Search

In response to Russia invasion of Ukraine, the United States and dozens of its allies and partners around the globe have imposed what the White House has called, "the most impactful, coordinated, and wide-ranging economic restrictions in history." This article (1) provides an overview of OFAC sanctions jurisdiction and circumvention prohibitions, (2) summarizes recent Russia sanctions, (3) provides a synopsis re sanctions evasion through cryptocurrency, (4) highlights existing US regulatory guidance regarding sanctions evasion through cryptocurrencies, and (5) recommends measures that persons and companies may wish to consider to mitigate the risk of sanctions violations.

The US Supreme Court has long been skeptical of novel proposals by federal agencies to address issues of vast economic and political significance. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court made clear that its past cases reviewing novel applications and interpretations of agency powers do constitute an identifiable “doctrine” for application by courts going forward. When an administrative agency makes a “major policy decision,” it must have “clear congressional authorization” to do so. This case may represent one of the Supreme Court’s most significant administrative law decisions since Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council in 1984.

On June 13, 2022, the US Supreme Court resolved a long-standing circuit split holding that broad U.S.-style discovery under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is not available in private foreign arbitrations. In the past decade, litigants in international arbitrations had been trying to use section 1782 more frequently to obtain comprehensive discovery that would otherwise typically be unavailable in arbitration abroad. While the Supreme Court has ostensibly put an end to that practice, the possibility of further litigation over section 1782 remains, as parties are likely to test the boundaries of the Supreme Court’s decision.

On May 26, 2022, the US Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule, finalizing changes to License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE) and making related changes to other sections of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These changes include narrowing of exceptions for end use restrictions applicable to certain government end users in Cyprus, Israel, and Taiwan under License Exception ACE and addition of new end use restrictions for License Exception ENC (Encryption Commodities, Software, and Technology).

The New Labour Law (33/2021) and its implementing Regulations (together the “New Laws”) were introduced in February 2022. They apply to all private sector employers in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) with the exception of employers within the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) financial centre free zones. The New Laws represent the biggest change in the employment law landscape in the UAE for 40 years and while there will be continue to be a period of time over which the Courts will test and probe the New Laws, HR practitioners, business owners and legal counsel with responsibility for people related matters in the UAE need to be familiar with the changes and, critically, ensure compliance.

On July 15, 2022, China’s antitrust authority SAMR announced a three-year pilot program beginning August 1, 2022 to delegate the review of certain simplified-procedure merger filings that the agency currently handles on its own, to five of its local branches (“AMRs”) in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Chongqing, and Shaanxi. Each of the five local AMRs will be responsible for a specific geographic area (“Territory”) within China. This article discusses this first step to implement China’s “categorized and classified” merger control review regime under the new Anti-Monopoly Law.

In July 2022, the sponsors of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) approved wide-ranging amendments to the UCC (“2022 UCC Amendments”) to provide workable rules for emerging technologies, such as distributed ledger technology and virtual currency. If adopted by individual state legislatures, these amendments should provide greater certainty regarding the rules governing security interests, competing claims, custodial risks, and other issues associated with digital assets. This article provides a high level summary of selected aspects of the 2022 UCC Amendments that may be of particular interest to financial market participants.

Under the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) new guidance on discretionary denial of institution of inter partes and post-grant (IPR and PGR, respectively) proceedings, a pending International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation is no longer a basis for the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) to exercise its discretion to deny institution. This is a material change from past PTAB practice, which had previously denied institution of such post-grant proceedings due to an ongoing parallel ITC proceeding. This article discusses three considerations for ITC litigants given the USPTO’s new guidance.

This is a sample mergers & acquisitions (M&A) due diligence checklist – data protection

This interactive session will explore the intersection of global corporate citizenship and engagement within a legal department, paying particular attention to how global pro bono can be used as a tool to stimulate and engage experienced and knowledgeable legal staff.

This is a sample information governance communications plan.

Pro Bono, as we know, refers to work undertaken voluntarily and without
payment, as a public service. As in-house lawyers, we are ideally suited to leverage our skills to provide services to those who are unable to afford them; to have a direct impact on those in need.

Among lawyers in Argentina, it is especially common to use the term “doctor” to refer to other colleagues. It is also common for clients to address their lawyers as doctor. Read this article to learn more about in-house life in Argentina.

This is a sample contract review and approval policy.

This is a sample internet use and social networking policy.

The session will operate at two simultaneous levels. First, the tables (companies) in the room will comprise a market and will need to make strategic choices to deal with market-wide developments. Second, because each person at the table will represent a different member of the management team, participants will need to work together to make good decisions.

This presentation is on the Paint and Coatings Industry experience.

This article is a big data in employment case study for discussion.

A graphic to promote the value of and generate interest in a department’s Knowledge Management program.

This resource provides in-depth analysis regarding the US Department of Labor final rule regarding ERISA fiduciary investment advice, including amended exemptions for conflicted investment advice.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released version 1.0 of its Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework. The framework identifies 6 factors for mitigating risk and evaluating the trustworthiness of an artificial intelligence (AI) system.

Discusses the steps to take in order to have time, energy, an ethical lifestyle that has a place for both our work responsibilities and our duties to our communities and families, flexibility, and the ability to enjoy our lives. Includes what law departments can do and programs for overcoming obstacles to work-life balance.

In this article, the authors propose an operational definition of character, outline a set of plain-language dimensions of character that they believe to be relevant to organizational leadership, present results from a survey relating these dimensions to leader performance and outcomes, and describe the practical implications for leader character development in organizations.

This material contains information on how to conduct a gap analysis and design a compliance program that fits your organization’s needs. Learn about successful program-building strategies and how to avoid compliance program pitfalls. Also, learn how to measure the effectiveness of your program and conduct a compliance audit.

This is the outline for the session, Allocating Risk for Your Company: Playing the Feud.

In-house lawyers now often find themselves in the role of corporate risk managers. Read this article to learn the requirement for performing risk analysis in today's corporations, how to perform risk analysis and how to perform legal review of another's risk analysis.

Explains the legal and regulatory developments that compel your company's (and the legal department's) active involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues, and offers suggestions on how to develop a business case for CSR leadership.

As more and more companies expand their multinational presence, issues concerning how to effectively manage the workforce also expand. This article offers step-by-step instructions on how to proactively address this problem, as well as how multi-jurisdictional employers should audit employment practices, and who should be doing the auditing.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in India and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.