A recent decision by a N.Y. judge equates pole dancing with a dramatic or artistic performance. Therefore, the cover charges imposed by an Albany-area strip club are exempt from a state sales tax.

Administrative Law Judge Catherine M. Bennett determined that Nite Moves in Latham, N.Y., qualifies for the “dramatic arts” sales tax exemption under state Tax Law §1105(f)(1)  after reviewing DVDs of exotic dancers, including material taken from the Internet site PoleJunkies.com, and hearing testimony from a University of Maryland dance scholar.

“The fact someone may believe that this entertainment is not appropriate for any audience is not the issue,” ruled Bennett. “The fact that the dancers remove all or part of their costume during the performances, that the dance routines are seductive in nature and titillation of a patron is the outcome, simply does not render such dance routines as something less than choreographed performances, or remove them from the exception to the general rule of Tax Law §1105(f)(1).”

The judge cited videos made by the  dancers from the club in question that showed them in action, demonstrating “intricate, closely choreographed routines that elevated them into the realm of art.”

“The videos depicted dance routines that incorporated acrobatic pole maneuvers, splits and other patterned repetitions… The pole maneuvers in particular are no small feat to accomplish, and attempting such a performance without the skill and a planned routine of steps could prove dangerous.”

“Bennett’s decision relieves Nite Moves and its parent company of nearly $129,000 in liability for state sales taxes on cover charges and on the money dancers turned back to the club as its portion of the fees charged for private dances they performed for patrons between December 2002 and August 2005.”

Judge Bennet stated that the tax departments auditor, who had never actually seen the clubs’ dancers perform, had an “erroneous preconceived notion” that cover charges and private couch dances were subject to tax.

Wow I wonder if this can be applied to all strip clubs or if there was a particularly high level of skill from the dancers at nite moves…. Either way, cool story.

Check out the original article here.

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Goodwin Procter was founded in 1912, by Harvard classmates Robert Goodwin and Joseph Procter. And in the 1960’s specialized in legal work around Real Estate trusts. This niche allowed them to grow in strength, and credibility, eventually allowing them to expand between 01′ and 02′ establishing an office in New York as well as hiring 27 new lawyers.  At that time they also  approved a strategic plan to focus on six key areas of legal practice focusing on technology, real estate, and intellectual property.

In 2004 Goodwin Procter hit a road-bump, when 16 of their 27 lawyers in it’s Washington, D.C. office left to form Buckley Kolar which specializes in Financial services.  But they bounced right back, merging with Shea & Gardner, and restructuring their practice groups while adding 70 new lawyers. Then again in 2005 they added another 91 lawyers from the now defunct technology specialist firm Hurwitz.

Since then they have expanded even further, opening offices in San Francisco, Century City, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. This expansion has been very successful, as the numbers will relate. More than tripling their gross revenue since 2000 topping out at $611 million and doubled their profits per partner, ending up at $1.54 million.

While Goodwin Procter may be one of the biggest movers, that doesn’t mean they’re the biggest profiter. Two firms broke through the $2 billion barrier this year including Skadden, Arps and Latham & Watkins. With the top 100 firms totaling 64.5 billion, there’s a lot of money moving around. Even the lowest firms on the list profited significantly. With total profits across all firms rising 13.6 percent since the last report.

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According to the financial numbers from American Lawyer’s top 100 list, 2007 was one of the best years on record for law firms in the United States. Both the benchmarks for revenue per lawyer, and profit per partner increased substantially.

Going back to 2003, the average increase for revenue per lawyer has been $205,000. Prior to 2003, it took firms ten times as long to improve that much. This is even more evident in the profit per partner benchmark, which has jumped by $438,000 since 2003 to an average of $1.3 million.

The recent increases are largely due to a rapidly growing demand for high-end legal services and constant annual rate hikes. Also a relative lack of new equity partners being named, since 2001 has helped to inflate these numbers only increasing by 2.6 percent on average, or about five new partners.

Total revenues for 2007 hit $64.5 billion, increasing by 13.6 percent from 2006. With both Skaden, Arps, and Latham & Watkins topping $2 billion revenue. The total number of lawyers in the top 100 grew by 6.8 percent totaling 77,816 lawyers. New York maintains it’s dominance of the industry, with an average revenue per lawyer of $1.1 million, while the average for firms not in New York was around $780,000.

There is some speculation that the industry may be facing a downturn in the near future, with indicators pointing to weakness. For the first time since the recession in 2001, the growth of head count has surpassed the growth in RPL noticeably.

You can view the  list in it’s entirety on AmericanLawyer.com, we’ll be discussing it more here as well in the coming days/weeks.

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