28 Jan News A word to the worldwide: is the global law firm’s US Office the new ‘discovery central’? publications / POSTED BY Morgan Lewis Suppose Ivan and Dmitri are litigating a contract dispute in a Russian court. Fred, a US resident, has a relevant email. 28 USC Section 1782(a) exposes him to discovery in aid of the Russian proceeding. A federal court may grant the application of Ivan (or Dmitri or the Russian court) to seek discovery of Fred’s email from Fred. Now suppose that instead of Fred, Biglaw LLP has the memorandum. Because Biglaw has a New York office, it may be subject to an order here for production. Read More
25 Jan News Federal trade commission increases Hart-Scott-Rodino thresholds publications / POSTED BY Morgan Lewis The Federal Trade Commission announced on January 24 that it will increase the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act jurisdictional and filing fee thresholds. Any transaction closing on or after February 23, 2022 will be subject to the revised thresholds. Read More
19 Jan News U.S. Supreme Court Gives Green Light to CMS Vaccine Mandate and Full Stop to OSHA Vaccine-or-Test Mandate, Leaving Employers to Wonder: What Now? publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris On January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two rulings on COVID-19 vaccine mandates that immediately impact employers throughout the country. Read More
27 Dec News Registering to Do Business in Pennsylvania Does Not Confer General Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporations publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris On December 22, 2021, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania handed down a landmark ruling on personal jurisdiction in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Read More
13 Dec News IRS extends temporary use of electronic or digital signatures until 2023 publications / POSTED BY Morgan Lewis The US Internal Revenue Service has extended its temporary approval of accepting electronic or digital signatures on certain IRS forms until October 31, 2023, and has expanded the list of forms that may be signed electronically or digitally to include Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for US Source Income of Foreign Persons. Read More
06 Dec News Plaintiffs Assert Minors Cannot Give Consent to Automated Calls and Messages Under the TCPA publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris The Telephone Communications Protection Act (TCPA) has long been a hotbed of consumer litigation, particularly for class actions. For many years, plaintiffs were successful in alleging that a defendant used an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to call or send messages to their cellphone without first obtaining prior express written consent. Read More
01 Dec News Beijing, Shanghai Implement Leave Changes To Family Planning Regulations publications / POSTED BY Morgan Lewis Beijing and Shanghai have extended maternity leave for eligible females by an additional 30 days and introduced the right to “parental leave,” or extra days off per year, for eligible parents of children under 3 years old. Employers with workforces in these locations will need to update their handbooks and leave policies to reflect these changes, which took immediate effect. Read More
30 Nov News U.S. Department of Labor Issues Final "Tips Dual Jobs" Rule to Codify 80-20 Rule publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris On October 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule reinstating a modified version of the “80-20” approach previously used to determine when an employer may take a tip credit for time a tipped employee spends performing nontipped duties related to the tipped occupation (i.e., only if that time did not exceed 20 percent of the employee’s workweek). Read More
24 Nov News U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Implements Trademark Modernization Act, Paving the Way to Clear the Federal Register publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris As reported earlier this year, Congress enacted an amendment to the Lanham Act as part of its December 2020 COVID-19 relief bill, known as the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA), which creates new tools for clearing unused trademarks from the federal trademark register. Following the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) recent announcement, the TMA has been implemented and will become effective as of December 18, 2021. Read More
16 Nov News Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Cybersecurity Impacts on the Energy Sector publications / POSTED BY Duanne Morris The November 15 signing of the Biden administration’s bipartisan $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act offers a prime opportunity to review the legislation, which brings a significant reinvestment in America’s energy infrastructure and an opportunity for many in the energy sector. Unsurprisingly, following the Solarwinds Orion compromise and the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, cybersecurity features centrally in the act’s provisions. Read More
