On May 18, the SEC overturned a seminal settlement policy that has stood for over 50 years: remaining silent in settlement (otherwise known as the “gag rule”).
Previously, Rule 202.5(e) adopted the SEC’s policy that a civil lawsuit or administrative proceeding defendant could not consent to an order settling a matter while also denying the
On May 21, 2026, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion in M & K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, and if you’re an employer who’s ever thought about walking away from an underfunded multiemployer pension plan, you should be paying attention.
The question was deceptively simple: when a
In a 2-1 decision on May 7, 2026, a three-judge U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) panel struck down the Trump administration’s implementation of Section 122 tariffs (see Update of February 23, 2026).
The 10% tariff on a wide range of imported goods, the panel reasoned, extended beyond President Trump’s power to address any
On May 6, 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice initiating its second statutory four-year review of Section 301 tariffs on imports of certain Chinese products initially implemented by the Trump administration in its 2018 investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. The first step
On May 1, 2026, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled, “Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy.” Pursuant to the EO, the Secretary of State and/or Secretary of Treasury are able to designate for blocking sanctions any foreign person
On April 27, 2026, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) published a Federal Register notice adding a duty-free code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) with retroactive effect to cover goods subject to the Section 232 aluminum, steel, or copper tariff regimes that do not, in fact, contain these metals. This new
A recent excellent New York Times article explains how a change in law first effective in 2022 has quickly come to be used by out-of-network providers to obtain significant overpayments for routine medical procedures. Not stated in the article is the impact on self-funded group health plans and the sponsors of those plans. Specifically, the
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the “Departments”) recently released their 2025 Report to Congress on enforcement activity under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”).
Background
MHPAEA is a federal law that generally requires group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) does not frequently issue Field Assistance Bulletins (FABs); in fact, in the last decade, there have only been ten FABs issued. Furthermore, EBSA rarely uses them to articulate an overarching enforcement philosophy. The usual offering is guidance on notice requirements and announcements of EBSA’s temporary enforcement
On April 14, 2026, U.S. Court of International Trade Senior Judge Richard Eaton held a closed conference in the new lead case, Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, et al., addressing refunds of duties paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”). At the conclusion of the conference, the Judge issued
