Partner Aaron Burstein edited the Fall 2020 issue of Antitrust magazine with Janis Kestenbaum. If you’re looking to get up to speed on some of the most pressing regulatory issues surrounding personal data, this is the place to start — and the ABA is making free to access through the end of January. A roundtable... Continue Reading…

Things are about to change dramatically at the CFPB.  President-elect Joe Biden today nominated Rohit Chopra, a current commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission and long-time proponent of aggressive enforcement, to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We knew that the incoming Biden administration would entail significant change on many fronts from... Continue Reading…

The much-ballyhooed COVID relief bill passed by Congress at the end of last year, in addition to providing for $600 checks to millions of people, includes several COVID-related amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Some of these changes will have a significant direct impact, at least temporarily, on the rights of commercial landlords and tenants... Continue Reading

The New York Court of Appeals recently handed down an important opinion on out of court restructurings involving bond debt. In CNH Diversified Opportunities Master Account, L.P., v. Cleveland Unlimited, Inc., the Court of Appeals, in a 4–3 ruling, diverged from the Second Circuit’s ruling a few years ago in Marblegate Asset Mgt., LLC v... Continue Reading

Welcome to our weekly roundup of CBD and hemp-related legal and regulatory news: CBD USPS reminds carriers about mail restrictions for CBD products Products made with CBD oil have become popular, but there are restrictions when it comes to mailing them, as the USPS reminded postal workers. “The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 removed hemp... Continue Reading

The FTC announced yesterday settlements with six companies accused of making a broad range of unsubstantiated health claims, including that CBD can treat cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, and chronic pain, among others.   Nicknamed, “Operation CBDeceit,” the enforcement sweep is part of the Commission’s ongoing effort to protect consumers from false, deceptive,... Continue Reading

Welcome to our weekly roundup of CBD and hemp-related legal and regulatory news: CBD USPS reminds carriers about mail restrictions for CBD products Products made with CBD oil have become popular, but there are restrictions when it comes to mailing them, as the USPS reminded postal workers. “The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 removed hemp... Continue Reading

The FTC announced yesterday settlements with six companies accused of making a broad range of unsubstantiated health claims, including that CBD can treat cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, and chronic pain, among others.   Nicknamed, “Operation CBDeceit,” the enforcement sweep is part of the Commission’s ongoing effort to protect consumers from false, deceptive,... Continue Reading

A popular option for satisfying Proposition 65 warning requirements, the so-called “short-form” warning, is likely to be significantly curtailed in light of a January 8th proposal from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).  Originally conceived as an option for products with limited label space, the 2016 amendments that fundamentally re-wrote the Prop... Continue Reading

While many of us are grateful to see 2020 come to a close, cannabidiol (CBD) product manufacturers will face a new challenge in 2021:  compliance with California’s Proposition 65.  As of January 3, the one-year grace period to come into compliance with new Proposition 65 warning requirements for THC ends — and enforcement may begin.... Continue Reading

Last year, several major employment laws were enacted in the State of Illinois, and specifically in the City of Chicago. Employers in Illinois and/or Chicago should be reminded of these laws for 2021. Here are just a few of the highlights: The Illinois Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) was amended to cover “single-employee” employers and to... Continue Reading…

The impact of the legal definition of “employee” versus “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) and other employment laws cannot be understated. The FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements—along with a vast array of other legal obligations employers owe to employees—simply do not apply to independent contractors. Unhelpfully, various regulatory agencies and... Continue Reading…

If you missed the Trade Association Antitrust 101 webinar, you can view the recording here.  We also have a number of upcoming webinars you may also find of interest: Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21 Not Normal: the Challenges of a Changed Workplace Register Here Four months ago, the Dow was close to 30,000, employment rates were at... Continue Reading

Trade Association Antitrust 101 Please join us on July 14 for a webinar geared toward association legal counsel, executives, marketers, staff and members, participants in association activities or attendees to association meetings. Antitrust issues are a constant concern for trade associations and their members. Competition regulators will have associations and their members under even greater... Continue Reading

Effective January 14, 2021, the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced amendments to Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to implement the rescission of Sudan as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.  The U.S. Department of State removed Sudan’s designation effective December 14, 2020. The changes to the EAR remove export control licensing requirements for many exports... Continue Reading

Today, the Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) added China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. (CNOOC) to the U.S. Entity List.  Under the new rule, U.S. and non-U.S. exporters are generally prohibited from transferring items subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to CNOOC without first obtaining a U.S. export license.  As noted in... Continue Reading