Confronted with a claim of discriminatory termination or retaliation, an employer’s defensive strategy most often centers on marshalling facts and evidence to—eventually—support a motion for summary judgment that leans heavily—if not exclusively—on the argument that any adverse employment actions taken were based on legitimate and non-discriminatory business reasons that the employee will not be able to show were pretextual. This approach began with the burden-shifting framework described by the Supreme Court in its seminal 1973 decision, McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. … Read the rest
The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), on April 14, 2025, announced the initiation of an investigation into the imports of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients as well as semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the context of U.S. national security. This move could affect India’s USD 10 billion annual pharmaceutical exports to the U.S.
The BIS investigation would determine whether reliance on foreign pharmaceutical supply chains, particularly active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) and … Read the rest
A global matcha shortage is flooding U.S. markets with low-quality, potentially hazardous bargain products. Supply chain strains and paused tariffs are raising alarms about food safety.
Japan, the heart of authentic matcha production, is grappling with declining tea yields because of droughts, aging farmers and surging global demand, according to a Japan Times report. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported matcha production grew from 1,471 tons in 2010 to 4,176 tons in 2023. With more than half exported, … Read the rest
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The U.S. Military Academy on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to stay out of a dispute over the use of race in the school’s admissions policy. Telling the justices that a group of students opposed to the consideration of race in college admissions was seeking to block “policies that military leaders have long deemed essential to ensuring the effectiveness of the Nation’s military,” the academy asked the court to turn down the group’s request for an order that would … Read the rest
On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued new agency-wide guidelines regarding how its employees will address cases in which Red Notices and Diffusions.
The complete guidelines are found here, and the most relevant provisions (in my estimation) are listed in our last blog post.
In part one of this series, we referenced the fact that some of the new provisions would likely be more impactful in a practical sense than others. The provisions that are … Read the rest
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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
The Supreme Court has issued a number of decisions in recent years limiting the reach of the federal wire-fraud statute, which outlaws the use of “the wires” – including internet and phone lines – to commit fraud. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in the case of a Turkish bank that the U.S. government accuses of committing money laundering and fraud as part of a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. During over 90 minutes of debate, the justices appeared skeptical of the bank’s contention that federal laws bar the government from prosecuting the bank, but they also expressed concern about the consequences of allowing the prosecution to go forward.
Halkbank, whose majority … Read the rest