On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L. 117-58), which includes the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) requiring infrastructure projects receiving IIJA funding and other federal financial assistance to utilize certain domestically produced materials, including iron or steel products, manufactured products, and construction materials. On … Continue Reading
This is a Cross-Post from the Capital Thinking Blog. The Biden Administration made its first step in outlining President Biden’s China trade policy including a new tariff exclusion process that will effect some. We discuss the two notable takeaways from a US business perspective. Read the full article here.… Continue Reading
On 23 March, the UK government announced the closure of a range of business and other premises, largely those whose business involved interaction with the general public. The Guidance issued by government explaining the effect of the decision included a detailed list of businesses which had to close, but also included the sentence – since … Continue Reading
What has changed? Up to now, European Governments have followed an approach to tackling Coronavirus based on three main elements: closing down the main public interactions (retail, hospitality, sports) except those necessary for food and healthcare; encouraging/requiring people to work remotely where they can, and to stay away from work if not essential; and social … Continue Reading
On July 3, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower district court decision and held that Amazon can be liable as a “seller” for defective products sold by third parties on its online marketplace. This holding, if applied broadly, exposes companies that maintain third-party vendor platforms to strict liability lawsuits for defective products … Continue Reading
As the past few years have made very clear, political issues have the potential to impact supply chains. Squire Patton Boggs’ Public Policy Practice has created a 30-day outlook for the upcoming US Midterm Elections. The overview—which includes updated polling, party funding comparisons, and a discussion of races that are considered “toss ups”—is now live … Continue Reading
The following is a guest post from Oliver H. Geiss, a partner in our Brussels and Frankfurt offices, and Tatiana Siakka, an associate in our London and Brussels offices. Oliver focuses his practice on competition law in the European Union and Germany, and Tatiana is a competition law specialist with wide-ranging experience in both contentious and non-contentious matters. … Continue Reading
We are pleased to announce the launch of our EU Conflict Minerals Regulation Flowchart, which promises to be a valuable tool for those charged with compliance with the EU conflict minerals regulation. Read more about how to use this exciting new resource on our Conflict Minerals Law Blog.… Continue Reading
Picture yourself starting a new relationship with a new contact and future distributor in South America. You checked references, as far as that goes, but there are not many companies with experience with your products in the region. Do you take the plunge and hope for the best relying on your arbitration provision or choice … Continue Reading
On February 1, 2018, the Department of Defense formally disestablished the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics and will begin a four-month effort to reorganize its acquisition directorate, as required under recent reform legislation. Our colleagues from the Defense Public Policy practice, Jack Deschauer and Pablo Carrillo, discuss the key nominations and what is necessary … Continue Reading
A written federal Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct and company business ethics awareness and compliance program makes more business sense now than it ever has. It is no secret that workplace non-consensual sexual misconduct was a hot topic this year. In many circumstances, the alleged misconduct happened in the workplace calling into question … Continue Reading
Putting supply chain sustainability at the forefront is not only ethically sound, it is essential for an organisation’s value and long-term profitability. Supply chain sustainability is the increasing practice of monitoring and guiding suppliers to ensure the business’ sustainability values are honored. In an era where information on businesses’ ethical practices are readily available, customers are holding companies … Continue Reading
Following up on our previous post regarding the SEC Conflict Minerals rule, the Conflict Minerals Law Blog discusses the upcoming Form SD filing deadline and the consequences of the April 7, 2017 Statement. Click below to read more: Conflict Minerals Rule — Will It Stay or Will It Go?… Continue Reading
Rosemary Coates and Sarah Rathke (authors of Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes) posted an article on International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM) about Industry 4.0 and its impact on supply chain contracts. The exchange of information and integration of machines is creating sophisticated needs, not to mention leaving an … Continue Reading
Now that the matter has been remanded to the Commission, Acting Chairman Piwowar and the SEC Division of Corporation Finance have both issued public statements on the D.C. Court of Appeals decision reaffirming its prior holding that the Conflict Minerals rule “violate[s] the First Amendment to the extent the statute and rule require regulated entities to … Continue Reading
The European Council has approved the conflict minerals regulation, marking the final procedural step before publication. Read the latest update and what to expect next on our Conflict Minerals Law Blog. Final EU Conflict Minerals Regulation – Only the Publication Step Remains… Continue Reading
We’ve published another update on conflict minerals rules, this time regarding the EU regulation. Click below to read about the proposed EU conflict minerals regulation, some similarities it has with the US rule, and importantly what EU importers need to know to comply with its requirements. European Conflict Minerals Regulation — Details On What EU … Continue Reading
Below is a link to our Conflict Minerals Law Blog featuring a post about the legal challenge to the SEC conflict mineral rule and what to expect next. Conflict Minerals Rule Legal Challenge — Done and Done… Continue Reading
Squire Patton Bogg’s public policy team produced an analysis of President Trump’s first appearance before a joint session of Congress. Addressing Congress on his 40th day in office, the President set forth his policy goals for what he expects to accomplish in the next 40 days and beyond. In their analysis, our public policy colleagues discuss four … Continue Reading
On November 28, 2016, the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit launched “Food Crime Confidential”, a reporting facility targeted at those working in or around the UK food industry, where anyone with suspicions about food crime can confidentially report them over the phone or through email. Rob Elvin, Partner in our Manchester office, and Nicola Smith, Senior … Continue Reading
The UK government has announced £8.5 million of funding to help tackle modern slavery, which will provide over 50 extra analysts, specialists and investigators to assist police in investigations to improve intelligence. This followed the first annual report of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner earlier this month which highlighted that failures by police to record slavery as … Continue Reading
This week, we wanted to give a shout out to our friends at Spend Matters, who were kind enough to review Legal Blacksmith last week. Spend Matters has published a short paper entitled, “The Intersection of Contract ‘Invisibility’ and Risk Management: Be Afraid (Be Very Afraid).” This article reviews the potential costs associated with supply … Continue Reading
We are honored to have yet another great review of Rosemary Coates and Sarah Rathke’s book, Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes. This review is by Peter Smith of Spend Matters, a global content community which publishes research and updates related to the procurement and supply chain sector. Peter’s book review highlights the new … Continue Reading
On June 8, 2016, Rosemary Coates and I (authors of Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes) had a chance to catch up with Kelly Barner, editor of Buyers Meet Point, for an interview. We talked about classic supply chain bloopers, little known legal aspects of supply chain relationships that procurement professionals … Continue Reading
