S&C Critical Insights

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Bill Monahan, Head of S&C’s Products Liability & Mass Torts Group, and Shane Palmer, an associate in the Firm’s Litigation Group, examine the new proposed Rule 16.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which the Judicial Conference of the United States’ Advisory Committee on Civil Rules recently voted to adopt as the first rule governing...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Annie Ostrager, Co-Head of S&C’s Labor & Employment Group, and Jeannette Bander, a partner in S&C’s Executive Compensation Group, provide an update on the FTC’s final rule containing a sweeping ban on non-compete agreements.

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Annie Ostrager, Co-Head of S&C’s Labor & Employment Group, and Jeannette Bander, a partner in S&C’s Executive Compensation Group, discussed non-compete agreements and the evolving nature of their enforceability, including developments at the federal and state level.

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Sharon Cohen Levin, Craig Jones and Eric Kadel, Co-Heads of S&C’s National Security Practice, Adam Szubin, Of Counsel in S&C’s National Security Practice, and Andrew DeFilippis, Special Counsel in S&C’s National Security Practice, continue their discussion of significant developments in national security enforcement.

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Sharon Cohen Levin, Tony Lewis and Eric Kadel, Co-Heads of S&C’s National Security Practice, Adam Szubin, Of Counsel in S&C’s National Security Practice, and Andrew DeFilippis, Special Counsel in S&C’s National Security Practice, continue their discussion of significant developments in national security enforcement.

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Annie Ostrager, Co-Head of S&C’s Labor & Employment Group, and Kamil Shields, a partner in S&C’s Litigation Group, discussed recent developments in whistleblower enforcement investigations and new whistleblower programs. Annie and Kamil cover the increase in enforcement actions and investigations into employment and other agreements that...

Ten years ago, international companies typically needed to monitor national security developments only if they were doing business with a U.S. government agency or operating in higher risk jurisdictions or sectors such as military or dual-use goods. Over the past decade, however, Western governments—led by the United States—have expanded the use of sanctions, export controls, import restrictions a...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Michelle Chen, a partner in S&C’s Financial Services Group, and June Hu, special counsel in the Firm’s General Practice Group, provide key takeaways for financial institutions as they navigate environmental, social and governance considerations in 2024. Michelle and June review key ESG developments in 2023, noting a trend of growing divergence in...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Senior M&A Partner Frank Aquila and Global Head of M&A Melissa Sawyer discuss major takeaways from M&A in 2023 and potential developments for 2024. While we avoided a recession in 2023, ongoing economic uncertainty, rising interest rates, regulatory headwinds and geopolitical tensions contributed to a second year of falling activity level...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Marc Treviño and Melissa Sawyer, Co-Heads of S&C’s Corporate Governance Practice, discuss corporate governance developments and what to expect in 2024. Marc and Melissa explore the ongoing trend of increased shareholder proposals focused on environmental, social and political topics and touch on ESG as it relates to the broader legislative and po...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Julie Jordan, Tracy Richelle High and Annie Ostrager, Co-Heads of S&C’s Labor and Employment Group, discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in two consolidated cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The Court held that the schools’ admissions programs—both of which used race as an explicit factor in admissions decisions—violated...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Connor Schillerstrom from our Sydney office, John Anselmi from our Melbourne office and Sam Saunders from our New York office discuss how Australia and the United States are working together to address climate change. Connor, John and Sam provide insight on how Australia might benefit from the Australia-United States Climate, Critical Minerals and Cl...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Melissa Sawyer, Global Head of S&C’s M&A Group, and Joe Matelis, a partner in S&C’s Antitrust Group, discuss how the draft merger guidelines issued by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission may affect M&A deals. Joe, who helped develop the 2010 horizontal merger guidelines that would be replaced by the new guidelines,...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Annie Ostrager and Tracy Richelle High, Co-Heads of S&C’s Labor & Employment Group, discuss the Supreme Court’s June 16 decision in United States ex. rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources and implications for qui tam whistleblowers.   The False Claims Act (FCA) authorizes qui tam actions by private parties, called “relators,” who sue on...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Annie Ostrager and Tracy Richelle High, Co-Heads of S&C’s Labor & Employment Group, discuss recent developments in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblowing program.  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as modified by the Dodd-Frank Act, provides protections and incentives for whistleblowers who report potential violations of the securities...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, associates from our London, Paris and Frankfurt offices—Costanza Posarelli, Matt Triggs, Alexis Madec and Stephan Rauch— discuss  key considerations for carve-out transactions for EU and U.K. businesses, and their recent experience assisting S&C clients with these complex transactions.  In the current economic climate,  many companies are evaluating whet...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Jeff Scott and Julia Malkina, Co-Leads of S&C’s Securities Litigation Practice, discuss the Supreme Court’s June 1 decision in Slack Technologies v. Pirani and the potential implications for securities litigation. Slack Technologies went public through a direct listing, which allows existing shareholders to sell their unregistered securities on the first...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Inosi Nyatta, Isaac Wheeler and Sam Saunders discuss the unanswered questions about requirements and qualifications for receiving tax credits for clean energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).   The IRA, which was passed in August 2022, is the largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history and  is expected to unleash a new wave of ene...

In the webinar “Pharmaceutical Deal Outlook: U.S. and European Perspectives,” Frank Aquila, Matt Hurd, Carsten Berrar, Olivier de Vilmorin and Jeremy Kutner discuss the outlook for M&A deals in the sector. The group of partners, who came together from S&C’s New York, Frankfurt, Paris and London offices, focus in particular on outlining how patent law impacts the tenor of mergers and acquisitions,...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Juan Rodriguez, Co-Head of S&C’s European Competition Group and the Firm’s Antitrust Group, and associate Marielena Doeding discuss the European Court of Justice’s ruling in the Fiat case and its implication for future state aid investigations. This landmark judgment—in which the Court of Justice annulled a General Court judgment and European Commission...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, partners Audra Cohen, Frank Aquila and Melissa Sawyer share important updates for dealmakers in the consumer and retail sector following the COVID-19 pandemic. Frank and Melissa discuss the impact of support legislation on various business models and explore how a continued shift in consumer priorities and product availability might change fundamental as...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights series, Sergio Galvis, head of the Firm’s Latin America practice, outlines best practices for companies making cross-border acquisitions in view of updates to the FCPA Resource Guide issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. With increased cooperation by regulators and law enforcement authorities across jurisdict...

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights podcast series, Olivier de Vilmorin, head of the Firm’s European M&A practice, discusses the measures proposed by France’s securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), concerning shareholder activism. Following a growing number of activist campaigns in France over the past several months, the AMF has clarified its position with p...

S&C partners Jim Bromley and Andy Dietderich, the co-heads of our Global Restructuring practice, discuss strategies for boards confronting the “zone of insolvency” during the COVID-19 crisis.

S&C partners Carsten Berrar, Krystian Czerniecki and John Horsfield-Bradbury discuss the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on capital raising in Europe, and how issuers can adjust structures to address the current situation.