CLE

As digital advancements continue to transform today’s landscape into a complex cloud-based space, companies become more vulnerable to potential data breaches and losses which, if not properly addressed, could profoundly affect business processes.

The scheduled phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) by the end of 2021 is currently posing significant transition challenges for banks and all concerned individuals. Furthermore, ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) announced last December 2020 the extension of U.S. dollar (USD) LIBOR through June 2023, creating a change in the LIBOR transition process and opening more ambiguities in managing USD contracts.

2021 brings new and stricter cybersecurity requirements to all organizations within the supply chain to the US Department of Defense (DoD). Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), a program to curb the theft of sensitive defense information by foreign adversaries, begins its rollout this year, as do stricter measures to enforce compliance with existing cybersecurity requirements.  Compliance, and ultimately certification by an independent third-party auditor or CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) will become a pass-fail requirement for companies to do business with the DoD.

Over the past years, employee arbitration agreements have been helpful in preventing employment-related lawsuits. If properly executed, arbitration clauses provide several benefits to both employers and employees. These benefits include the resolution of claims away from the public, the ability to select the arbitrator, and the faster process by which conflicts are resolved. Arbitration of claims is also significant in redirecting employment-related cases from overburdened courts.

Several regulatory developments that further reshape the future of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have taken place over the last few months. Last August, California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the enforcement regulations under CCPA, whereas the state's legislature has passed AB 1281, a bill that extends the CCPA compliance deadline for business-to-business (B2B) and employee data. Furthermore, in November 2020, Californians voted to approve the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) which significantly expands and strengthens the CCPA through a new set of consumer privacy rights.

The number of toxic tort claims has aggressively increased over the past years, prompting several regulatory revamps. In this legally complex area of law, businesses and their counsel must keep themselves abreast of emerging developments that continue to transpire. Having an in-depth understanding of the litigation procedures and case strategies is essential to avoid drawbacks.

Over the years, significant waves of developments in trademark law have shaped the way businesses select, register, and enforce their brands. The reshaping of the legal landscape will continue this 2020 as a wider range of changes are expected to emerge from the rapid growth of digital technology. Brand owners and attorneys need to be fully aware of the recent trends and developments that will potentially dominate the rest of the year.

To aggressively enforce its antitrust agenda, the Biden Administration is taking bolder approaches by ramping up antitrust enforcement. In one of its recent moves, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division jointly announced their plans to modernize current merger guidelines.

Important rule changes under the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) of 2020 have been implemented in efforts to streamline key trademark procedures as well as to combat the surge of filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The new regulations are likely to have a profound impact on several aspects of the trademark law and practice.

Be equipped in helping your clients successfully navigate their way through new technologies in today’s cyber-vulnerable environment. Keep your skills up to date via our Continuing Education (CE) webcasts on Technology and Cybersecurity.

Our HR and Benefits webinars offer a wealth of information about crucial issues today's professionals face. These Continuing Education (CE) courses are a reflection of the most recent regulatory developments in HR and benefits management at the state and federal levels.

Widespread environmental damages to waterways and properties due to hazardous substances continue to bring health risks and negative effects on the U.S. economy. To alleviate the problem, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established national rules and strengthened existing controls of disposal and discharge, particularly those contaminants that can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water, and the air, such as coal ash and trichloroethylene.

Our Healthcare Continuing Education (CE) webinars are created to provide healthcare industry leaders with an environment where they can learn the latest regulatory compliance trends and emerging technologies from esteemed thought leaders and professionals.

Taught by leading experts in this field, our range of Risk & Compliance Continuing Education (CE) courses cut across many disciplines and are primarily designed to help mitigate risks in organizations and ensure they run smoothly based on relevant laws and policies.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are continuously taking initiatives to improve each agency’s law enforcement, specifically against employee misclassification. Guided by their standards, the DOL and the NLRB aggressively enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) respectively to expand the scope of classifying joint employers while narrowing the scope of categorizing independent contractors.