The spotlight has been turned on China’s labor practices. A recent report by an international alliance of trade unions and nongovernmental organizations has accused four manufacturers of Beijing Olympics products of engaging in unfair labor practices, namely, using underage workers and underpaid workers, and providing poor working conditions.

On August 11, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its changes to its rules on executive compensation and related party disclosure.

In this article, an experienced construction attorney provides his insights on the type of claim that is most significant to the wind industry: delay claims. As the author points out, given the losses sustained by owners, developers, vendors, contractors and installers when wind projects are late, delay claims can expose project participants to millions of dollars of liability.

Last month, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued a notice listing the documents that must be submitted when CSRC approval is required in connection with an offshore listing or going-public transaction involving a Chinese operating company.

On December 11, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a modified opinion in the largest sex discrimination class action in United States history, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Inc., Case No. 04-16688.

California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, Code of Civil Procedure § 52(a), provides for an award of damages of no less than $4,000 for each and every offense against a business that "denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination" by providing less than full and equal services based on "sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation."

On December 22, 2006, the SEC amended its executive and director compensation disclosure rules, which had become effective in November. The new amendments are in the form of "interim final rules" that became immediately effective upon their publication in the Federal Register on December 29, 2006.

On August 8, 2006, six PRC ministries jointly promulgated a set of far-reaching rules that have changed the landscape for foreign mergers and acquisitions, offshore listings of Chinese companies, and the restructurings of PRC companies, which commonly precede foreign investment of venture capital and private equity. The Rules became effective as of September 8, 2006.

In June 8, 2006, the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware issued its decision in the case of In Re: The Walt Disney Company Derivative Litigation, No. 411/2005, affirming the Chancery Court’s August 2005 determination (after trial) that the Disney directors did not breach their fiduciary duties with respect to the hiring and termination of Michael Ovitz, nor in connection with his termination compensation package.

On December 7, 2005, a blue ribbon commission of the National Association of Corporate Directors issued a report containing several recommendations for addressing the "new liability landscape."

A hot issue currently being debated in the courts involves the intersection of privacy law and technology: the ability to use cellular phone signals to track the location of users.

On Monday, April 16, the California Supreme Court issued its eagerly-awaited decision in Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, holding that the additional hour pay imposed under Labor Code § 226.7 for missed meal or rest breaks is a "wage" subject to a three-year statute of limitations.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement ("DLSE") recently issued proposed regulations addressing employer reimbursement of employee travel expenses. Labor Code section 2802 requires employers to "indemnify" employees for "all necessary expenditures or losses" they incur in performing their job duties.

For more than a year now, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (“SCNPC”) has been reviewing the draft Labor Contract Law. On June 29, 2007, the SCNPC passed the PRC Labor Contract, which will take effect on January 1, 2008.

Labor Code § 212-enacted in 1910 to curb the abuses of the 'company town'-forbids California employers from paying wages by "check . . . unless it is negotiable and payable in cash, on demand, without discount, at some established place of business in the state, the name and address of which must appear on the instrument . . ." Labor Code § 212(a)(1).

On April 30, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its most recent patent decision: KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727 (2007), in which it rejected what it deemed to be a "rigid" and "narrow" test for determining the validity of a patent.

Let’s say your self-insured company has developed its own medical provider network ("MPN"), or perhaps it has joined an existing network. Perhaps your company is an insurance carrier or a third-party administrator using an MPN to manage medical costs for its insureds or clients.

Any foreign party interested in extending its operations to the United States must consider the potential risks of environmental liability early in the process of entering into a transaction. Federal, state and local laws in the U.S. impose numerous environmental restrictions and obligations upon business operating in the U.S.

China promulgated its first Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Exchange ("Original Regulations") in 1996, which were last updated in 1997.

On November 15, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted unanimously to adopt changes to Rules 144 and 145 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), including a change to shorten the holding period requirements for restricted securities.