Wake Tech Hosts Workshop on the Legal Aspects of International Trade

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David Garrett spoke at the workshop.

On Feb. 12, Wake Technical Community College hosted a workshop on the Legal Aspects of International Trade at its Research Triangle Park campus. The workshop aimed to educate small businesses that wish to expand globally. The North Carolina Bar Association served as a sponsor of the event, and several NCBA members attended the event or presented on various topics.

It included sessions on intellectual property, government assistance, contracting, dispute resolution, and export control in the international realm. Fifty people registered to attend the event. The workshop was well-received, and Wake Tech hopes to make this workshop an annual event.

 

 

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No Protection Under Law: The Unchecked Prevalence Of Violence Against Women In North Korea

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By Miranda Tarlton

The government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, has found itself under international scrutiny and condemnation once again as the subject of a recent Human Rights Watch report. The report, entitled “You Cry at Night but Don’t Know Why,”documents the sad reality faced by many women in North Korea. Women are routinely raped, abused, and mistreated by men—many of whom are government officials—with impunity. The crimes all too frequently go unpunished and unreported, as rape is typically not investigated or prosecuted unless significant injury or death have also occurred. In North Korea, there are no services, safe houses, clinics, resources, or other forms of aid for victims. As a result, sexual violence and abuse is a widely tolerated and unaddressed part of daily life.

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The 60th Anniversary of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: A Middle Eastern Retrospect and Emirati Prospect

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By Sara Koleilat-Aranjo and Issey Park

This year, 2018, marks the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”). Last June, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”) hosted a special event, understandably in New York, to commemorate the diamond jubilee of what one late Swedish arbitration lawyer, Dr. J Gillis Wetter, referred to as early as 1990 as “the single most important pillar on which the edifice of international arbitration rests”.

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The Consequences Of A Trade War With China

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By Sophie Allen

Last spring, Director of the White House National Trade Council Peter Navarro responded to a question about the risk of imposing unilateral tariffs saying, “I don’t believe any country is going to retaliate for the simple reason that we are the most lucrative and biggest market in the world. They know they’re cheating us, and all we’re doing is standing up for ourselves.”

Eight months and several rounds of tariffs later, the U.S. and China have failed to come to an agreement on trade between the two nations. While U.S. and Chinese leaders have expressed their interest in reaching a deal at the G20 Summit in Argentina on November 30, a lack of progress on key issues makes a cease-fire increasingly unlikely.

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EU Commission Forces Google to Change Its Business Model in Android Operating System

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By Kemal Su

On July 18, 2018, the EU Commission released a Press Statement,[1] announcing that it had fined Google €4.34 billion (approximately $5.1 billion) for illegal practices concerning Google’s Android mobile operating system. This is a record fine imposed by the EU Commission, and probably a milestone in a series of antitrust fines against U.S.-based technology companies.[2] The Commission also ordered Google to alter its practices within 90 days to comply with EU antitrust law and announced that the company’s failure to do so would result in penalty payments of up to 5 percent of the average daily worldwide revenue of its parent company, Alphabet.

The Commission concluded, “Google has imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement its dominant position in general internet search, since 2011.” This is similar to a Section 2 violation of the Sherman Act.

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Time Is Money

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By Jennifer Cory

On Aug. 28, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is extending and expanding suspension of its premium processing service for cap-subject H-1B petitions as well as all H-1B petitions filed at the California and Vermont Service Centers. The original suspension applied only to cap-subject H-1B petitions and was set to expire on Sept. 11, 2018. The suspension is now set to expire on Feb. 19, 2019.

 So what’s the big deal? Well, for starters, employers will be unable to request premium processing for H-1B change of employer or amended petitions for a change in job or location. This is particularly problematic for those H-1B workers who are hesitant to change employers before having an approval in place or for those who must travel internationally and require a petition approval for visa issuance. With regular processing times averaging five (5) to seven (7) months, H-1B workers are in a Catch-22. They want the security of an approval before moving to a new employer, but it is impractical to think that a new employer will be able to keep a position open for that length of time. To add insult to injury, USCIS only provided two weeks’ notice concerning the extended and expanded suspension. The announcement afforded little time for employers to file or to convert a case to premium processing before the deadline.

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The GDPR: An Example Of the Extraterritorial Effects Of Regulations

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By Kemal Su

The European Union’s (EU) new regulation on data protection, The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), went into effect on May 25, 2018, slightly more than two (2) years after it was accepted by the European Parliament on April 14, 2016. The EU has had regulations pertaining to data protection since 1995. However, the GDPR unifies and simplifies all previous regulations in this regard.

Although the GDPR is only effective and designed to protect individuals’ data within the EU, the effects of the GDPR can be felt more globally. For example, all companies which process the personal data of EU citizens, i.e. by collecting, receiving, transmitting, using or storing data, must abide by the provisions of the GDPR even if they are not located in an EU member state. Moreover, the GDPR also applies to companies who offer goods or services to EU individuals or monitor these individuals’ behavior.

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Is the GDPR Coming to California? Ten Things You Need To Know About the California Consumer Privacy Act

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By Saad Gul and Mike Slipsky

The ink had barely dried on the Alabama’s new data breach notification statute (which made it the 50th state to enact such legislation) when California upped the ante. In an effort to head off a November ballot initiative, the home state of Google, Facebook, and countless other Silicon Valley data-driven companies rushed to enact major privacy legislation. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) has inevitably drawn comparisons with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In particular, both regulatory regimes focus on consumer control of personal information and stress transparency in data processing. In a departure from prevailing American practice, CCPA will apply to any business engaged in data processing, regardless of sector. Existing federal requirements, such as Graham Leach Bliley or HIPAA, will remain in place.

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Add Your Two Cents: The Ethics Of Serving Clients Who Use Coins and Digital Assets

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An ethics inquiry regarding Digital Assets and Blockchain Businesses is currently being circulated for comment. Click here to read the inquiry: Coins and Digital Assets Ethics Request to NC Bar (June 2018). If you would like to provide a comment, please follow up directly with the State Bar as indicated below. The Ethics Committee is tentatively scheduled to consider this inquiry at its next quarterly meeting in July 2018.

Inquiry:
How can law firms ethically service clients who are using Coins and other Digital Assets?

Deadline:
July 12, 2018.  Items received after this date will still be included in the materials that go in front of the Ethics Committee, but I urge you to meet the deadline to increase the chances that the committee members will have a chance to review it in advance of their meeting.

Comments/Responses:
Should be directed in writing to Alice Neece Mine at the N.C. State Bar and may be submitted via email ([email protected] or [email protected]), facsimile (919-821-9168), or regular mail (P.O. Box 25908, Raleigh, NC 27611-5908).

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An Uncertain Future: The US Pulls Out Of the Iran Deal

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By Zia Ullah, Mark D. Herlach, James Lindop and Victoria Turner

Reprinted with permission from Eversheds Sutherland.

President Trump announced last week that the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and will begin re-imposing those sanctions which were lifted as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”).  In a move which former President Obama has described as “misguided” and a “serious mistake”, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum directing relevant US agencies (including the Treasury) to take actions necessary to start re-imposing sanctions, meaning that secondary sanctions, which impact on non-US persons, will come back into effect.  President Trump’s announcement also leaves open the possibility for new and additional sanctions to be imposed in the future.

Last week’s announcement confirmed that there will be wind-down periods before sanctions are fully re-imposed.

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