Alerts

On May 20-22, 2019, at the annual meeting of the American Law Institute in Washington, DC, members will vote to adopt the first Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration.

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are commonly used in situations where entities desire to share proprietary information and trade secrets with others – such as potential or actual venture partners, employees, or contractors. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is showing no signs of backing off its aggressive enforcement of online negative option offers after filing a federal lawsuit against eight commonly-controlled companies that sell skin care products.

Yesterday, May 8, 2019, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) authorizing broad new sanctions with respect to the steel, aluminum, iron, and copper sectors of Iran.

Headlines that matter for privacy and data security.

Earlier today, the United States Senate voted to confirm three nominees for positions on the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Integrating green remediation and sustainable practices can accelerate site cleanups, reduce costs, lower emissions of greenhouse gases, and contribute to meeting state and local renewable energy standards.

On Sunday, May 5, President Donald Trump announced that the Section 301 tariffs on List 3 products will increase from 10 percent to 25 percent on Friday, May 10, and to expect a fourth list of $325 billion in Chinese imports to be taxed at 25 percent.

In an opinion letter issued earlier this week, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) advanced a business-friendly standard to determine whether a worker is an FLSA-covered employee or an independent contractor. 

The US Supreme Court continues to maintain an ambiguous relationship to arbitration.

Fashion accessory and luxury goods importers of fine jewelry and costume jewelry containing gemstones and/or precious metals (e.g., gold), should be aware of a current proposal being considered by State Department officials.

On 12 April, Djibouti became the 163rd country to sign the ICSID Convention. Its membership will be complete once it has ratified the Convention. To date the Convention has been ratified by 153 States.

Parties engaged in multidistrict litigation (MDL) face a crucial decision: which case or cases should be tried first? For both plaintiffs and defendants, bellwethers — the first trial or trials from the similar cases making up the MDL — can determine how the rest of the cases proceed.

The New York Convention has been interpreted as favoring the availability of provisional remedies to aid in effectuating a future arbitral award.

Yesterday, in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the United States Supreme Court held that ambiguous arbitration agreements do not provide the affirmative contractual basis required to send a dispute to classwide arbitration.

The US Supreme Court ruled in Lamps Plus, Inc., et. al. v. Varela, No 17-988 (April 24, 2019), that class-wide arbitration is not available to parties when the underlying arbitration agreement between them is ambiguous as to whether it was contemplated.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission recently released a report on Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings.

Companies have been on high alert since hearing about a potential shut down of the US-Mexican border, which we reported on in our prior alert. We provide the most up to date information on the situation on the border below:

Earlier this month, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued a no-action letter saying that ExxonMobil could exclude a shareholder proposal that called for the disclosure of specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets – specifically, targets that correspond with goals outlined in the Par

After years and years of waiting, it popped out of the hat like a Bunny just in time for Easter. The new 22 CFR 126.4 ITAR license exemption for transfers of defense articles and defense services by or for the US Government (USG) went into effect on April 19, 2019.

On April 17, 2019, the newly created Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (the Department) released the notices required to be provided by employers and covered business entities to their current workforce. The notices must be provided no later than May 31, 2019.

On April 18, 2019, FinCEN announced its first penalty against an individual for operating as a peer-to-peer exchanger for converting virtual currency.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it has settled charges against a company called UrthBox, Inc., that allegedly promoted misleading consumer reviews and that failed to disclose key terms of its  “free trial” offers.

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced the launch of the Technology Task Force, which has been designed to monitor, investigate, and take enforcement actions against anti-competitive conduct and industry practices in US technology markets.

It’s been 10 months since the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) was signed into law, and the retail sector is grappling with ways to comply. The law goes into effect January 1, 2020, but the time to prepare is now.