Client Alerts

In a highly anticipated 7-2 decision last week, the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declaring the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) unconstitutional. The Court also remanded the matter to the Fifth Circuit with instructions to dismiss the case. California et al. v. Texas et al. The Court chose to punt on procedural grounds.

It is not an easy time to be an automotive parts supplier. One asks a supplier, “How’s it going?” with trepidation. The optimistic supplier is likely to answer, “So far I haven’t shut down my customer.” The less optimistic responses are best not put in writing.

In Van Buren v. United States, a recently released 6-3 decision, authored by our newest Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court resolved a long-brewing circuit split in the interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

Across the United States, cities and states are starting to reopen. 

More and more contracts today contain what we call a “shifting attorney fee” provision meaning that the winning party is entitled to collect its out-of-pocket attorney fees and costs as additional damages if the contract is breached. 

Ford’s new purchasing terms (effective 7/1/21) have a long and dense provision addressing antitrust violations.

May 11, 2021 marked the five-year anniversary of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), which is the first federal trade secret statute with a civil cause of action enacted into law.

President Biden executed the much-anticipated Executive Order on cybersecurity yesterday, highlighting the growing prevalence of cyber attacks and increasing concerns about the impacts these attacks have had on the public and private sectors and Americans’ security and privacy. 

The AFL-CIO has filed the first labor rights petition under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) claiming that Mexican company Tridonex, located in the border town of Matamoros has blocked free union elections guaranteed under the USMCA labor provisions.

Over the past year, over 1,300 lawsuits have been filed by insurance carriers and policyholders over the question of whether property policies cover losses incurred by businesses that suffered business interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday May 5th, the Department of Labor (DOL) officially revoked a Trump-era rule that had it gone into effect would have created a new independent contractor test.

On Friday April 30, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry to the U.S. in response to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the Republic of India.

LG Chem and SK Innovation (“SK”) are world-leading designers and providers of battery technology used in the highly competitive automobile marketplace. 

On April 27, 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced that the REAL ID full-enforcement deadline that was initially scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2021 has been extended to May 3, 2023

The Small Business Administration has announced that applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (the “Fund”) will open Monday May 3.

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has released a Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) for its Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP).

Surveys indicate that people often trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 

For many years, group health plans have been subject to strict privacy and security requirements, but up to now, privacy and security for retirement plans has been left to the vagaries of the plan service providers and their auditing systems.

Ford Motor Company issued new Terms of Purchase, that become effective on July 1, 2021 for all Purchase Orders issued on or after that date.  This is the first extensive change in Ford’s Terms since 2004.  Butzel Long has prepared an analysis of the changes in the new Terms, which is linked at the end of this Alert.

Metal-finishers typically plate or coat a customer’s metal parts with a finish, (e.g., nickel) for a per unit fee.