The New York Times published a collection of reaction from some top business leaders and companies who expressed their disapproval of President Trump’s  decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, tweeted that his company would fight for the people affected by Trump’s action to be “treated as equals.”

Reporter Zach Wichter writes that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said the announcement marks “a sad day for our country.”

Roger A. Iger, chairman and chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., tweeted: “Rescinding DACA is cruel and misguided. Dreamers contribute to our economy and our nation.”

Read the NYT article.

Volkswagen AG’s top U.S. lawyer and the leader of its emissions-testing lab in California are among the employees whose mobile devices were either lost or erased as the company’s diesel cheating scandal emerged, according to court records made public on Thursday, reports Bloomberg.

David Geanacopoulos, VW Group of America’s senior vice president for public affairs and public policy, was general counsel when, he reported, he lost his phone while en route to Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 1, 2015, according to the records.

And the company cell phones of Anna Schneider, VW’s senior vice president of industry and government relations, and Matthias Barke, senior director of VW’s emissions test center in Oxnard, California, were “wiped” or erased of data in the months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced VW had rigged its vehicles to pass pollution tests, according to the report by Ryan Beene and Margaret Cronin Fisk.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into whether Uber violated laws involving the bribery of foreign officials, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday.

The privately-held ride-hailing giant is being investigated for possibly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for individuals and organizations to pay foreign government officials in order to obtain or retain business.

Alexei Otreskovic writes that the investigation follows months of controversies and internal turmoil for the company.

Read the Business Insider article.

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Potentially significant policy changes are on the horizon regarding federal rules that determine how and whether workers are entitled to overtime pay, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. Businesses hoping to avoid overtime obligations for hourly workers must jump through three hoops in most cases. One of those hoops is to pay at least the minimum salary set by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Last year, the Labor Department under the Obama administration more than doubled the minimum salary threshold that is exempt from overtime, raising it from $23,600 to $47,476. But the salary increase proposal was stiff-armed by a Texas federal judge’s injunction before the change could take effect. While not endorsing the Obama-era regulations, newly appointed Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta mused in recent congressional testimony that the current salary threshold is too low and should be raised to “somewhere around $33,000.”

“The DOL is now seeking comment on how the overtime exemptions should be determined, as well as issues including whether salary levels should be allowed flexibility based on various factors, such as size of employer or region of employment,” says employment attorney Audrey Mross of Dallas-based Munck Wilson Mandala.

“There’s a lot on the line for employers who could be affected by these changes,” she said. “More than anything, employers are seeking consistency in order to plan for the future. This information-gathering phase provides parties a chance to be heard. If the salary threshold for exemption does increase, employers will be making hard decisions about whether to raise affected worker pay to maintain overtime exemptions or closely monitor worker hours, or otherwise be prepared to start paying overtime.”

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When the U.S. Supreme Court hears  Oil States Energy Service v. Greene’s Energy Group, the justices will have the opportunity to banish patent trolls back under the bridge where they belong, according to Above the Law.

Gary Shapiro explains that Oil States hinges on inter-partes review – “the process used by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office to determine whether a patent under question was issued based on merit. If not, the patent can be rescinded. The process is similar to a trial: Lawyers make their case to the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB), and three highly qualified administrative patent judges hear their case and come to a decision.”

He says the process is expensive, but it’s much less costly than going to court.

Read the Above the Law article.

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Bloomberg Law describes how special counsel Robert Mueller is following a time-tried strategy for looking into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia:

“Follow the money. Start small and work up. See who will ‘flip’ and testify against higher-ups by pursuing charges such as tax evasion, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.”

Reporter Chris Strohm quotes Jeffrey Cramer, a former prosecutor who’s now managing director of consulting firm Berkeley Research Group LLC: ““You go for the weakest link, and you start building up.”

Mueller’s approach has been used for decades in criminal investigations, from white-collar fraud to mob racketeering.

Read the Bloomberg article.

An article in the Government Contracts Insights blog on the website of Morrison Foerster discusses stays of award and performance during the pendency of a bid protest.

Partner Daniel Chudd and associate James Tucker cover stay of contract awards, stay of contract performance, Court of Federal Claims protests, and stay overrides.

In a later post, they will cover the substantive grounds of protest.

Read the article.

With two new commissioners confirmed by the Senate and sworn in, FERC’s seven-month period without a quorum is over and it can get back to business, reports Covington & Burling on its Inside Energy & Environment blog.

He writes that two more nominations are now before the Senate with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 7. Them the agency should be at full strength within the next few months and ready to take on important policy issues.

“There are quite a few critical generic electricity policy initiatives already teed up and awaiting Commission action. Together, the initiatives address fundamental issues spanning a broad range of FERC’s electricity authorities,” according to Peterson.

