Resources

In response to Executive Order 14268, Reforming Foreign Defense Sales to Improve Speed and Accountability, the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls published a proposed rule under Public Notice 13123. The Proposed Rule would revise several fundamental definitions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), remove certain defense article components from the ITAR’s U.S. Munitions List (USML), and expand the circumstances under which information and commodities are excluded or released from ITAR export controls.

As data center development accelerates nationwide, state legislatures are evaluating how to address water demands of these facilities. Recent legislation in Michigan, Illinois, and California demonstrate that there is no uniform approach to regulating data center water usage.

The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2026-34, a comprehensive update to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), which is the IRS program for correcting retirement-plan errors. The retirement plan community has been eagerly awaiting this guidance for several years. The update incorporates key correction provisions of SECURE 2.0 and interim IRS guidance, as well as other updates designed to improve EPCRS.

When a building changes service providers, the incoming company may inherit more than the contract. It may also become responsible for substantial termination liabilities if it decides not to employ the outgoing provider’s workers.

In November 2025, as part of the broader U.S.-China Busan Agreement, the Affiliates Rule was provided a one-year suspension without modification of the underlying rule. Absent action by the U.S. government, the Affiliates Rule is set to resume on November 10, 2026. Resumption of the Affiliates Rule by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) means significantly broader screening and due diligence obligations for companies, including the need to look beyond whether a customer, supplier, or other transaction party appears on a restricted-party list by examining who owns that business entity.

The debt limit for subchapter V of chapter 11 has had a wild ride. Fortunately, it appears that the days of fluctuating debt limits are behind us, with the Senate’s unanimous passage of H.R. 7730. The bill now heads to the President, who is expected to sign it into law.

The Seventh Circuit recently held that a party may waive its right to arbitrate by choosing to litigate and waiting too long to invoke arbitration. The court also found that a contractual no-waiver provision could not prevent waiver based on litigation conduct. The decision underscores the importance of identifying and asserting arbitration rights early.

Companies frequently reserve arbitration as an affirmative defense while simultaneously litigating threshold motions and engaging in discovery. The question is whether that litigation conduct can later be characterized as a waiver of the right to arbitrate. In Parkin v. Budget Rent A Car System, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that it could not.

The International Chamber of Commerce has revised its arbitration rules to streamline early case management, expand expedited procedures, strengthen conflict-disclosure requirements, and clarify tribunals’ authority to address certain issues earlier in a case. 

The National Labor Relations Board’s top prosecutor published a roadmap detailing how she intends to challenge some recent labor policy shifts, identifying 13 NLRB decisions she has challenged, or intends to challenge, covering topics like severance agreements, workplace rules, union organizing, bargaining obligations, employee misconduct, dues checkoff, and monetary remedies.