The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. consumer retail spending rose 1.9% in September 2020. September is the fifth straight month of retail sales growth according to the United States Department of Commerce. [WSJ; Oct. 16, 2020]
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in City of Chicago, Illinois v. Robbin L. Fulton, et al.
In its February 25, 2020, decision in Rodriguez v. FDIC, the US Supreme Court unanimously rejected the “Bob Richards rule” (so named for a 1973 Ninth Circuit decision) and held that federal common law does not govern the allocation of tax refunds within a consolidated corporate group in the absence of a tax allocation agreement to the contrary.1 The decision is likely to have significant implications with respect to inter-corporate disputes over the proper allocation of tax refunds.2
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held in a 9-0 decision that a creditor cannot be held in contempt of court for violating a bankruptcy discharge order if there is a “fair ground of doubt” as to whether the order barred the creditor’s conduct.
This is primarily an objective standard, which depends on whether the creditor had