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International Trade
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July 29, 2024
Ex-Vitol Oil Trader Can't Unwind Conviction After Bribery Trial
A New York federal judge refused Friday to acquit former Vitol Oil Group trader Javier Aguilar or grant him a new trial following his February conviction on charges that he bribed Ecuadorian and Mexican officials to win $500 million in business deals for the global energy and commodities company.
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July 29, 2024
MoneyGram Opposes CFPB, NY's 'Futile' Bid To Bolster Case
MoneyGram told a New York federal judge that the state and federal regulators' bid to update their complaint against the remittance service is a "bad faith attempt" to "salvage" a case that should either be transferred to MoneyGram's home district of Texas or tossed entirely.
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July 29, 2024
Nixon Peabody Hires Morgan Lewis IP Atty
Nixon Peabody LLP has hired a Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP associate whose practice focuses on the gamut of intellectual property matters, like representing clients on patent, trademark, and trade secret disputes, the firm announced Monday.
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July 29, 2024
White Collar Update: 4 Developments To Watch
White-collar lawyers are on the lookout for U.S. Department of Justice actions targeting artificial intelligence "snake oil," aggressive pandemic-relief fraud prosecutions, and carrots for corporations and whistleblowers who expose misconduct. Here's a look at some key developments to watch in the second half of 2024.
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July 26, 2024
DOJ Whistleblower Pilot On Deck As Cos. Boost Compliance
Corporations are making their compliance programs more proactive amid an ongoing push from the Biden administration for firms to come forward with information as the U.S. Department of Justice prepares to roll out a pilot program to reward whistleblowers who alert prosecutors to significant corporate misconduct.
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July 26, 2024
State Street Inks $7.5M Deal Over Russia Sanctions Violations
Financial services giant State Street has agreed to pay nearly $7.5 million to resolve apparent violations by its investment management solution subsidiary Charles River Systems Inc. of Obama-era sanctions targeting Russian actions against Ukraine, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Friday.
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July 26, 2024
DC Circ. Axes Agriculture Department's $1M Fine On Amazon
E-commerce giant Amazon doesn't owe $1 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the D.C. Circuit on Friday undid an order concluding Amazon facilitated unlawful plant and animal product importation, finding that the online retailer didn't knowingly assist the purported infractions.
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July 26, 2024
RTX Earmarks $1.2B For Anticipated Deals With DOJ, SEC
RTX Corp., formerly known as Raytheon, said it has set aside more than $1.2 billion for anticipated deferred prosecution agreements and other deals with U.S. regulators stemming from investigations that include allegations of improper payments tied to contracts in the Middle East.
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July 26, 2024
Hemp Exporter's Lost-Product Claims Fail At 4th Circ.
A hemp exporter lost a bid for payment for lost products at the Fourth Circuit on Friday when the court ruled that the Montreal Convention precludes claims that a transportation company was liable for the destruction of more than a ton of product by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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July 26, 2024
WTO E-Commerce Deal Launches Without US Support
World Trade Organization members announced a historic agreement on digital trade on Friday, but the U.S. said the deal "falls short" of its expectations.
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July 26, 2024
EU Calls For Dispute Talks Over Taiwan's Wind Farm Policy
The European Union challenged Taiwan's domestic sourcing requirements for offshore wind energy projects in the World Trade Organization, saying Friday that Taiwan was violating its duty not to discriminate against imported goods.
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July 25, 2024
US Calls For Labor Scrutiny At Mexican Components Plant
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new request Thursday calling on Mexican authorities to investigate claims that workers at a components manufacturing plant were fired for protected activities and blocked from joining outside unions.
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July 25, 2024
Lawmakers Take Stab At Energy Permitting As Election Looms
U.S. Senate energy committee leaders have proposed legislation that would significantly overhaul energy project infrastructure permitting, but it faces a sharply divided Congress made even more daunting by a presidential election this fall. With an initial markup scheduled for Wednesday, here are some key takeaways.
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July 25, 2024
Trade Commission Affirms Pea Protein Import Harms
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Thursday to find that pea protein imports from China have harmed the domestic industry, clearing the U.S. Department of Commerce to levy antidumping and countervailing duties on the goods.
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July 25, 2024
Solar Tech Co. Investor Drops Securities Action
An Enphase Energy Inc. shareholder told a California federal judge he's voluntarily dismissing a proposed class action alleging the energy technology company and its executives had failed to disclose slow growth trends.
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July 25, 2024
Full Fed. Circ. Refuses To Review Scope Of Oil Pipe Duties
The full Federal Circuit refused to disturb a panel decision blessing the U.S. Department of Commerce's expansion of a decades-old antidumping duty order on Thai pipes.
