The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced revised jurisdictional and filing fee thresholds for the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.

This article was originally published by the American Health Law Association as one of the 10 biggest issues in health care law this year.

A New York City jury just returned a verdict in favor of Hermès in a historic dispute between the luxury fashion house and digital artist Mason Rothschild over Hermès’ alleged trademark rights relating to Hermès’ famous Birkin handbag.

In a long-awaited development, on February 2, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court held that all claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) are subject to a five-year statute of limitations. 

Similar to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law requires an employer to pay overtime based on an employee’s “regular rate of pay.” That rate may not be just an employee’s hourly wage, or straight time, rate.

The past few years have seen “ESG” — referring to environmental, social, and governance factors that influence decision making — move from being a fringe shareholder proxy issue to a front-of-mind C-suite issue. 

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law on Aug. 16, 2022, created a new 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of the stock of publicly traded corporations.

With the US Copyright Office (USCO) continuing their stance that protection only extends to human authorship, what will this mean for artificial intelligence (AI)-generated works — and artists — in the future?

On January 18, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Memorandum to all state survey agency directors addressing erroneous schizophrenia coding and increased transparency of Nursing Home Care Compare. 

Investors, lenders, developers, governments, non-profits, and other real estate market participants are increasingly considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related factors, such as climate change, sustainable energy, and energy efficiency in making decisions.

It’s that time of year again when employers have to decide who they are sponsoring for an H-1B visa.

With the start of the new year, the ArentFox Schiff Media & Entertainment Industry team reviews 10 of the most pressing legal issues for companies in 2023.

Real Estate Practice Image

In July 2022, we wrote an alert describing the impact of rising interest rates on the real estate market. There were initial and embryonic signs of a slowdown. Now, we have collected data and surveyed clients and members of our Real Estate group to assess the impact of rising interest rates.

On Friday, January 27, 2023, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a new law, Public Act 102-1123, which refines county governments’ ability to regulate new commercial wind and solar energy facilities. Specifically, PA 102-1123 prohibits counties from banning or establishing moratoriums on wind.

On January 23, 2023 the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau released a Declaratory Ruling addressing a request for clarification submitted by US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

While many attorneys aspire to be a General Counsel, the path to becoming a company’s chief legal officer can be even more convoluted than becoming a partner at a law firm.

Issues of attorney-client privilege have captured headlines in recent months, from the oral arguments in In re: Grand Jury before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month, to former President Donald Trump’s claims last fall.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

The principal legislative focus for the agriculture sector in 2023 will be the new Farm Bill, which sets the policies for most of the country’s agriculture programs, authorizing mandatory and discretionary spending for assistance related to food and farms.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the “photo-op” of the president test driving Ford’s new electric F-150 in May of 2021 was the burning image that foretold the US policy direction for the electric mobility industry.

Since 2018, the Section 301 “China” tariffs of between 7.5% and 25% have been levied against critical components of the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain sourced from China.

Electric Mobility

In 2022, rare bipartisan cooperation succeeded in passing much of what Washington had in mind for the electric mobility industry, including billions of dollars in new spending now enshrined in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Application of US trade laws rely on the proper classification of the imported product. It triggers tariff preference benefits when properly applied, and enforcement scrutiny when not.