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Mark-It Express Logistics LLC ("Mark-It"), a leading Midwest intermodal trucking and freight brokerage company, acquired Spirit Trucking Company ("Spirit"), a Chicago-based trucking company. HMB represented Mark-It in the acquisition of operating assets. Mark-It, founded in 2009 and recently named to Crain Chicago's Fast 50 for the second time and INC. 5000 for the fourth time, offers a full array of third-party…

Illinois seeks to establish a 30-day safe harbor against state income tax for nonresident employees under a recently proposed regulation that specifies how workers should calculate their number of days worked in the state. In an article by Law360, David Hughes explains how different this proposed rule is when compared to previous regulations, noting that previous regulations on taxing nonresident…

NextLevel Health Innovations, Inc. ("NextLevel"), a managed care health plan for Cook County residents with Medicaid known for its community involvement, has signed a Merger Agreement with Molina Healthcare, Inc. ("Molina"), a FORTUNE 500 company. HMB represented NextLevel in the negotiation and signing of the Merger Agreement. As part of the transaction, Molina will assume the right to serve approximately…

Jim and Katie were recommended by their peers and approved by the Leading Lawyers Advisory Board to be 2020 Leading Lawyers. The list of Leading Lawyers is the result of contact with thousands of lawyers within their respective region and/or area(s) of law. Only those lawyers who are most often recommended, and later approved by the Advisory Board, are selected.…

Chicago, IL December 12, 2019 HMB Legal Counsel, a preeminent provider of legal services in Business and Finance, State and Local Tax, Trusts and Estates, Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Creditors' Rights, Real Estate and Litigation announced that three associate attorneys were elevated to partner. (more…)…

Slumberkins, makers of tools for early emotional learning, has secured $2.8 million in its Series Seed funding round led by Listen Ventures and SeaChange Fund. HMB represented Listen Ventures in their investment. Listen Ventures, a consumer-only venture capital firm focused on backing and building the brands of tomorrow, invests in ambitious entrepreneurs who challenge traditional thinking. This capital injection comes…

Chicago's previously hidden tax ruling exempted Moxie Software Inc. from tax collection duties under the "Cloud Tax". In an article by Bloomberg Tax, Samantha Breslow explains the discrepancy between the Cloud Tax and Chicago's stance on nexus. Because the city didn't address the question of nexus in 2015 when modifications to its Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax were made, the…

In an article published by Bloomberg Tax, Samantha Breslow delves into the challenges presented to taxpayers after Chicago's previously hidden Private Letter Rulings ("PLRs") come to light. "Historically, it has been very difficult to gain access to Chicago GILS ["General Information Letters"] or PLRs, which results in a lack of transparency for taxpayers trying to comply with city ordinances," said…

For her articles focusing on Illinois and Cook County Tax Law, including those on Chicago and Cook County Amusement Tax and Applying the Chicago Lease Transaction Tax to "Cloud" Software Products, Sam is named a 2019 National Law Review Go-To Thought Leader. 75 authors from a pool of over 100,000 legal news articles published by the National Law Review in…

Leaf Trade, a technology company whose wholesale ordering platform connects licensed cannabis vendors and dispensaries, announced that it raised $4.5 million in a funding round led by HPA and Duke Software Investments. HMB represented Hyde Park Angels (HPA) in their investment. HPA's people-first approach provides unique value to entrepreneurs and investors. HPA will be actively involved in Leaf Trade at…

Hal Wood was named to the Law Firm Alliance's Board of Directors. The LFA is an international network of mid-sized law firms where members collaborate to share knowledge, experience and jurisdictional expertise to benefit their clients. The LFA provides a wealth of trusted resources for our clients and virtually expands our attorney network worldwide.…

HMB represented Colony Display LLC in its sale to Kinzie Capital Partners LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Colony Display is a leader in highly customized fixtures and displays servicing the home improvement, retail and hospitality industries. Kinzie's acquisition of Colony Display will see the company into the next phase of growth and provide resources to advance company strategy and…

DataCubes is the first underwriting decisioning platform for commercial property and casualty insurance. Leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence software, DataCubes provides commercial carriers of all sizes the ability to make real-time underwriting decisions. The intelligence gathered provides efficient, accurate, and productive steps forward for DataCubes' clients. The company was founded in 2016 by Kuldeep Malik and Harish Neelamana and…

