International Trade

March 27, 2025
Trade Court Skewers ITC Over Secretive Redaction Policy

The U.S. Court of International Trade issued a stinging rebuke of the U.S. International Trade Commission Thursday, clarifying disclosure laws and accusing the quasi-judicial agency of being too protective of information it deems "confidential" in violation of basic transparency rules.
March 27, 2025
Chinese Fintech Investors Urge NJ Court To Keep Suit Alive

Investors in Chinese fintech company 9F Inc. urged a New Jersey federal judge to keep their securities class action alive on Thursday, arguing that their third amended complaint now includes the specific details the court previously said would make their securities fraud claims viable.
March 27, 2025
Chamber Asks Justices To Review Duke Energy Monopoly Suit

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a decision that revived a case accusing Duke Energy of squeezing a rival out of the market in North Carolina, saying the appeals court was wrong to recognize a "Frankenstein's monster" theory of harm.
March 27, 2025
Mercedes Scores USPTO Review Of PTAB Loss

The acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director wants a review of an administrative patent board ruling that rejected Mercedes-Benz's efforts to invalidate a processor patent issued over a decade ago to engineers at Intel and later assigned to a company that's asserting it against automakers and others.
March 27, 2025
Russian Oligarch-Linked Firm Owner Can't Shake SEC's Claim

A New York federal judge has declined to toss claims brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against an investment firm owner who allegedly managed a Russian oligarch's wealth in America without ever registering with the SEC as required.
March 27, 2025
German Paper Co. Can't Dodge $268M Duty Evasion Suit

A German paper producer once again failed to escape nearly $270 million in unpaid duties and interest Thursday when the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the company's various corporate mutations do not remove it from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.
March 27, 2025
Meta Gets Stiff-Armed On FuriosaAI Offer, And More Rumors

In a bold move that underscores the growing confidence and independence of artificial intelligence startups, FuriosaAI reportedly rejected an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta. Nvidia is also on the verge of acquiring Lepton AI, and Apollo is mulling a sale of Cox Media. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
March 27, 2025
UK Industry Groups Raise Alarm Over US Tariff Threat

The Labour government must secure a trade deal with the U.S. government soon to prevent new tariffs hitting the British car industry in early April, industry groups warned Thursday.
March 27, 2025
FCPA 'Purgatory' Frustrates White Collar Bar, Anxious Clients

An abrupt pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement has created tension between clients eager to resolve investigations and their attorneys, who are having trouble reaching decision-makers at the U.S. Department of Justice and are more inclined to await further guidance from the government.
March 27, 2025
Russian Pol's Wife Says Sanctions Breach Allegation 'Fantasy'

The wife of a former Russian politician said Thursday during her London trial for allegedly breaching sanctions against her husband that she did not know at the time that the U.K. and EU had separate sanctions regimes.
March 26, 2025
Trump Sets 25% Tariffs On Imported Cars And Parts

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his intention to impose a 25% tariff on cars and car parts imported into the United States, continuing a trend of sweeping, aggressive trade actions that have defined his first two months in office.
March 26, 2025
Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.
March 26, 2025
Supreme Court Skeptical Of Nixing FCC Subsidy Fund

Conservative justices took aim Wednesday at rising costs in the country's multibillion-dollar phone and broadband subsidy system, questioning whether lawmakers put meaningful limits on the program's growth, but some argued the fund works just like others created by Congress that rely on revenues from industry fees.
March 26, 2025
Judge Newman Maintains Fitness Probe Must Be Transferred

Counsel for suspended 97-year-old Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman on Wednesday told the D.C. Circuit that its decision to transfer ethics complaints against a senior district court judge, lodged by his own colleagues, supported her contention that her fellow circuit judges shouldn't investigate her fitness to remain on the bench.
March 26, 2025
Mars Risk Exec Caught With Hand In Cookie Jar, Feds Allege

A former Mars Inc. subsidiary global price risk manager pled not guilty in Connecticut federal court Wednesday to multiple criminal charges alleging that he defrauded his employer out of more than $28 million to fund his lifestyle, including a $2.3 million Greenwich home and a ranch in Argentina.
March 26, 2025
EU Import System Fails To Prevent VAT Fraud, Report Says

The European Union's simplified import customs procedures do not do enough to identify and prevent value-added tax fraud because of loopholes and inconsistencies, an EU watchdog said, also pointing out that various bloc members' oversight of such procedures was lacking.
March 26, 2025
$1.1M Contract Cut Settles Foreign Vessel Row, Board Says

