Global Landscape of Marijuana Legislation
The legal status of marijuana and/or cannabis cultivation and usage has dramatically changed over time. In the early 20th century, cannabis was considered an illegal substance by most countries, primarily because of its perceived addictive potential and negative impact on productivity and societal order. In the 21st century, and particularly in recent year…
ALFA International Publications
The Economic Paradox
Employers are facing an economic paradox. On one hand, employers are fighting incessant labor shortages. This has triggered a war for talent, which employers have waged against each other by offering ever-increasing and creative incentives to prospective employees. On the other hand, the chorus of warnings about a coming recession are growing louder and more frequent. The re…
Effective and critical decision making is essential in our work but can still be very difficult for attorneys and clients involved in conflict. We tend to believe our own reactions are controllable, and that others will act “rationally.” However, this is not always the case. Research has proven that we are not hardwired for effective decision-making. Many times, after a critical decision has bee…
Introduction
Any lawyer who has been involved in corporate M&A for a period of time will be familiar with the process known as due diligence (DD). Most M&A lawyers will likely have been involved in conducting the legal aspects of a DD process undertaken by a prospective buyer of either the shares or the assets of a target company. In a buyer DD process[i], the buyer or its professional …
Why Is Succession Planning for a Business Important and Essential?
The workforce had been changing even before the pandemic, with workers becoming older and not wanting to retire, and Millennials in the workforce presenting challenges for employers. With the pandemic, employers saw an increasing number of employees retire, sometimes at their desks, and they struggled, and continue to struggle, to …
Federal Trade Commission Proposed Non-Compete Ban
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule that would largely ban non-compete agreements nationally between employers and employees. If enacted, it would be an “unfair method of competition” for an employer “to enter into or attempt to enter into,” “maintain” or “represent to a worker that the worker is subject to a non-compe…
Working together to resolve complex litigation matters under a reservation of rights can make the insured and the insurance company feel more like adversaries than teammates. Covered versus non-covered claims, additional insured issues and first and third-party claims all influence the game plan. Add the risk of excess exposure to pitch and you have potential conflicts that don’t even involve yo…
It has long been a truism that every business, every litigator, and every client wishes to “win,” whether in the marketplace, in investments, in negotiations, in pre-trial litigation, or at trial. While the free market in theory encourages that attitude, culture, society, and governmental bodies have erected guard rails for the purpose of reining in those whose drive to succeed is not tempered by…
Introduction
A crisis in the workplace can happen at any time and always seems to arise when we are least expecting it. The risk of potential crisis is unavoidable. However, recent crisis-level events globally have shown that certain types of catastrophic risks in the in the workplace often are accompanied by the collateral consequences of severe financial or reputational damage to a company, or l…
The recent explosion of attention on artificial intelligence resulting from platforms such as ChatGPT, Bard, DALL-E, and Midjourney’s use of large language models, has created tremendous excitement (and some fear) about possibilities for companies. We have all seen the stories about attorneys who filed a brief or supporting memo of law containing AI generated misrepresentations of law or wholly fi…