Expert Analysis

Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland LLP provide a practical approach to evaluating ownership of non-U.S. entities under the new Subpart F rules and to dealing with the consequences of becoming a U.S. shareholder in a CFC in which you have no control.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General recently released its strategic plan for 2019 to 2023. Brian Stansbury and Leah Min of King & Spalding LLP provide insights on several noteworthy aspects, such as how the OIG will hold the EPA accountable for meeting 2019 targets and rely on data and business analytics to meet its goals.

Following Sears' bankruptcy filing this week, there could be an announcement that the company has agreed to sell its most valuable stores to an affiliate of its largest shareholder, say Karen Park of ParkLaw LLC and Tara Desai of Greenhouse Branding Inc.

Galia Antebi and Nina Krauthamer of Ruchelman PLLC discuss the elements of the opportunity zone tax code provision and the related options for non-U.S. investors, who generally are not subject to U.S. taxation on dispositions of capital property other than U.S. real property.

Secondary considerations can be a useful tool for patent owners attempting to overcome an obviousness challenge. However, the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Acorda v. Roxane leaves the treatment of secondary considerations in question when a so-called “blocking patent” may exist, say Daniel Winston and Bryana McGillycuddy of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.

New York City has been changing its 421-a tax exemption program, altering and clarifying prevailing wage requirements and imposing construction wage requirements for large new buildings. Daniel Bernstein of Rosenberg & Estis PC recaps the last two years of developments.

The inner workings of the Trump economics and trade team remain foggy, but the administration's trade strategy can be discerned from the public statements of the president and his advisers. Unpredictability, mercantilism, bilateralism and a willingness to accept collateral damage are among the most important patterns, says Charles Skuba of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

While the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act allows LLC members to bring a derivative action without first making a demand, the same cannot be said of the Florida Business Corporation Act. And a recent proposal to amend the FBCA doesn't do enough to create a uniform demand futility rule, says Andrew Polenberg of Becker & Poliakoff PA.

A new California law requires specific types of cybersecurity protections for internet-connected devices. But the proliferation of state-based internet of things requirements could hinder efforts to develop and implement uniform national standards, says Laura Stefani of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.

Over the last two decades, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to address interstate air pollution under the Clean Air Act have yielded a series of complex federal regulatory programs. However, it's now signaling a method that involves greater deference to states’ analyses and determinations, says Norman Fichthorn of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

Last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law restricting the use of automated online “bot” accounts. The law was drafted in part to help prevent election interference through the propagation of fake news, but it will also impact businesses that use bots to communicate with customers, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

For most employers, the value of a class action waiver far outweighs the negatives of arbitration, but proactive in-house lawyers can do more than simply avoid class actions. The risk and cost of individual arbitration cases can be managed effectively with early case assessment and alternative fee arrangements, says Brendan Sweeney of Jackson Lewis PC.

It's not very surprising that the first enforcement action under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation was directed at a North American advertiser. The GDPR is a global law, and advertisers and social networks, wherever they are located, will be among the early targets, says Christian Auty of Much Shelist PC.

Last week, nonprofit NonBelief Relief filed a lawsuit in a D.C. federal court challenging the IRS' mandatory exception from filing annual information returns given to churches — but not to other nonprofits — on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment's establishment clause. Professor Samuel Brunson of Loyola University Chicago School of Law takes a first look at the case.

Faced with the opportunity to purchase cyber risk insurance to mitigate the damage caused by cyber events, prospective policyholder companies need all the help they can get in order to navigate this increasingly complex part of the U.K. insurance market, says Richard Mattick of Covington & Burling LLP.

A Florida state appeals court's decision last month in Restoration 1 v. Ark Royal weakens assignment-of-benefit claims, holding that an insurer may require all insureds and mortgagees to provide written consent prior to executing an assignment-of-benefits agreement, says Margo Meta of Ball Janik LLP.

Soon the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, a case that could significantly affect how artists and companies strategize to protect copyrights, says Irene Lee of Russ August & Kabat.

The Federal Trade Commission, which once dominated the playing field on many consumer protection issues, appears poised to reclaim a more active role in connection with financial products and services, say attorneys with Buckley Sandler LLP.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Varela v. Lamps Plus that the Federal Arbitration Act displaces contractual interpretation rules likely would vacate the Eleventh Circuit's recent JPay decision, says James Bogan of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.