Read the article.

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In a Maryland case, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s effort to offer incentives for new gas fired power plants, ruling that the subsidies impermissibly encroached on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority under the Federal Power Act, writes Hugh E. Hilliard, a senior counsel with O’Melveny & Myers. But the Court left open the broader issue of whether states have the power to offer other forms of energy incentives.

“Now several cases before the courts are raising just that question, with potentially far-reaching implications for nuclear and renewable energy, although recent decisions in those cases have upheld state subsidies that are not directly tethered to sales of electric energy at wholesale, which are subject to FERC’s exclusive jurisdiction,” according to Hilliard.

He writes that the latest developments in federal courts indicate that state subsidies for renewable energy, including renewable-energy portfolio standards and mandated procurement programs, are safe from challenges, at least for now.

Read the article.

Reuters is reporting that accounting company PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will pay $1 million to settle a civil complaint alleging it conducted a flawed audit into Merrill Lynch’s compliance with federal brokerage customer protection rules, U.S. audit watchdogs said on Wednesday.

“The PCAOB’s penalty against PwC comes a little over a year after the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch to pay $415 million to settle charges it had put its brokerage clients’ cash at risk in violation of customer protection rules,” writes Sarah N. Lynch.

Read the Reuters article.

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A new U.S. rule aimed at restoring consumers’ ability to band together to sue financial companies has survived its first challenge, as a top banking regulator said he would not petition for it to be suspended, Reuters reports

Lisa Lambert and Pete Schroeder write that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule abolishing “mandatory arbitration clauses” was released on July 10, and was immediately threatened by Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration.

Acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika publicly argued with CFPB Director Richard Cordray, appointed by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, over whether the rule could endanger the banking system.

Read the Reuters report.

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The case of Donald Zarda, a skydiver who claimed his employer, Altitude, violated Title VII when it fired him after finding out he was gay, illustrates how the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Opportunity Commission can sometimes operate at cross purposes in litigation.

According to a Reuters report, the EEOC, an independent federal agency, is representing Zarda’s estate against the former employer. At the same time, the DOJ has filed its own amicus brief, explicitly disavowing the EEOC’s stance.

Alison Frankel writes that the brief “argued primarily that the EEOC and the 7th Circuit, which adopted the agency’s reasoning in its en banc opinion last April in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, disregarded the actual language of the statute and misread Supreme Court precedent on interpreting that language. According to the Justice Department, it’s up to Congress, not the courts, to legislate protection for gay and lesbian employees, and Congress has steadfastly refused to do so.”

Read the Reuters article.

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The Bureau of Land Management has announced its recommendation that the hydraulic fracturing rule from 2015 entitled, “Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Lands,” be rescinded, reports Fox Rothschild in its Energy Law Today blog.

Melissa J. Lyon explains that in 2015 the BLM had issued regulations that attempted to regulate oil and gas development on federal and tribal lands by focusing on wellbore construction, chemical disclosures and water management.

But litigation kept the final rule from going into effect. Then U.S. District Court Judge Skavdahl ruled that the BLM does not have the authority to enforce the 2015 hydraulic fracturing rule.

Read the article.

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The Associated Press is reporting that Celgene Corp. has agreed to pay $280 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the pharmaceutical company committed fraud promoting a drug with a notorious history that was re-purposed to treat leprosy and another therapy for unapproved cancer treatments.

The agreement, announced by federal prosecutors, came out of a lawsuit filed by a former Celgene saleswoman who said Celgene submitted false claims to Medicare and health care programs in 28 states and Washington, D.C.

“The lawsuit filed by Beverly Brown was brought on behalf of the U.S. government under a federal whistleblower law. She could receive as much as $84 million as her share of the settlement,” writes Brian Melley.

Read the AP article.

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A newfound memo from Kenneth W. Starr’s independent counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton sheds fresh light on a constitutional puzzle that is taking on mounting significance amid the Trump-Russia inquiry: Can a sitting president be indicted?

The New York Times reports that the 56-page memo, locked in the National Archives for nearly two decades and obtained by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, amounts to the most thorough government-commissioned analysis rejecting a generally held view that presidents are immune from prosecution while in office.

Reporter Charlie Savage writes: “It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties,” the Starr office memo concludes. “In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.”

Read the NYT article.

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Hogan Lovells announced that David Horowitz, the former Deputy General Counsel of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who also spent 18 years with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a lawyer and in senior management, has joined the firm as a partner.

“Over the course of his 25 year career at HHS and FDA, David has earned a sterling reputation within the industry,” said Alice Valder Curran, Head of Hogan Lovells’ Government Regulatory Practice Group. “His first-hand knowledge of both organizations, coupled with his in-depth knowledge of the law, will provide invaluable insight to our clients.”

