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 a … Continue Reading
There are a lot of programs from service providers that seek to advise business owners on what to do after they have decided to sell their manufacturing business. I equate it to trying to jump on a ship just as it is entering port. What happens, however, if you don’t know what to do or, more … Continue Reading
It is hard to move the news cycle beyond vaccine updates, but this week brought such news. The aerospace industry received the announcement that many were expecting for a long time. The FAA has decided to allow Boeing to resume deliveries and commercial flights of the 737 MAX by the end of the year. What … Continue Reading
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, … Continue Reading
Below in an excerpt from an article authored by Robinson+Cole Business Litigation Group lawyers Kendra L. Berardi and Edward J. Heath that was published in Industry Week. “When demand for an item or service increases in a free market, the price tends to increase accordingly. This can seem particularly true in times of crisis – just ask … Continue Reading
Below is an excerpt of a contributed article published in Industry Week on March 12, 2020. In case you missed it, a Boeing 747—the “Queen of the Skies”—recently set a record by flying across the Atlantic from New York to London in under 5 hours at over 800 mph. The record was set with the … Continue Reading
This week we are pleased to have a guest post from Deborah George, a member of Robinson+Cole’s Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team. Attorney George focuses her practice on data privacy and security, cybersecurity, and compliance with related state and federal laws, advising clients on the development of privacy and security plans, including WISPs, policies and procedures to comply … Continue Reading
Our tradition includes using our first January post to make predictions about “what’s to come” in the year ahead. But first, let’s see how I did over the last year. “Time for 2019 Manufacturing Law Predictions: Drum Roll Please!” (Jan. 9, 2019). I boldly predicted that on the federal level the government would continue to … Continue Reading
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 interrelated. We … Continue Reading
Last night, I had the chance to attend an interesting panel discussion featuring Richard Steffens (Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere, U.S. Department of Commerce) and Jacobeth Hernandez (Consul for Economic Affairs at the Consulate General of Mexico in New York). The topic was the USMCA, which is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that is … Continue Reading
The United States Treasury Department came out with a report last week that concludes that business email compromises (BEC) are costing U.S. companies more than $301 million per month. The report confirms that the two industries hit the hardest by these scams are manufacturing and construction. The report, issued by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement … Continue Reading
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. Earlier this year, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new guidance regarding … Continue Reading
Over the past few months I have had the pleasure to participate in several significant manufacturing events, including events at The White House, the Department of Commerce, and most recently, at the first International Space Trade Summit. At these events, I had a chance to speak with manufacturers across the globe, including several companies that … Continue Reading
You may ask why we are using the words “economic downturn” in a post. Most of our manufacturing clients are reporting strong sales and many economic pundits are saying that a recession is still far off into the future. With that said, this is exactly the time to start thinking about your supply chain and … Continue Reading
Earlier this year, we posted our 2019 Corporate Compliance & Litigation Outlook. In the post, we said the following with respect to tariffs: 2018 was the year of the “tariff” for manufacturers. You could not read a manufacturing news story without mention of it. There is a lot of hype around tariffs and other trade … Continue Reading
This week, we are pleased to have a guest post from Kevin Daly. Attorney Daly is a member of the firm’s Manufacturing Industry Group and also its Trade Compliance Team. On February 21, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) entered into a settlement with Connecticut-based ZAG IP, LLC … Continue Reading
As we embark on the sixth year of the Manufacturing Law Blog, we continue our annual tradition of making predictions. Last week, Matt provided his thoughts and predictions in the labor/employment arena. This week, I am providing our outlook for corporate compliance and litigation. Contract Management As we have documented in the Blog for the … Continue Reading
One of the blogs that we really enjoy is the China Law Blog, which is written primarily by Dan Harris of Harris Bricken. Dan recently wrote a post about the pitfalls of relying on a representation by a non-Chinese company that they own a manufacturing facility in China. As Dan states directly: Here’s the deal. … Continue Reading
We have been talking about conflict minerals for years. And, so have our manufacturing clients. As covered previously in this blog, the conflict minerals laws and regulations are some of the most well known, but least understood laws/regulations that face manufacturers/distributors today. The stated purpose of conflict mineral laws and regulations were laudable, namely, to … Continue Reading
Almost all industrial manufacturers deal with machine shops in some form or another. A typical scenario is that a manufacturer will provide their print (or that of their customer) to a machine shop to fabricate a component or sub-component. In the manufacturing law world, business to business disputes with machine shops outnumber those up the … Continue Reading
This week, we are pleased to have a guest post from Kevin Daly. Attorney Daly is a member of Robinson & Cole’s Manufacturing Industry Group and also its Trade Compliance Team. In 2010, California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (the “Act”). The goal of the Act is to curtail human trafficking and … Continue Reading
Inogen, which manufactures portable oxygen devices, has alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission in a recent filing that it is notifying 30,000 individuals that their personal information was compromised when a hacker gained access to one of its employees’ email accounts through a phishing scheme.… Continue Reading
Earlier this week, our firm sponsored a panel discussion entitled “Export Compliance for Aerospace & Defense Firms – What the OEMs Expect from Their Supply Chain” as part of Connecticut Export Week 2018. Joanne Rapuano, Counsel in Robinson & Cole’s Trade Compliance practice, moderated the discussion. The panel included Matthew Borman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of … Continue Reading
Now that the first year of the Trump administration is behind us, I had the opportunity to write an article for the Hartford Business Journal regarding trends that are developing in 2018. To read my article, please click here. Topics covered include deregulation efforts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the False Claims Act (FCA), … Continue Reading
