Another Friday, another Top 10 in Law Blogs! This week we’ve highlighted a number of breaking news posts, including Neil Merkl’s piece on President Trump’s opioid speech from Monday; Laura Siegal Rabinowitz’s review of potential tariffs on imports from China; and the Trump Administration’s appointment of Sharon Fast Gustafson to fill the position of General Counsel at the EEOC. Other big news from this week? Our Editor-in-Chief, Bob Ambrogi, is publishing a weekly newsletter, featuring his take on legal issues in the news. It’s entirely free, all you need to do is subscribe. Here’s to another safe and happy weekend!

Trump and DOJ Pledge to Get Tough on Opioids – By Neil Merkl of Food and Drug Law AccessOn Monday, President Trump delivered an opioid speech in New Hampshire in which he promised to get tough on opioid investigation and enforcement. This follows on the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) prior assertion that it will strengthen its efforts against pharmaceutical industry members. On February 27, 2018, the DOJ announced the creation of a Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (“PIL”) Task Force. According to the press release, the PIL Task Force is charged with investigating and bolstering existing claims brought by municipalities, carefully monitoring pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor compliance, and supporting preexisting strategies to combat the opioid epidemic. View Full Post

Employee Theft: Can Employers Deduct Suspected or Known Theft from an Employee’s Paycheck? By Sara Hamilton and C. Randolph Sullivan of Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives: Say an employee slips $20 from the register and even admits to it when you show the camera footage.  Or, more innocently, say an employee is overpaid $20 entirely by accident.  If the employee refuses to give it back, should you deduct the $20 from the employee’s paycheck? It depends.  Here are four questions to ask yourself. View Full Post

Cannabis Company Compliance: The Essentials – By Habib Bentaleb of Canna Law Blog: Last week I spoke on a panel about compliance at the Cannabis Cultivation Conference hosted by the Cannabis Business Times. If you’ve been following the latest developments in California you’d know that compliance with the myriad of regulations is the biggest obstacle for businesses looking to join the state legal cannabis market. We recently covered the current landscape facing cultivators here. For commercial cannabis purposes California is a dual licensing state (although some would call it a “duel” licensing state, as it can be quite a battle to obtain a cannabis business license). View Full Post

More Investors to Vote Against Directors for Lack of Board Diversity, and Specialty ISS Policies Push for 30% Diverse Representation – By Ning Chiu of Briefing: Governance: Certain investors are expected to hold governance committees, and in some cases the entire board, accountable through director elections this proxy season for perceived lack of board diversity. ISS has updated its Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and Catholic Faith-Based policies so that the proxy advisor will recommend against incumbent governance committee members under the SRI policy, and all incumbent board members under the Catholic Faith-Based policy, at boards that are not at least 30% diverse and include at least one woman and one ethnic minority.  Given that only 24% of Russell 3000 boards have such composition, the policies are expected to result in a “substantial increase” in the number of negative recommendations for directors.  At the current pace, S&P 500 boards are expected to reach 30% diversity by 2028, but not until 2037 for Russell 3000 companies. View Full Post

Debt, equity, and tax credits: how films are financed – By Russell Dufault of Deal Law Wire: The other day I cued up a new release movie that I had been eagerly anticipating. As the opening credits rolled, I couldn’t believe how many entities were being credited. The list kept going and going, with a range of what appeared to be both governmental and private organizations. What could these organizations all have to do with making this movie? We have all seen the opening credits and title sequences to our favourite films, although if you’re like me, you probably don’t pay much attention to the cleverly named companies and funds that have earned a credit in the film.  The answer, of course, requires us to follow the money. Most of these entities have contributed to the financing to the film, either by way of investment or tax incentive, and as a term of their contribution are entitled to a screen credit. In this post, we’ll look at three of the primary methods by which film producers obtain their financing. View Full Post

Potential Tariffs on Apparel, Footwear, Electronics, and Home Goods from China – By Laura Siegal Rabinowitz of Trade and Manufacturing Monitor: The Trump Administration is planning on dusting off another infrequently used provision of the trade laws, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, to impose additional tariffs on apparel, footwear, electronics, and home goods manufactured in China and imported into the U.S. The potential tariffs could reach between $30-$60 billion per year. The Trump Administration announced its proposed Section 301 tariffs as a response to China’s improper transfer of technology and failure to protect U.S. intellectual property rights. Many industries are concerned about the potential added costs such tariffs represent and are organizing to oppose them. View Full Post

How One Law School is Striving to Innovate – By Robert Ambrogi of Law Sites Blog: It is a truism to say that law schools do not do a good job of equipping students with the skills they need to succeed in the real world. But some law schools are striving to be more innovative in what and how they teach their students. Daniel W. Linna Jr., director of The Center for Legal Services Innovation at Michigan State University College of Law, has been tracking these through his Law School Innovation Index, which I wrote about when he launched it last November. View Full Post

Artist Sues Lollapalooza Over Advertising and Festival Merchandise – By Kelley Chittenden and Jason Gordon of AdLaw By Request: Last month, Juan Marco filed a copyright infringement suit against Live Nation and the other promoters of the summer music festival, Lollapalooza. According to the complaint, Marco granted a limited license to the concert promoters to use Marco’s artwork for three years and only for use in the United States and Chile.  Marco alleges that the concert promoters featured artwork that was substantially similar or identical to his work in hats, shoes, marketing materials, advertisements, and installations to promote Lollapalooza beyond the scope of the license.  Specifically, Marco alleges that his artwork is being used beyond the term, outside of the United States and Chile, and is further being sublicensed to third parties without permission.  Marco is seeking injunctive relief and damages. View Full Post

The Gray is Not Okay – Recognizing Gender Discrimination When it Isn’t Black and White – By Rachel M. Severance of Employment Discrimination Report: Recently I watched a male attorney speak to opposing counsel (a female) in a condescending, chastising manner that I cannot imagine he would have used if he had been speaking to a male attorney.  Her male colleague, who was standing right next to her, said nothing.  I said nothing.  And the female opposing counsel said nothing in her own defense. During an emergency custody hearing a female friend of mine who practices family law pushed back on the terms proposed by opposing counsel, an older male.  Opposing counsel shook his head and muttered “every time with female attorneys.” View Full Post

Trump Administration Nominates New EEOC General Counsel – By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Andrew Scroggins of Workplace Class Action Blog: On the evening of March 19, 2019, the White House announced it will nominate Sharon Fast Gustafson to fill the position of General Counsel at the EEOC. The announcement was a long-time coming, as James Lee had been serving as Acting General Counsel since 2016, after former EEOC David Lopez resigned. Ms. Gustafson has been an employment lawyer for more than 25 years, almost all of it as a sole practitioner focused on Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (from 1995-present).  In her practice, she represents primarily employees, though she does represent employers as well.  As noted on her firm’s website, she is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), an organization that holds itself out as advancing employee rights. View Full Post