Breen Schiller is named Chair of the 2020 IPT Sales Tax Symposium. The Institute for Professionals in Taxation® (IPT) serves members throughout the United States and Canada by providing educational tax resources. Members come from corporate, firm and taxpayer backgrounds. IPT's annual Sales Tax Symposium connects experts in the tax industry with professionals in sales and use tax. The symposium takes…

HMB represented Ascent in a $19.3 Million Series B Funding Round, led by Drive Capital. Ascent is an AI-driven solution company. Their goal is to help customers automate regulatory compliance by delivering customers regulatory knowledge in the form of a dynamic obligations register. This approach reduces the mundane and error-prone manual efforts of regulatory research and analysis. With Series B…

HMB represented EDCO Health Information Solutions Inc. in it's sale to BV Investment Partners, a middle-market private equity firm focused on the business services, software and IT sectors. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO, EDCO provides automated unstructured data indexing solutions to healthcare providers. EDCO's Solarity®, a patented medical record indexing software, gives automated transformation of unstructured data into clinically relevant patient…

In the article, "Kansas Tax Chief Not Worried About Remote Seller Litigation" written by Law360, Breen discusses how remote sellers have been caught in a no-man's land due to political struggle. Kansas' recent remote seller policy puts a tax burden on small businesses. But despite the criticism, the state's top tax administrator, Secretary of Revenue Mark Burghart, stated that he…

Chris Lutz spoke about the Virginia Albemarle County Circuit Court's decision in Crutchfield Corp. v. Harding, in an article by Tax Notes. Chris explained that Virginia courts did not have personal jurisdiction over a Massachusetts official claiming Crutchfield had sales tax nexus with the state. The Massachusetts regulation considers the use of in-state software and cookies as constituting a physical…

On September 24, 2019, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Thrush Aircraft, Inc. selected HMB Legal Counsel (“HMB”) as its counsel, with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia approving HMB’s retention on October 2, 2019. Thrush Aircraft ( “Thrush”) is a leading designer and manufacturer and of single-engine light aircraft, primarily used in agriculture operations. Thrush…

HMB represented Launchways in a new partnership deal with Patriot Growth Insurance Services, LLC. Launchways, founded in 2009, provides business leaders with human resources consulting, employee benefits and commercial insurance solutions. Launchways has guided over 400 customers to overcome insurance and human resources challenges throughout the Midwest. The company recently moved its headquarters to Chicago to accommodate its growing employee…

9/12/19 Chicago, IL 16 HMB team members participated in the 2019 Race Judicata 5k Sprint for Justice. The race celebrates pro bono work and raises funds for Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, the city's biggest volunteer-based legal aid provider. Team HMB had a blast racing in support of the CVLS and their mission to represent Chicago's poor and working poor community.…

Auditors in Chicago have been aggressively asserting that businesses have tax duties under the "cloud computing tax" because of their economic presence, or the volume of business they conduct within the city. In an article by Bloomberg Law News titled "State of Wayfair: Economic Thresholds Sneak Into Chicago Audits" by Michael J. Bologna, Samantha Breslow explains that the problem is…

Arizona's supreme court requires online travel companies, or OTCs, to pay local taxes on the revenue they receive for arranging hotel stays in the state. The court determined that OTCs do not qualify as being in the business of operating a hotel and thus found that the local privilege tax on hotels didn't apply. Breen spoke with Tax Notes regarding…

At the beginning of 2016, Chicago implemented a unique method to tax businesses for their use of remote computing services, also known as the cloud. The Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax program collected $13.9 million during its first six months and rose to $42.2 million through 6/30/18. In an article by Bloomberg Law News, Samantha Breslow explained that Chicago is…

HMB represented A.M. Money, Inc. in an outside venture capital round led by Lightbank. Founded by Daniel Rogers based on his experience paying for college by enlisting in the United States Army and taking courses online while deployed in a combat unit in Iraq, A.M. Money is a Chicago-based social enterprise that provides low-interest, no-cosigner loans to college students from…