Expert Analysis

In December, the IRS proposed regulations under two new sections of the Internal Revenue Code aimed at so-called hybrid arrangements — transactions by multinational companies subject to corporate income tax in one national jurisdiction but not another. Attorneys at Mayer Brown LLP discuss the scope of the rules, new reporting requirements and which transactions may be affected.

The Federal Circuit's ruling last week in Amerigen v. UCB provides an informative data point regarding standing for inter partes review appeals in the Hatch-Waxman context, as well as considerations for brand companies facing obviousness challenges to patents claiming prodrug compounds, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.

As uncertainty over a Brexit deal remains following the U.K. Parliament's overwhelming rejection this week of a draft withdrawal agreement, John Binns of BCL Solicitors LLP takes a closer look at the potential end of criminal justice cooperation arrangements between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Pipelines are a crucial aspect of the nation's economic and national security. But no one agency has officially been in charge of pipeline cybersecurity — until last month, when the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's cybersecurity road map made clear that the TSA will take the lead role in this area, says Norma Krayem of Holland & Knight LLP.

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has released a bulletin clarifying its law designed to protect consumers from "hidden" out-of-network health providers, but many questions still remain, say Cynthia Borrelli and Michael Morris of Bressler Amery & Ross PC.

For those navigating the California class action landscape in 2019, it pays to know what happened in 2018. William Stern of Covington & Burling LLP looks back at the most important developments and discusses what to expect going forward.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission turned its attention to cybersecurity last year, and those efforts will intensify throughout 2019. There are at least four likely areas of enforcement activity, say attorneys with Linklaters LLP.

The patent landscape for cannabis is conforming roughly to that of traditional biopharma in terms of the rejections being raised and how they are being overcome, say Pauline Pelletier and Deborah Sterling of Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC.

In the final installment of their four-part series, attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP focus on corporate governance best practices such as disclosures related to board evaluations and virtual shareholder meetings; the status of Dodd-Frank and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule-making matters; and considerations in assessing social media policies.

Although Michael Scott, a fictional character in "The Office," would have us believe there's no such thing as a bad question, in California that expression now holds less true than ever. Minal Haymond of Seyfarth Shaw LLP reviews new and updated legislation governing what employers can and cannot ask job candidates.

With no clear end in sight to the government shutdown — including the shutdown of a majority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — global companies, strategic investors and their outside counsel must carefully consider the ongoing impact on deals at all stages, say attorneys at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

Starting this year, public companies must adopt the Financial Standards Accounting Board's new lease accounting rules, which eliminate the defined term "capital leases." Lenders and borrowers alike will need to consider taking a new approach to drafting credit agreements, says Brad Boericke of Pepper Hamilton LLP.

Although a deal announced Wednesday could keep open more than half the department stores that retail dinosaur Sears Roebuck and Company had when it filed for bankruptcy protection last October, Sears remains a cautionary tale for the retail industry, say Robert Marticello and Philip Strok of Smiley Wang-Ekvall LLP.

The “11 Principles of Leadership,” included in the Army Field Manual on Leadership in 1951, can easily be translated into strategies to build winning litigation and trial teams, says Astor Heaven of Crowell & Moring LLP.

In the third installment of their four-part series, attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP consider corporate governance best practices including environmental, social and governance reporting, updates to director and officer questionnaires, board diversity and related disclosures, and shareholder proposals.

Recent revisions to the U.S. Tax Court procedural rules show the court embracing the digital age, refinements to existing rules and the addition of new areas of jurisdiction. Andrew Roberson and Kevin Spencer of McDermott Will & Emery LLP explain eight important amendments.

Much has been written about whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act covers discrimination based on transgender status or gender identity, but how the Americans with Disabilities Act comes into play has largely remained uncharted territory. Until now, says Lindsey Conrad Kennedy of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC.

The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entered into only 37 new corporate integrity agreements last year — the lowest number since 2012 — but it was an important year on the policy front, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

English courts have been active in the past year, grappling with patent topics like plausibility and equivalents, and 2019 promises to be another exciting year as English patent lawyers await developments on obviousness, insufficiency and employee inventor compensation, says Jin Ooi of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.