When operating a business, it is nearly impossible not to have to interact with state or other local government agencies. Decisions regarding permits, licenses, government contracts, workforce compliance, environmental...more
After several Supreme Court decisions and Executive Orders upended many of the norms governing the relationship between governmental agencies and the constitutional branches, a recent decision by the Federal Deposit Insurance...more
We have previously written about two consolidated cases (Loper Bright and Relentless), in which the Supreme Court reversed a decades-old rule known as the Chevron doctrine. Broadly, the Chevron doctrine required courts to...more
In another twist as to the future of the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) implementation and judicial intervention, on February 27, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it will not be...more
3/4/2025
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Penalties ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Small Business ,
U.S. Treasury
On February 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Smith, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, granted the Department of Justice’s request to stay the nationwide injunction that had...more
On February 10, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (E.O.) directing a shift in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The order effectively pauses new FCPA investigations and enforcement...more
2/13/2025
/ Anti-Corruption ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Trump Administration
On her first day in office, Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a memorandum signaling a significant shift in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement. The memorandum...more
2/10/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Investigations ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
1. What? Tariff Rates and Legal Authority -
President Trump signed three executive orders imposing new tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China, following through on prior campaign and post-inauguration promises. While...more
2/4/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Executive Orders ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Section 301 ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs
In its “GAO Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2024,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed the most common reasons bid protests were sustained this past year, including: (1) unreasonable...more
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, in an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed one of the two nationwide injunctions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) pending the conclusion of the Fifth Circuit appeal and any...more
Just days before the inauguration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) issued guidance to states in a report titled, “Strengthening State-Level Consumer Protections: Promoting Consumer Protection Federalism.”...more
As President Trump begins his second term, the absence of tariffs among the more than 200 executive orders signed on his first day in office was a notable deviation from expectations. However, the President announced plans to...more
1/23/2025
/ Canada ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Executive Orders ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
International Trade ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Section 301 ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Act of 1974 ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On December 26, 2024, the merits panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order vacating the earlier motions panel’s order from December 23, 2024, that had granted a stay of the nationwide...more
On December 23, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order granting the Department of Justice’s emergency motion seeking a stay of the nationwide preliminary injunction of the Corporate...more
12/27/2024
/ Appeals ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Business Entities ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
FinCEN ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Stays ,
Time Extensions
On December 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ), filed a Notice of Appeal in response to a U.S. District Court’s recently issued, nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the reporting obligations under the Corporate...more
12/12/2024
/ Appeals ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
FinCEN ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
In Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. et al. v. Merrick Garland, a U.S. District Court in Texas has issued a potentially major setback to the continued application of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which became effective on...more
12/6/2024
/ Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
First Amendment ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
President-elect Trump has indicated that he will immediately increase tariffs as to imports from multiple countries, most notably China, Mexico, and Canada. However, companies involved in international trade are closely...more
11/27/2024
/ Canada ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Mexico ,
Section 301 ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
In a significant move to bolster the space industry and strengthen international partnerships, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a series of modifications to export controls on...more
11/19/2024
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Compliance ,
Export Controls ,
Final Rules ,
Innovation ,
Interim Rule ,
International Trade ,
NASA ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules
With the goal of bolstering domestic U.S. manufacturers and supply chains, the Federal Government has announced revisions to the “Buy American” program that will pressure U.S. agencies and companies to work with domestic...more
11/13/2024
/ Buy American Act ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Manufacturers ,
NASA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Supply Chain ,
Waivers
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has published a Final Rule to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, which establishes minimum cybersecurity requirements for nearly all DOD contracts....more
10/23/2024
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Subcontractors
In Arizona, civil claims against health care professionals must be accompanied by a certified statement regarding whether “expert opinion testimony is necessary to prove the health care professional’s standard of care or...more
Economic incentive agreements are tools used by city, county, and state actors to facilitate public goals with the help of private actors. States that provide incentives to developers to promote economic growth have a...more
On July 10, 2024, the U.S. Government narrowed the tariff exclusions on imports of certain steel and aluminum articles from Mexico, citing national security concerns. These measures effectively impose new tariffs aimed at...more
8/1/2024
/ Aluminum Sales ,
China ,
Enforcement ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Trade Zones ,
Imports ,
Mexico ,
Steel Industry ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
Social media companies have long moderated the type of content that appears on a person’s home page by, for instance, deleting explicit posts or “downgrading” posts containing misinformation. Based on the belief that these...more
At the end of its most recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court took aim at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s internal enforcement mechanism, heavily curtailing the ability of the SEC to self-enforce violations of our...more