Corporate and Business  Law Journal

By: William Anderson

Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 15 as part of a settlement deal to end several lawsuits alleging the company’s responsibility for the opioid crisis.

By: Vanessa Stockwill

We often muse that “nothing is certain but death and taxes.” However, remote sellers were able to evade the latter until 2018 because a series of Supreme Court decisions held that sales taxes levied against out-of-state businesses are unconstitutional unless the seller has a physical presence inside the state. Because of this requirement, Arizona—like many states—requires customers to pay a use tax on any purchase for which the seller doesn’t collect a sales tax. Since it is impractical to enforce this schema, the physical presence requirement effectively gave remote sellers a tax advantage over businesses with in-state employees, stores, or other physical presence.

By Tyler Godbehere

On April 28th, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced new rules restricting exports to China, Russia, and Venezuela. These changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) remove license exceptions , mandate additional reporting requirements , and provide broad licensing requirements for all “military end users.” Changes to export controls represent a major shift in U.S. policy since President Trump took office.

By: ALEXANDER RUDOLPH

To say that the 2020 election cycle was tumultuous, would be like referring to the Cuban Missile Criss as stressful. Amidst the myriad of election lawsuits and disinformation scandals that threatened American democracy over the past year has arisen a new question; how far can someone go when advocating issues of national importance without crossing a line? What duties, if any, do broadcasters really have in verifying claims that were also made in court? While all of those will likely remain open legal questions, by examining the largest defamation suit to come out of the 2020 election we can better understand the new scrutiny facing lawyers and broadcasters alike, and hopefully that knowledge will serve to caution others from emulating this behavior in the future.

By: Josh Bethea

COVID-19 has forced hundreds of businesses into bankruptcy while taking thousands of American lives. But can it excuse failure to perform a contract?
A bankruptcy court in Illinois held yes. Although much about this issue remains unclear, the Court’s decision reinforced the rights of contracted parties whose agreements contain force majeure provisions. This post will briefly explain the law of force majeure and then explore the impact of the Court’s ruling.

By: Mahak Sodhi

What happens if disaster hits and you are unable to perform your promised obligations under a contract? This is the exact type of situation where a party could trigger a force majeure clause. Where unforeseen circumstances occur that cause agreed upon terms of a contract to become substantially taxing, challenging, or more costly to perform, a force majeure provision can save a party from being required to pay damages. As well, so long as parties contracted to include a force majeure clause, the parties can utilize it to excuse performance in that contract.

By: Catherine Bradshaw
Viral social media star machine TikTok has announced a potential deal with two American companies in an effort to skirt President Trump’s executive order promising to ban the app if it remains under Chinese control. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, is in talks to create a new U.S.-based company, TikTok Global, of which Oracle and Walmart, both American companies, would own 20 percent. President Trump voiced approval of the deal, stating he has “given the deal [his] blessing.” This statement came following weeks of increasing tensions between the U.S. government and the social media giant over allegations from Trump officials that the Chinese government could use the app to steal data from American users and threatens U.S. national security.

By: Jacob King

Over the past decade, virtual currency has exploded as one of the primary forms of payment used online. Virtual currency is preferred by online consumers due to its pseudo-anonymity and convenience. While many consider the pseudo-anonymity and convenience of virtual currency to be advantageous, pseudo-anonymity and convenience are among the many issues presented when it comes to the taxation of virtual currency. . .

By: William Bassoff

As the next president of the United States, Joe Biden will have a great deal of influence over his administration’s antitrust enforcement. Antitrust enforcement against tech companies’ perceived market power is an increasingly popular idea in the United States. During the current presidency, the Department of Justice and eleven state Attorneys General have brought a civil antitrust suit against Google. Democratic committee members on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust recommended sweeping changes to US antitrust laws in order to prosecute Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook – perceived tech monopolists. This places the United States in a historic moment for antitrust law, with both political parties clamoring for increased antitrust enforcement against tech giants.