It was another busy week in the news, but one story stood out above the others – Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing, and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s subsequent testimony. A.J. Hernandez Anderson wrote on Anita Hill’s testimony years ago, and how little the U.S. has changed since then, when it comes to sexual harassment; Chris Jones considered the Republicans’ possible plans following the hearings; and Elizabeth Torphy-Donzella discussed the impacts of a recent workplace harassment case. Other great posts include Kathryn Rattigan’s report on how State Farm has utilized drones to assess Hurricane Florence damage, and Diego Capistrano’s update on how Brazil is seeking to strengthen their fight against corruption.

State Farm Uses Drones to Assess Damages from Hurricane Florence – By Kathryn Rattigan: State Farm has been granted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to use drones, under the Small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Rule (or Part 107), to assess damages in communities affected by Hurricane Florence.The Part 107 waiver allows both flights over people and flights beyond the drone operator’s visual line of sight. These provisions were approved for four states impacted by the hurricane. View Full Post

What, #MeToo??? – By Elizabeth Torphy-Donzella: It has become an all too familiar story in this age of #MeToo (although this one has a twist, as you’ll see below): a supervisor using managerial authority to pressure a subordinate to give sexual favors.In this story, the employee claims the pressure started at hire, involved the supervisor demanding attention, favors, gifts and even food then escalating to demands for sex in the office. View Full Post

Cannabis Non-Compete Agreement? Send it Up in Smoke – By Megan Vaniman: Marijuana has been legal in Oregon for about three years now. Employees with specialized skills are starting to jump ship and head to competitors. What do you do, as an employer, if a candidate for employment shows you a non-competition agreement they signed with their former employer?Typically, the former employer will go after the employee to enforce the non-competition agreement, but the former employer may seek an injunction against your business to prohibit you from hiring the candidate. View Full Post

Republicans Plan to Advance Kavanaugh Nomination After Committee Hearing – By Chris Jones: Absent an unpredictable event at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, Republicans intend to move quickly to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The committee is scheduled to hear from two witnesses, Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were high school students in 1982. View Full Post

Trump Administration Sanctions Key Chinese Military Entity under Russia Authorities – By Peter Jeydel, Evan Abrams and Brian Egan: On September 20, 2018, the State Department announced sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD) (formerly known as the General Armaments Department (GAD)) and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in significant transactions with Russia’s Rosoboronexport for the delivery to China of Su-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and equipment for S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in 2018. View Full Post

Brazil Strengthens Battle Against Corruption – By Diego Capistrano: Brazil has taken another important step towards the battle against corruption. In August 2018, Brazil enacted Decree-Law No. 9,468/18, which provides broader power to the Public Transparency and Anti-Corruption Council, public entity subject to the Secretary of Transparency, Supervision and Control of Brazil.Under the law, the Council’s purpose is to discuss ideas and suggestions to improve policies and strategies aimed at combating corruption and impunity within the Federal Public Administration. View Full Post

Legal Recruiting: The One Skill Set Many Law Firms Overlook – By Cordell Parvin: In my new role as a legal recruiter, the first question law firms ask when considering partner candidates is: Does he/she have clients? (Code for what is the amount of his/her portable business?)In my role as a recruiter, more often than not I am not placing the lawyers who have $1 million or more in portable business. View Full Post

2018 – How Far Have We Really Come in Learning About Sexual Harassment and Assault? The U.S. Senate is Showing Us. – By A.J. Hernandez Anderson: On Sunday night, the New Yorker published a piece by Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer regarding sexual assault allegations against U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, from his freshman year at Yale. The article was published on the heels of the first victim, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, agreeing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding her allegations that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high school students. View Full Post

A Crack in the Armour of Privilege? – By Garon Anthony: Hot on the heels of the Court of Appeal’s decision in SFO v ENRIC earlier this month, legal professional privilege has once been under the microscope in a recent High Court case, The Financial Reporting Council Limited v Sports Direct International Plc [2018] EWHC 2284 (Ch).Background. The Financial Reporting Council Ltd (“FRC“) is the regulatory body for statutory auditors and audit work, which is conducting an investigation of Grant Thornton UK LLP (“GT“). View Full Post

How to Leave China AND Survive – By Dan Harris: Not surprisingly, our China lawyers are seeing a massive increase in foreign (mostly American) companies seeking to reduce or eliminate their China ties. Many are seeking to terminate their relationship with their Chinese suppliers and moving production elsewhere (so far, it’s been mostly Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, India and Malaysia). The other day I spoke with a company that has 50% of its manufacturing in China, 25% in Vietnam and 25% in Thailand and it wants to get out of China “as quickly as possible” but rightly afraid of just pulling up stakes and moving out. View Full Post