dwight Merriam, a nationally-known land-use attorney in Hartford, about his extensive research and writing on the topic of regulating sexually oriented adult entertainment businesses, with an emphasis on how local governments can regulate such businesses without violating the first amendment.

Professor Chris Sagers

James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law Chris Sagers was one of 95 community leaders from 27 states called to the White House on May 4th for a summit on the looming judicial vacancy crisis.  The event was convened by the White House Counsel’s Office in collaboration with more than two dozen public interest advocacy organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law the American Constitution Society, the Alliance for Justice People for the American Way, and the Center for American Progress.  The event began with a morning of White House briefings by Attorney General Eric Holder, White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler, and officials of the White House Office of General Counsel, Office of Legislative Affairs, and Office of Public Engagement.  Attendees at the summit spent the rest of the day in meetings with Members of the Senate and their staff, and Professor Sagers joined the Ohio delegation in meetings with staff of Senators Brown and Portman.  Attendees also met with Jeremy Paris, Senate Judiciary counsel, and Serena Hoy, Chief Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

C|M|LAW Legal Writing Professor Claire Robinson May has been invited to serve as a guest blogger on a science and writing blog, Lofty Ambitions.  See http://loftyambitions.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/guest-blog-claire-robinson-may/