In the wake of the #MeToo movement and broader conversations about sexual harassment and wage discrimination, many financial institutions are wondering whether any of these issues are affecting their organizations and, if so, how to address them.  To assess this question, financial institutions are increasingly turning to internal cultural reviews. View Full Post
There are some circumstances in which directors of nonprofit organizations can be held legally liable for acts they carried on behalf of the organization, or acts that could be construed as them representing the organization. With the potential for legal liability constantly looming, it is imperative that the organization have a commitment at all levels to operating fully within the law. View Full Post
Yesterday, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland filed a complaint against the U.S. Treasury Department and others, seeking to invalidate the newly-enacted cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) on a filer’s federal income tax return.  Prior to the 2017 changes to the tax law, all or a substantial portion of SALT could be deducted from a federal tax return.  View Full Post
I’ve just returned from a much-t00-brief visit to the annual conference of the American Association of Law Libraries in Baltimore. Although the conference started Saturday, family obligations kept me away until Monday. Then yesterday, flight cancellations along the east coast had me scrambling for a route home, forcing me to leave much earlier than I’d planned to catch the Amtrak to Boston. View Full Post
Despite a political agenda packed with important issues like tariffs, immigration and a Supreme Court nomination, there have been a number of recent federal and state legislative developments relating to public company corporate governance topics that are of interest.  In particular, the Senate Banking Committee has recently considered bills relating to the role of proxy advisory firms and disclosure of cybersecurity experience at the board level; there have been calls by lawmakers for regulation of executive sales following announcement of stock buybacks; the Senate Committee on Appropriations is proposing to direct the SEC to report on the decline in public companies; a bill implementing gender quotas on boards progressed through the California State Senate; and Delaware adopted a voluntary sustainability certification and reporting regime. View Full Post
In Lester v. O’Rourke, the United States District Court for the North District of Illinois held that Plaintiff is entitled to trial on his Title VII retaliation claim after he signed a Last Chance Agreement (“LCA”) that settled pending Title VII claims and also waived claims that might be asserted if the employer disciplined or terminated him. View Full Post
I am pleased to share that I’ve joined Northwestern Pritzker School of Law as a Visiting Professor of Law for the 2018-19 academic year. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to contribute to Northwestern Law’s many initiatives to continuously improve the value of the education delivered to its students and prepare its students to have an impact in our society. View Full Post
On June 27, 2018, the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China published the Draft Regulations on the Classified Protection of Cybersecurity (网络安全等级保护条例（征求意见稿）) (“Draft Regulation”) and is seeking comments from the public by July 27, 2018. view full post » View Full Post
Through a newly published foreign investment negative list, the Chinese government is offering incrementally greater market access to foreign investors in China. The 2018 Special Administrative Measures on Access to Foreign Investment (“2018 Foreign Investment Negative List” or “2018 FI Negative list”), issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) will replace the list of restrictions and prohibitions in the 2017 foreign investment negative list, which was part of the broader 2017 Catalogue for Guiding Foreign Investment. View Full Post
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect on May 25, 2018 and has necessitated major compliance efforts by corporations doing business within the EU or (in most cases) processing the personal data of EU employees or customers. However, the GDPR’s effect on corporate internal investigations – both within the EU and abroad – has received much less attention, yet requires considerable planning to avoid problems down the road. View Full Post