2021 Corporate Compliance & Litigation Outlook for Manufacturers

In late 2012, we created the Manufacturing Law Blog with the goal of providing our manufacturing clients with a holistic approach to the unique issues facing manufacturers that operate globally. Starting in 2016, we made sure our first three posts of the year are dedicated to providing

Back in 2013, I wrote a blog post about 3D printing and whether it was going to be the next “big thing.”  At the time, the commentary within manufacturing circles was mixed, at best, as manufacturing leaders wondered whether 3D printing would remain a specialty process mainly used by large OEMs such as Ford, GE, etc.

Seven years later, not much has really changed.  I recently read an article in Industry Week by Avi Reichental, a CEO of a 3D printing company, that is appropriately titled “Slow and Steady Wins the 3D Printing Race.”

The article still mentions GE’s efforts to use 3D printing along with some other stock examples that you see in many articles. Mr. Reichental then goes on to say:
Continue Reading 3D Printing for Manufacturers Continues to Lag Behind

This is the second of two posts dedicated to reopening plans for manufacturers.  In the first post on May 26, I addressed the first two questions which every manufacturer may wish to ask as it forms its reopening plans.  Manufacturing;  Back to Business (Part One) (May 26, 2020).  Here, I address the next four questions.

The disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic stressed the entire manufacturing sector.  For the most part, manufacturers responded to those challenges quickly and responsibly.  Now that every state has begun reopening, the manufacturing sector will once again be called on to lead.  Manufacturers which respond well to those challenges will thrive in the months ahead.

While a recent headline-grabbing Forbes article may have caused some concern (“Researchers Say Social Distancing To Prevent Coronavirus May Need To Continue Until 2022”), many manufacturers are now planning to return to “Business as (the New) Normal.”  During the last two months, I have been fielding calls from essential manufacturers on how to

We kicked off our seventh year writing the Manufacturing Law Blog with Megan’s predictions for EH&S and Matt weighed in about labor and employment.  So, now it is my turn:

Sales Growth

You might wonder why I would start a compliance/litigation discussion with a business issue, but for most industrial companies these issues are

This week we are pleased to have a guest post from Edward Heath and Kevin Daly. Attorneys Heath and Daly are members of Robinson+Cole’s Manufacturing Industry Team and regularly counsel clients on trade compliance, anti-corruption compliance, and other corporate compliance issues.

 Last week, a jury found a former executive of a French multinational company guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, and conspiracy in connection with alleged bribery in Indonesia. The case is a significant test of the geographic reach of the FCPA because the defendant was a foreign national who was employed by a foreign corporation and never entered U.S. territory during the course of his employment, but he was convicted on the theory that his actions were taken as an agent for his employer’s U.S. subsidiary.
Continue Reading Conviction of Foreign Employee Reinforces Broad Geographic Reach of FCPA

A few months back, I posted some thoughts about recent efforts to legalize medical and recreational marijuana, with an emphasis on the potential issues such laws would have on manufacturers – particularly manufacturers in a space requiring a heightened concern for employee safety.  See Legal Pot = Manufacturing Storm Clouds” (May 29, 2019).