In a release, the firm said:

As Deputy General Counsel at HHS over the past seven years, Horowitz oversaw and coordinated legal services in support of FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as for international and emergency preparedness programs. He oversaw more than 200 lawyers in the Office of General Counsel (OGC), and provided counsel to the HHS Secretary, as well as senior HHS, FDA, and White House officials. His primary focus as Deputy General Counsel was on FDA regulatory policy and litigation. He worked daily with the FDA Chief Counsel, participating directly in drafting regulations and guidance documents, and contributing to numerous appellate and Supreme Court briefs.

“Our strategic objectives include enhancing our policy advocacy capabilities and continuing to expand our compliance and enforcement practice,” said Philip Katz, chair of the firm’s Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Practice. “David is a key addition in that regard. Over the course of his long and distinguished career, David has developed not only substantial expertise in FDA law and policy, but also a deep understanding of the institutions, processes and cultures that influence how regulatory policy and compliance decisions are developed and implemented across all levels of government. We’re thrilled to have him join the team.”

Horowitz’s service at FDA began in the Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), where he first litigated a variety of pharmaceutical regulatory matters, and then counseled officials in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Horowitz moved from OCC to serve in several senior executive policy roles at FDA, including Assistant Commissioner for Policy, Assistant Commissioner for Compliance Policy, and Director of the CDER Office of Compliance. As head of drug compliance, he played a significant leadership role in major initiatives, including the modernization of the FDA’s approach to pharmaceutical manufacturing quality, and the agency’s efforts to develop and implement a more scientific, risk-based approach to inspection and enforcement.

“Resource constraints, a leaner government and increased deregulatory pressures will bring many changes to the FDA over the next several years,” added David Fox, a leader of the firm’s Global Life Sciences Industry Sector Team. “David will be instrumental in helping our clients anticipate and navigate these changes, and participate in the policy-making process.”
“The world-class regulatory practice at Hogan Lovells is an ideal platform from which to make the most of my decades of legal and policy experience at HHS and FDA,” said Horowitz. “I’m excited to join an extraordinarily talented and collegial group of lawyers, including many former colleagues from HHS and FDA,” Horowitz added.

Horowitz earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, and A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University.

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Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bills calling for the repeal of a just-announced regulation that would make it easier for consumers to bring class-action lawsuits against banks, reports The Los Angeles Times.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule would ban banks and other financial institutions from forcing arbitration clauses on customers to prevent them from bringing or joining class-action suits.

Some Republicans have introduced resolutions calling for use of the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to new regulations created by federal agencies, writes James Rufus Koren.

Read the LA Times article.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will become law in all EU jurisdictions on May 25, 2018 and will impact organizations that handle EU citizen data for any number of reasons, from employment to customer relations to marketing. Just because a company is not based in or even operating in the EU doesn’t mean GDPR won’t apply.

It is a broad and wide-ranging regulation that is posing significant challenges for the types of clients Yerra serves, namely global corporations in highly-regulated industries such as banking, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals.

To gauge readiness for GDPR across industries and global regions, Yerra has launched an industry survey to help benchmark where global corporations are in their preparations. The GDPR Reality Check survey is being run in collaboration with the Blickstein Group and will be open for submissions through the end of May 2017.

Take the survey.

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A federal judge sentenced disgraced former disability lawyer Eric C. Conn to 12 years in prison Friday even though Conn is a fugitive, according to a report in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves imposed the sentence in absentia against Conn in federal court in Lexington, KY. The 12-year sentence was the maximum for the two charges covered in a plea deal that was in place.

Reporter Bill Estep writes that Conn, 56, was once one of the top disability lawyers in the country, representing thousands of people in successful claims for benefits from the Social Security Administration and making millions in fees. But then in March Conn pleaded guilty to stealing from the government and paying illegal gratuities to a Social Security judge.

The conspiracy outlined by Conn included using false evidence of clients’ physical or mental disabilities in their claims. Some doctors were paid to sign forms with little scrutiny, and Conn bribed the Social Security judge to approve claims.

Read the Herald-Leader article.

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Just days after approving a controversial rule that will make it much easier for Americans to sue their banks, the U.S.’s top consumer watchdog is already fighting back against attempts to prevent the regulation from taking effect, reports Bloomberg.

Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Dexheimer reports that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said there is “no basis” to claims that his agency’s action will put the nation’s financial system at risk. Cordray was responding to concerns raised by acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika, a regulator appointed by the Trump administration who had a long legal career representing banks.

Under the new rule, financial firms are restricted from forcing consumers to resolve their disputes through arbitration, a practice that has been used by the industry for years to keep grievances tied to payday loans, credit cards and other products out of courts.

Read the Bloomberg article.