HOUSTON– LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs Network –Bracewell & Giuliani LLP: Visual/Interview Opportunities

9 – 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 12

Volunteers distribute gifts at Grimes Elementary School cafeteria, 9220 Jutland Street
(Access cafeteria from the parking lot off Jutland)
9 – 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 13

Volunteers distribute gifts at Petersen Elementary School cafeteria, 14404 Waterloo
(Media enter staff parking lot off Littleford Road)

Holiday-spirited volunteers from Bracewell & Giuliani LLP and others from the legal community will celebrate the 18th annual Adopt an Angel project as they deliver 1,250 gift bags to students at Grimes and Petersen Elementary Schools Tuesday, Dec. 12, and Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Legal community volunteers team up with the teachers to transform the school cafeterias to holiday wonderlands for the students. The children then assemble to receive a personalized bag of holiday gifts from Santa Claus.

Sponsored by the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation with the assistance of the Houston Young Lawyers Association, Adopt an Angel was established to deliver holiday cheer to underprivileged, inner-city, elementary-aged children. This year, about 1,600 lawyers and law firm administrators across Houston spent several weeks reviewing each child’s wish list. The volunteers shopped and wrapped the items as well as assembled as many as a dozen bicycles and tricycles. The collective annual philanthropic donation totaled more than $50,000.

Chairing the event since its inception in 1989, Bracewell is teaming up with 45 community-minded law firms to “adopt” underprivileged children by providing them with gifts for the holidays. Bracewell attorney Christopher L. Dodson and Fulbright & Jaworski attorney Kirsten Hetzel Wilson co-chair the Adopt an Angel committee.

“This event is a reminder of what is truly important at this time of year,” Dodson said. “The time and effort are worth it when these young people extend such excitement and gratitude.”

“Adopt an Angel allows young attorneys to get involved in their community early in their careers, and the project draws on the generosity of so many people who work in the legal community,” said Bracewell partner and Houston Bar Association president Glenn A. Ballard.

HBA first established HYLA as a special section of the bar until it grew to become an independent non-profit in the 1970s.

Adopt an Angel volunteers will deliver gifts to the two Houston Independent School District elementary schools as well as to children’s charities Casa de Esperanza and House of Tiny Treasures.

About Houston Young Lawyers Foundation

HYLF is a 501(c)(3) whose principal mission is to develop, operate and/or fund charitable programs of the young lawyers bar of Harris County, Texas. The foundation may also support and encourage education, which promotes and aids an improved system for the administration of justice in Harris County, Texas.

About Bracewell & Giuliani

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is among the nation’s most prominent law firms. With 400 lawyers in New York, Texas, Washington, D.C., Kazakhstan and London, we are distinctively positioned to serve clients concentrated in the energy and financial services sectors worldwide. In 2005, former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined the firm as a senior partner. His international reputation for leadership and problem solving is a unique asset for our clients, which include Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, leading governmental entities and private individuals. For more information about Bracewell & Giuliani, visit www.bgllp.com.

LAWFUEL – Law News Network – On Tuesday 12 December the European Court of Justice will deliver a decision on whether the UK’s system of taxing dividends paid by foreign subsidiaries to UK parent companies is incompatible with the EC Treaty.

The case, called the FII Group Litigation case, concerns the basic question of discrimination. The UK tax system provides that UK to UK dividends between companies are tax exempt. By contrast, where a UK company receives dividends from a foreign company (e.g. a German or French subsidiary) the dividends are taxable, although the UK gives relief for tax paid in the foreign jurisdiction.

In April 2006, Advocate General Geelhoed, ruled against the UK and stated that this differential treatment of dividends contravened the right of establishment in the EC Treaty.

Guy Brannan, global head of tax at Linklaters, said:

“If the ECJ follows the Advocate General’s opinion, it will be a major blow to the UK. It comes after the Cadbury-Schweppes ruling in the autumn which called into question the validity of the UK’s Controlled Foreign Companies regime. These cases have prompted a review the UK tax authorities of their international corporate tax rules and a consultation will follow in 2007.

“The amount of tax at stake is unclear, but will clearly be substantial. However, the UK authorities are clearly concerned because in the Pre-Budget Report earlier this week, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown tightened up the rules on limitation periods for tax claims.”