Virgin Islands Lawyer & Attorney : Tom Bolt & Associates Law Firm : St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Water Island, US Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands Interagency Council on Homelessness chaired by Virgin Islands Commissioner of Human Services Chris Finch in conjunction with the Virgin Islands Continuum of Care on Homelessness chaired by St. Thomas attorney Tom Bolt took further steps earlier this week to end chronic homelessness in the Territory by conducting a technical assistance training session with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

St. Thomas environmental attorney Nycole Thompson of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC and counsel to the Friends of Christmas Cove addressed a jammed Port Authority conference room Tuesday night during a Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Committee public hearing regarding a proposal to moor a floating bar and restaurant known as the Leylon Sneed in Christmas Cove. 

Thompson working with the newly formed citizen's group Friends of Christmas Cove told the CMZ commissioners that grounds for denial of the permit rest in the fact that it hasn't met the application standards for such things as environmental findings and proof that the proposal serves the public good.  "The application submitted to the Commission was woefully insufficient," Nycole Thompson said. "Because there is insufficient information ... this permit should not be granted." 
     

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

St. Thomas attorney Tom Bolt, Chairman of the Virgin Islands Uniform Law Commission testified before the 27th Legislature's Committee on Rules and the Judiciary on Wednesday regarding Bill 27-0161, "The Virgin Islands Unclaimed Property Act".  Bolt noted that the legislation which is sponsored by Senator Terrence "Positive" Nelson, Chair of the Committee on Finance is revenue positive.  "The Territory will generate funds from this bill." Bolt noted.

"What is unclaimed property?" Bolt retorically asked the Committee.  "It is bank accounts, insurance proceeds, old traveler's checks, stock holdings, and even the proceeds from winning parimutuel tickets. What unites these different kinds of property is the fact that the person to whom they are owed has never come forward to collect them and cannot be readily found. If the owner does not come forward or is not found, the holder gets to keep the property, and worse, may dissipate the property through service charges and the like." Bolt said

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Attorney Rosh D. Alger, Chair of the Tom Bolt & Associates, PC Corporate and Tax Practice Group recently returned from Pasadena, California where he attended the ALI-ABA Forum on "Representing the Growing Business:  Tax, Corporate, Securities, and Accounting Issues."

In recapping the the three day seminar, Alger noted that during the forum, a panel of seven tax and corporate law specialists voted, under a certain fact pattern for a growing business model, to choose the LLC structure.  When asked why, six out of seven panelists who voted in favor of the LLC said that they appreciate the flexibility of the LLC.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Two weeks ago, when residents of several East End housing communities got wind of plans to locate a floating restaurant and bar in Christmas Cove, the reaction was, "You've got to be kidding me!" according to Robert Fagenson.
     Since then, Fagenson and dozens of others have not just rallied to protest the plan, but have with the assistance of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC, formed a non-profit organization, commissioned a study by the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and are circulating petitions in anticipation of a public hearing on Tuesday.
      The group, known as the Friends of Christmas Cove Inc., formally announced its establishment at a news conference Sunday, March 2nd at Robert's American Grille in Cowpet Bay. Group president Fagenson, and others outlined their objections to the bar and restaurant plan by WT Enterprises LLC and distributed a summary document of the UVI study they commissioned on the Christmas Cove ecosystem. 
    

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Attorney Jack Barnes, Chair of the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center will address members of the Virgin Islands Bar Association and the public interested in the work of the Appleseed Foundation (www.appleseeds.net) on Monday, March 3, 2008 at 5:30PM at the law offices of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC in Royal Dane Mall on St. Thomas.  Appleseed is a non-profit network of 16 public interest justice centers throughout the United States and Mexico and is dedicated to building a society where opportunities are genuine, access to the law is universal and equal, and government advances the public interest.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Tom Bolt, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Virgin Islands Corps of the Salvation Army, was elected Chairman of the Virgin Islands Continuum of Care on Homelessness at its Annual Meeting.  The Continuum of Care consists of all the public and private agencies that provide services to the homeless throughout the Virgin Islands.  Bolt, a St. Thomas attorney, and Managing Attorney for Tom Bolt & Associates, PC, a St. Thomas business law firm, has been active in advocating on behalf of the homeless for many years. 

Also elected were Edith Moore of St. Croix as Vice President and Norma Hasell as Secretary.  Both represenatives are from St. Croix.  Ms. Moore is a representative of Ten Thousand Helpers of St. Croix and Ms. Hassell a representative of VI Care.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

St. Thomas attorney, Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC and a Delegate at Large to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, addressed the House at its Midyear Meeting on February 11th in Los Angeles, California on "issues of concern to America's territories." 

In the midst of pitched primary battles and the looming 2008 election,  the American Bar Association House of Delegates challenged the traditional way states and territories handle congressional and legislative redistricting, calling for a new process further removed from the politically charged atmosphere of local legislatures. In a vote by its policy-making body, the ABA urged each state and territory to assign the process to an independent commission, leaving it to each jurisdiction to configure the commissions and set suitable redistricting criteria.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

          With only two full weeks remaining until the New Year, time is of the essence to execute crucial tax-saving donations. "The year end is a good time to review your charitable giving to ensure that it is being done in the most tax-efficient manner,"offers Attorney Carl R. Williams of Tom Bolt and Associates, P.C.  Charitable giving is a form of estate planning, because a gift to charity will never be subject to estate or gift tax. If you are planning to make a large gift before January 1, 2008, it is important to review the impact on your 2007 income tax liability and whether it may make sense to defer all or a portion of the gift until 2008. If the gift is of real property and will require an appraisal, it is critical to start the process as soon as possible so that the appraisal is available before year end.

          "In addition to charitable giving, my clients also express an interest in making inter-family donations," says Attorney Williams. Every person may give up to $12,000 free of gift tax to as many individuals as they wish. Because annual exclusions do not carry over into subsequent years, you will lose your annual exclusions for 2007 gifts if you do not make them before Dec. 31, 2007. An annual exclusion gift may consist of almost any asset, including stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, and partnership interests. Subject to special rules, annual exclusion gifts may also be made in trust.

• Print
• Comments