After determining the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could reduce a $48 million Bahrain pier replacement contract due to a contractor tapping a foreign-flagged ship to haul materials, a military contract board agreed with the government that $1.1 million was an appropriate reduction.
March 26, 2025
13 Arrested In Connection With €100M VAT Fraud Scheme

The Italian Financial Police arrested 13 people suspected of conducting a large-scale, complex criminal operation involving the sale of plastic products that resulted in the evasion of roughly €100 million ($107.5 million) in value-added taxes, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.
March 26, 2025
Ex-GE Exec Gets 7 Years For Fraud In $1B Angola Energy Deal

A Manhattan federal judge hit a former GE Power executive with seven years in prison Wednesday, after a jury convicted him of forgery and taking a $5 million kickback while working on a $1.1 billion deal in his native Angola.
March 25, 2025
Nigeria Drops Supreme Court Challenge On $70M Award

Nigeria has agreed to abandon its effort to overturn a D.C. Circuit ruling nixing its sovereign immunity defense in litigation to enforce a $70 million arbitration award to a Chinese company that was forcibly booted from a free trade zone it had developed near the city of Lagos.
March 25, 2025
PTAB Leader Explains Denial Policy After Withdrawn Memo

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's chief judge has provided guidance to the board's other members on how to decide whether to use discretion to deny review of patents based on related litigation, after a previous memo on the issue was withdrawn last month.
March 25, 2025
Baltimore Bridge Collapse: One Year Later

Federal accident investigators' recent determination that Maryland could've done more to protect Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge from a devastating collapse may complicate the sprawling legal battle over liability and damages in the year since a cargo ship struck the bridge and crippled a major East Coast transportation hub.
March 25, 2025
Tariffs, Economic Concerns Bring Record Q1 Deals Lull

U.S. deal transaction numbers plummeted in the first quarter of 2025 to the lowest levels seen since the financial crisis, driven by volatile trade policies and rising geopolitical tensions, but a March bump provided hope for an upswing, according to a Tuesday report from Mergermarket.
March 25, 2025
ITC, Chinese Co. Urge Justices To Skip Coke Sweetener Case

A Chinese company and the U.S. International Trade Commission are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a case from the company that developed the artificial sweetener used in Coke Zero and that wants to keep patents that were filed at the patent office after the drinks went on sale.
March 25, 2025
Sterlington Adds M&A Expert With 'A-List' Accolades

When Lawrence Waks led the billion-dollar sale of Casamigos Tequila back in 2017, it was a game-changing moment that would reshape his legal career.

Expert Analysis

Kansas Bank's Suit Could Upend FDIC Enforcement Authority

Should CBW Bank's federal lawsuit in Kansas challenging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s enforcement authority gain traction with a post-Chevron U.S. Supreme Court, it could have profound implications for the FDIC and the banking industry at large, says Jack Harrington at Bradley Arant.
FCA Enforcement Would Make Trump's Tariffs More Effective

In implementing its trade policies, the Trump administration is likely to employ the False Claims Act, a powerful enforcement tool that would give tariffs and customs duties teeth, help raise promised revenue and prevent evaders from gaining a competitive advantage, says Sam Buffone at Buffone Law.
Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Mitigation Strategies

Given the breadth of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s authority under new restrictions on foreign adversary products and technologies, companies should assess their risk of falling in the agency's crosshairs and, if so, engage with BIS ahead of any enforcement action, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman Pepper Locke.
End-Of-Year FCPA Enforcement Surge Holds Clues For 2025

The last three months of 2024 saw more Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions than any quarter in the previous four years, providing lessons for companies — even as a new administration raises doubts about whether this momentum will continue, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.
What Nearshoring Growth In Americas Means For Patents

With the new U.S. administration potentially focused on implementing draconian trade restrictions, nearshoring in the Americas is expected to grow, and patent prosecution attorneys will be kept on their toes as the patent landscape from country to country continues to evolve, says Ernest Huang at Procopio.
Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Key Risk Takeaways

While there are a few limitations on the scope of a new final rule restricting certain foreign adversary products and technologies, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security retains sweeping authority to regulate an array of risk areas, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.
Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
Proactively Managing Tariff Impacts On Megaprojects

President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs may compound the complexity, duration and risks associated with financing and building large-scale infrastructure projects — so owners and contractors should plan to take possible tariff-related cost and schedule overruns into account when drafting contracts, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
US-China Deal Considerations Amid Cross-Border Uncertainty

With China seemingly set to respond to the incoming U.S. administration's call for strategic decoupling and tariffs, companies on both sides of the Pacific should explore deals and internal changes to mitigate risks and overcome hurdles to their strategic plans, say attorneys at Covington.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.