In the last week, both the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Food and Drug Administration have issued a consumer alert about the potential hacking risk regarding cardiac devices, specifically because those devices have no encryption on their software. The devices in question are implantable cardiac devices, clinic programmers and home monitors which are used to regulate one’s heartbeat rate – to speed it up or show it down, as needed. The focus this time…

Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in March 2019 On the trade with China front this week, the news is Huawei Technologies Co, of China sued the U.S. government regarding provisions in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (“NDAA”).  The timing of the lawsuit is drawing interest as is its very existence. in the face of the other legal actions involving the company and its executives. The basis…

Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in February 2019 Of all the questions asked of trade attorneys, this is likely the most frequent one.  The answer is both a study in current events, but also much more complex.  Let’s start at the obvious beginning point. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) receives advance information about shipments which arrive in the U.S. Whatever is the required data (and it differs a bit by mode of transportation…

Background Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) mandates that public accommodation must be provided to disabled persons to allow for the “full and equal enjoyment” of the related privileges, goods, services, advantages and accommodations as those provided to able bodied persons.  The owner of any business is responsible for making sure those accommodations are made with “reasonable modification.”  The ADA makes it very clear that a business that does not provide for…

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 was signed into law on Friday, February 15, 2019, so the potential for another shutdown was averted, but there was a hidden gem buried in a related document. This new law contains a specific appropriation for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office which reads: “For necessary expenses of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, … $53,000,000, …” Of particular interest to international traders is an interpretive statement which…

The topic of when and under what circumstances a truck driver is an employee v an independent contractor just got more complicated in terms of whether or not that question must be submitted to arbitration for resolution. See https://www.msk.com/newsroom-alerts-2693 for more details.…

Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in January 2019 One of the topics that consistently makes the top 5 in just about every survey of issues of concern to companies is the cost of regulatory compliance. This is true in large measure because the complexity of the issues covered by those regulations keeps increasing and the cost of compliance moves in the same upward direction. In looking forward into the new year, looking back is…