International Trade

Expert Analysis

• New 'Buy American' Rules Bear Risks For Prime Contractors

  

  A recently proposed Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule maximizing the use of American-made goods only applies to a narrow set of procurements, but for prime contractors subject to the Buy American Act, the changes may significantly disrupt supply chains, say Amy Conant Hoang and Erica Bakies at K&L Gates.

• DOJ Support Of SEP Injunctions Should Stabilize Licensing

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's recent letter to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which explicitly supports standard-essential patent owners in their pursuit of injunctive relief and favors a diminished role for antitrust enforcement in intellectual property disputes, bodes well for rebalancing the licensing market, say attorneys at Mintz.

• A Road Map For Drafting Persuasive Discovery Motions

  

  Best practices that can help litigators write convincing discovery motions include thinking about the audience, addressing a few key questions, and leaving out boilerplate from supporting briefs, says Tom Connally at Hogan Lovells.

• How Congress Can Depoliticize The Supreme Court

  

  Congress has multiple means to take the politics out of federal judicial nominations and restore the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court — three of which can be implemented without a constitutional amendment, says Franklin Amanat at DiCello Levitt.

• Opinion

  The Case For A Nonpolitical Federal Judiciary

  

  For the last 20 years, at the insistence of both parties, U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been fierce ideological battles — which is bad for the country and bad for the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court, say Judge Eric Moyé, Judge Craig Smith and Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer.

• A Close Look At CFIUS' New Critical Tech Reporting Rule

  

  A recently finalized rule from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, aligning transaction reporting requirements with export control regulations for critical technology, brings several new considerations for buyers and sellers, says Zlatko Hadzismajlovic at McCarter & English.

• Trump's Drug Pricing Order Is More Bark Than Bite

  

  President Donald Trump's new executive order addressing pricing for drugs covered by Medicare Parts B and D glosses over enormous difficulties in restructuring Medicare operations and is unlikely to lead to any imminent changes, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• The Keys To A Better Privilege Logging Paradigm

  

  Current privilege logging practices to identify what information is being withheld from discovery often lead to costly disputes, so practitioners should adopt a system based on trust and good faith, similar to the presumptions embedded in the business judgment rule for corporate directors and officers, say Kevin Brady at Volkswagen and Charles Ragan and Ted Hiser at Redgrave.

• White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement

  

  A little-noticed memo recently issued by the Trump administration in response to the pandemic, directing federal agencies to provide greater due process to individuals and companies under regulatory investigation, represents a long-overdue sea change in the way justice is carried out in enforcement proceedings, say Joan Meyer and Norman Bloch at Thompson Hine.

• What Shifting FCPA Enforcement Means For Financial Cos.

  

  In this brief video, Tom Firestone and Daniela Fonseca Puggina at Baker McKenzie analyze how Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement is placing greater emphasis on bribe recipients, and what this trend means for financial institutions and their know-your-customer policies and practices.

• Law Firm Hiring Considerations In A COVID-19 Economy

  

  Financially robust law firms are entering the recruiting market aggressively knowing that dislocations like the COVID-19 crisis present rare competitive opportunities, and firms that remain on the sidelines when it comes to strategic hiring will be especially vulnerable to having their best talent poached, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

• Fashion Industry Adaptations Amid Trade War, Pandemic

  

  The trade war with China and the global pandemic have created a Darwinian moment for the fashion industry, in which brands that diversify their supply chains, carefully monitor classification of their imported goods, and update their contracts are most likely to survive, say Danielle Garno and Heather Marx at Cozen O’Connor.

• Self-Disclosure Trends In FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy

  

  A review of 41 actions undertaken since the U.S. Department Justice's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act corporate enforcement policy was introduced four years ago reveals that the DOJ and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission consistently reward timely self-disclosure and full cooperation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Act To Preserve Democracy This Election

  

  COVID-19 concerns and glaring gaps in registration threaten to dampen voter turnout in the 2020 election, so attorneys should take on the problem by leveraging their knowledge and resources in seven ways, says Laura Brill at Kendall Brill.

• Bill Curtailing NPE Suits At ITC Could Restructure Licensing

  

  Though unlikely to pass, the pending Advancing America's Interests Act, which would counter nonpracticing entities' abuse of process at the U.S. International Trade Commission, could potentially reshape future patent licensing negotiations and render exclusion orders more in line with district courts injunctions, say Matt Rizzolo and Brendan McLaughlin at Ropes & Gray.