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

The United States Internal Revenue Service delivered an early Christmas present to the United States Virgin Islands, its Economic Development Program and particularly to software developers and companies.  IRS Notice 76-2006 issued in late August specifically cited the USVI tax abatement program for utlization by software companies.  The lucrative benefits of the program include a 90% abatement of federal income taxes and a 100% abatement of all other taxes.

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The United Way of St. Thomas-St. John held its Day of Caring and Campaign Kickoff on Saturday at Ebeneezer Gardens in Hospital Ground on St. Thomas.  Ebeneezer Gardens is a senior residential care facility operated by Luther Social Services.  Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of Tom Bolt & Associates and President of Habitat for Humanity, led a group of Habitat volunteers that assisted in painting a mural at the senior facility.

Habitat for Humanity of the Virgin Islands has been designated as the newest United Way agency and has been allocated $50,000 by the United Way.  In making the allocation, United Way designated the funds to retain an Executive Director for Habitat.  At the Day of Caring, Bolt introduced Dianne Wells as Habitat's new CEO.  She was previously the National Director for Habitat for Humanity of Trinidad and Tobago.  She will began work with Habitat in the Virgin Islands November 1st.

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Virgin Islands Bar Association President Joycelyn Hewlett tapped St. Thomas attorney Tom Bolt to Co-Chair the Bar's Committee on Legislation and Law Reform.  Bolt Chaired the Committee from 1987-1993.  He is the former Counsel to the Virgin Islands Legislature and will Co-Chair the Committee with former Virgin Islands Senator and Attorney General, Iver A Stridiron.

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Presiding Judge of the Virgin Islands Superior Court Rhys S. Hodge addressed the quarterly meeting of the Virgin Islands Bar Association on Thursday, September 21st in the District Court of the Virgin Islands jury room.  Judge Hodge noted that the VI Superior Court would be moving the court into the "technology age".

He said he supports the ongoing effort of the Court Administrator to implement a computerized case management system and has established a date certain, the first quarter of 2007, to have the public access module available online.  There was some discussion amongst the members of the Virgin Islands Bar as to the implementation of e-filing and the necessity of training and double-tier system for attorneys who were not techologically savvy. The public module would allow the public access to the court's calendar as well as court records.  

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Tom Bolt & Associates,P.C. and its affiliated firm, Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP recently held sexual harassment training sponsored by the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the USVI Hotel & Tourism Association.  The training was mandated adopted by the Virgin Islands earlier this year.

St. Thomas attorney Ravinder Nagi who coordinated the traning sessions noted that the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that workplace harassment training is paying off.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also reported that the number of harassment claims has dropped by 20% since 1997.

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Merchants Commercial Bank, the newest bank in the Virgin Islands, recently achieved is capitalization as required by the FDIC and anticipates opening its doors in late October.  The bank which is lead by island banking stalwart Jim Crites has secured offices in Port of Sale Mall in Havensight  on St. Thomas and will concentrate its business activity in business and commercial loans.  Merchants will be the only locally governed financial institution in the District of St. Thomas-St. John. 

Virgin Islands consumers have grown frustrated at lack of commercial loan capacity in the United States Virgin Islands capital city.  .Merchants joins St. Croix based Bank of St. Croix and Virgin Islands Community Bank as the only Virgin Islands chartered banks.

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Wise business owners and managers in the Virgin Islands, as elsewhere, effectively reduce operating costs and avoid legal problems by using preventative law practices. The legal health of a business in America’s Paradise must be monitored and kept up to date with changes in the law. As on the mainland, Virgin Islands businesses can avoid disputes, injuries and damages by engaging a business attorney before these issues arise as current problems. This article attempts to give a brief overview of the value of preventive law through the use of the legal checkup. Your lawyer will help you to adopt the strategies that apply to your particular business. Preventive law practices are also much less expensive when compared against the legal problems that develop down the road when a business is left unchecked.

A legal checkup or audit is akin to an accountant's financial audit or a physician’s medical examination. Often a legal check up can be conducted simply by answering the questions about your company on a form prepared by your lawyer. Other instances may require more in depth “due diligence” with respect to your company depending on the answers given on the questionnaire or the complexity of your company’s corporate structure. 

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As an unincorporated territory of the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands does not conduct its own foreign affairs. The United States Congress is the only body that has the authority to engage in international agreements and treaties on behalf of the Territory.  

Not many U.S. treaties are applicable to the United States Virgin Islands and those that are applicable have for the most part, only been informally confirmed as applicable to the Territory. For example, these include the bilateral investment treaties and treaties of friendship, commerce and navigation and other international conventions dealing with international commerce. Their application to the United States Virgin Islands has been confirmed through informal correspondence between officials of the U.S. State Department and members of the Virgin Islands Bar. This informal practice raises uncertainties among global corporations, which are reluctant to do business in the U.S. Virgin Islands and would rather do business in a foreign country where the rules are clear and, potentially, more beneficial.

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Choosing the right entity for your small business is a critical decision, both professionally and personally, but understanding and evaluation the nuances of each business type can be daunting. To begin, tackling the process, consider two primary issues that often control the entity selection process: potential personal liability of the business owner and tax consequences to the business owner.

Five business entities are commonly used by today’s small-business owners, including the sole proprietorship, partnership, C corporation, Subchapter S corporation and the limited liability company. Each of these entities has its benefits and drawbacks that, when evaluated in light of liability and taxation issues, will guide you in choosing the right entity for your needs.

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A closing in the Virgin Islands is not something to fear. You take title to the property you have contracted for in exchange for money. At the closing table with you will be the following parties: The seller, the seller’s attorney, the realtors (you should recognize one of them but in the Virgin Islands both are considered agents of the seller), your attorney, and a title insurer. The seller’s attorney is responsible for drafting the deed, submitting it to the cadastral (unless it’s a condominium) the government agent who pre-approves a deed for transfer of property, acquires the tax letter required locally to record the deed, tax receipts to show the title insurer that the property is current in taxes, and prepares the closing statement, providing the parties with funding requirements and disbursements.

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In April, Governor Charles W. Turnbull approved a law that affects every employer and employee in the Virgin Islands. While the Territory already has laws prohibiting discrimination, Act No. 6829 amends the Virgin Islands Civil Rights Act to require every employer in the territory to adopt a policy against sexual harassment in the workplace and provide a written copy to each employee. Employers with five or more employees are required to conduct education and training programs designed to prevent sexual harassment. The Act also makes it unlawful to retaliate against employees making good faith reports of harassment. In perhaps its most significant provision, Act No. 6829 provides for individual monetary liability, not only employers, but also for supervisors, managers or co-employees who are found to have engaged in sexual harassment.

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Gubernatorial candidate John P. deJongh, Jr. and his running mate, Greg Francis, were victorious in the Democratic Primary on September 9th.  The deJongh Francis team won with a two to one margin over current Lieutenant Governor Vargrave Richards and St. Thomas accountant Roy Jackson.  The distant third place candidate was former judge Edgar Ross with his running mate Lorraine Berry, the President of the 26th Legislature.

DeJongh will now face former Lieutenant Governor Ken Mapp and former Senator at Large Almando Liburd, as well as Senator Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg and Dr. Cora Christian.  Most political observers believe that the general election race will be much different that the primary race and expect Mapp to put up quite a fight.

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