On August 29, 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (“DPU”) issued a highly anticipated order approving the Electric Sector Modernization Plans (“ESMPs”) filed by the three Massachusetts electric distribution…
more
/ Administrative Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law
On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled in Patel v. 7-Eleven that 7-Eleven franchisees are not employees of the franchisor under the independent contractor statute. The SJC looked beyond the…
more
/ Business Organizations, Civil Remedies, Franchise Law, Labor & Employment Law
Last month, after a meeting with the G20 financing ministers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that US$3 trillion of additive capital investment will be necessary each year (above and beyond business as usual) to…
more
/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Finance & Banking
The Governor of New Jersey signed into law Senate Bill No. 3235 (the “Intoxicating Hemp Law”), designed to regulate the production and sale of certain intoxicating hemp products. At a high level, this law would limit the…
more
/ Administrative Law, Agriculture, Commercial Law & Contracts, Consumer Protection
License hunters may have whiplash with state application processes in Kentucky, Minnesota, and Ohio (10(b) licenses) barely in the rearview mirror, but Delaware’s new license application deadline is fast approaching…
more
/ Administrative Law, Agriculture, Business Organizations, Commercial Law & Contracts
On August 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rule requiring certain investment advisers to implement anti-money laundering (“AML”) compliance…
more
/ Finance & Banking, Securities Law
In June 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS announced that U.S. consumers have saved more than $1 billion in upfront costs on their purchase of more than 150,000 clean vehicles since January 1, 2024, thanks to…
more
/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Transportation
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (“DEA”) classification of certain hemp-derived cannabinoids as unlawful was not entitled to deference, given that the language of…
more
/ Administrative Law, Agriculture, Commercial Law & Contracts, Science, Computers, & Technology
Private fund managers are reminded that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) may trigger reporting obligations to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for private fund managers and the private…
more
/ Business Organizations, Finance & Banking, Securities Law
For most of this century, I’ve been asked with some regularity whether Superfund was dead. I’ve always considered that question to be a victory of hope over expectation. Notwithstanding frequent criticism, frequently deserved,…
more
/ Environmental Law, Toxic Torts
The two most common exemptions from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”) utilized by private funds are under Section 3(c)(7) and Section 3(c)(1). Funds that do not qualify for an exemption under the…
more
/ Business Organizations, Finance & Banking, Securities Law
The New York Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) has promulgated interim guidance identifying how it will address changes of ownership and other license amendments.
While many have criticized the OCM for delays in…
more
/ Administrative Law, Business Organizations, Commercial Law & Contracts, Mergers & Acquisitions
On August 27, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled an ALJ hearing to consider briefs, evidence and witnesses from “interested parties” in connection with the DEA’s proposed rulemaking to reschedule…
more
/ Administrative Law, Commercial Law & Contracts, Health
Energy permitting reform is one of the hottest topics in Congress and state houses nationwide. Federal legislation is building momentum, while parallel efforts at streamlining energy approvals have also emerged at the state…
more
/ Administrative Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
On July 23, 2024, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) published its Annual Report to Congress for the Calendar Year 2023. The report provides key statistics on the CFIUS process and the transactions…
more
/ Administrative Law, International Law & Trade, Mergers & Acquisitions, Science, Computers, & Technology