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July 25, 2024
DP World Wins OK Of $194M Award Against Djibouti
A D.C. federal judge entered a $194.3 million judgment against the Republic of Djibouti, enforcing an arbitration award secured by a Dubai-based port terminal operator in a long-running legal battle over an international container terminal in the East African country.
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July 24, 2024
Canadian Woman Gets 2 Years For Russian Export Scheme
A New York federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Canadian woman to two years in prison for laundering funds in connection to the export of sensitive technology to Russia in violation of U.S. sanctions, and she accused the defendant of lying about her culpability during her sentencing hearing.
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July 24, 2024
Int'l Firm Garrigues Merges With Full-Service Mexican Firm
International legal and tax services firm Garrigues will create one of the largest law firms in Mexico by integrating a full-service Mexican firm into the group by the end of 2024, both firms announced.
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July 24, 2024
Tire Biz Can't Delay Duties Under Relief Order For Other Cos.
An importer that hadn't participated in a lawsuit challenging duties on Chinese tires can't benefit from a court order temporarily suspending duty collection while the case was underway, the U.S. Court of International Trade said.
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July 24, 2024
Digital Info Not Covered By Smuggling Law, Ky. Court Holds
A Kentucky federal judge has ruled that digital information isn't covered by the federal smuggling statute and dismissed a charge against a magnetics manufacturer and two executives accused of emailing magnet schematics to Chinese companies.
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July 24, 2024
CFIUS Reviews Slumped In 2023, Penalties Increased
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States experienced a significant drop in the number of cases it reviewed in 2023, but levied a record number of penalties last year, according to an annual report to Congress.
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July 24, 2024
Nixon Peabody Adds Veteran GC With IP, Korean Biz Focus
The longtime general counsel of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency's Los Angeles office has joined Nixon Peabody LLP, continuing the firm's recent growth of its intellectual property team on the West Coast.
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July 24, 2024
Newman Facing 2nd Suspension For 'Continuing Misconduct'
A panel of Federal Circuit judges on Wednesday recommended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman remain suspended for another year based on her ongoing refusal to cooperate with an investigation into her health, or even acknowledge the court's concerns.
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July 24, 2024
Cuban Bank Denies Transferring €72M Debt To Offshore Fund
Cuba's former central bank told an English appeals court Wednesday that an offshore fund cannot sue it over €72 million ($78.2 million) of unpaid sovereign debt, because it did not consent to the assignment of the debt to the fund.
Expert Analysis
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Corporate Insurance Considerations For Trafficking Claims
With the surge in litigation over liability under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, corporate risk managers and in-house counsel need to ensure that appropriate insurance coverage is in place to provide for defense and indemnity against this liability, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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5 Lessons From Ex-Vitol Trader's FCPA Conviction
The recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering conviction of former Vitol oil trader Javier Aguilar in a New York federal court provides defense takeaways on issues ranging from the definition of “domestic concern” to jury instruction strategy, says attorney Andrew Feldman.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: The Benefits Of Non-EU Venues
In Spain v. Triodos, a Swedish appeal court recently annulled an intra-EU investment treaty award, reinforcing a growing trend in the bloc against enforcing such awards, and highlighting the advantages of initiating enforcement proceedings in common law jurisdictions, such as the U.K., says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.
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AI And Trade Controls: A Guide To Expanding Restrictions
With restrictions on trade related to commodities, software and technology integral to high-performing artificial intelligence capabilities expected to expand — particularly between the U.S. and China — companies must carefully consider the export classification of the items they design, produce or procure, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Insurance Types That May Help Cos. After Key Bridge Collapse
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, businesses that depend on the bridge, the Port of Baltimore and related infrastructure for shipment and distribution of cargo should understand which common types of first-party insurance coverage may provide recoveries for financial losses, say Bert Wells and Richard Lewis at Reed Smith.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Salvaging The Investor-State Arbitration System's Legitimacy
Recent developments in Europe and Ecuador highlight the vulnerability of the investor-state arbitration framework, but arbitrators can avert a crisis by relying on a poorly understood doctrine of fairness and equity, rather than law, to resolve the disputes before them, says Phillip Euell at Diaz Reus.
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ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports
While a recent U.S. International Trade Commission decision is a win for trade secret owners who can show injury to a U.S. domestic industry, the decision also means that companies operating in foreign jurisdictions will be subject to the requirements of U.S. trade secret law, say Paul Ainsworth and Cristen Corry at Sterne Kessler.
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Global Bribery Probes Are Complicating FCPA Compliance
The recent rise in collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign authorities in bribery enforcement can not only affect companies' legal exposure as resolution approaches vary by country, but also the decision of when and whether to disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to the DOJ, say Samantha Badlam and Catherine Conroy at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe
A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data
Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.