Texas will begin gradually reopening for business on May 1st following state and local restrictions on personal and economic activities in response to the coronavirus epidemic. On April 27th, Governor Abbott announced that Texas would be gradually reopening in phases beginning on May 1st. His executive order would allow the phased-in opening of previously closed…
Aaron Woo will be a panelist on the Tech Industry Panel in Toronto on May 7th during the State Bar of Texas International Section’s Trip to Canada. The panel will discuss the strong connection between Austin and Montreal as hi-tech leaders. The discussion will also include government subsidizing salaries and subsidizing benefits for new AI/Tech…
Although the United States government has run up a national debt that exceeds the Gross Domestic Product, two spendthrift United States senators have the temerity to lecture American corporations about how the latter should manage their balance sheets. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) recently proposed forthcoming legislation that aims to prevent corporations…
Cyber Risk Last Friday’s global cyber and ransomware attack in history highlights vulnerabilities to and pervasiveness of cyber risk. Hospitals, train systems and large businesses had their data held hostage as the hackers demanded ransoms to be paid in bitcoin. Recently, the purchase price for the sale of Yahoo to Verizon was reduced by $350…
Cyber incidents across industries have been increasingly on the rise and as a result, regulators have had their hands full struggling to keep ahead of the growing problem. In the past three years, more than 200 bills, amendments, and legislative proposals have been introduced by Congress to combat cyber security issues facing American industries. Information…
Generally, US law makes it simple for foreign companies and individual investors to acquire US assets and invest in US companies. However, the President of the United States has the authority to block or unwind foreign acquisitions of sensitive US assets on the grounds of national security. Voluntary CFIUS National Security Reviews Parties to a…
After a sharp decline in investments, private equity (PE) firms are rebounding and ready to strike new deals in the North American oil & gas industry with a near $1 trillion cash pile. After peaking in 2014 at 104 deals worth $39 billion, PE activity began quickly declining in 2015, leaving 2016 with only 12…
The Federal Trade Commission was dealt a major blow this Tuesday when Judge Jorge L. Alfonso of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division ruled that the proposed merger of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem could proceed, rejecting the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction. The proposed deal…
Many employers know that the WARN Act requires employers to give notice to employees prior to a plant closing or mass layoff. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 2101-09. But sometimes employers overlook the Act in the context of the sale or purchase of a business, which may involve a plant closing or mass layoff. Whether the seller or…
A blow was recently dealt to pipeline operators and midstream companies by a federal bankruptcy judge in New York. On March 8, Judge Shelly Chapman allowed bankrupt Sabine Oil & Gas to drop their contracts with two midstream companies, HPIP Gonzales Holdings and Nordheim Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, an affiliate of Cheniere Energy Inc. These…
