As manufacturers start their strategic planning for 2024, they should pay attention to labor, economic climate, cybersecurity, and customers satisfaction: Labor and digital development Hiring and retaining quality skilled employees has never been more difficult. Like 2023,  organizations are predicting tight labor markets will continue to constrain growth in 2024. Burnout, low morale, insufficient wages, life balance, early retirement, increased union activities, contract labor disputes, and higher cost of living will continue to create headwinds. What can you do? • Pay close attention...

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Cushman & Wakefield has been recognized on the Forbes list of America's Best Large Employers 2024. The annual award is presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. America’s Best Large Employers were selected based on an independent survey of more than 170,000 U.S.-based employees from all industry sectors working for companies employing at least 5,000 people in the U.S. The survey topics included working hours, salary, opportunities for training and promotion, workload expectations,...

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a decision on February 9, 2024 in Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) Cons. Investigation 7809, finding that Vanity Art LLC did not evade the antidumping duty (AD) order A-570-084 and countervailing duty (CVD) order C-570-085 on quartz surface products (QSP or covered merchandise) from the People’s Republic of China.  Vanity Art was represented by GDLSK LLP in the EAPA investigation. The case was initiated in early 2023 based on allegations filed by Cambria...

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This article summarizes the key messages of a seminar that EACCNY organized at the end of November, 2023 on the EU’s New Mobility Directive. The introduction of a harmonized European framework for cross-border change of legal form and demerger of companies opens up new opportunities for US businesses to restructure their subsidiaries across various jurisdictions within the European Union. By the end of January this year, member states of the EU were obliged to transpose the so-called EU Mobility Directive into...

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The past few years have been marked by adversities that have tested the world’s resilience, including a pandemic and conflicts that have disrupted global stability. But despite these hardships, we look ahead with a sense of purpose and determination. A message from our Managing Partner At Mannheimer Swartling, we believe in the transformative power of the legal profession to contribute to a better world. In times of uncertainty, lawyers have a unique ability to make a difference. We firmly believe that...

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded 154 loans with a balance of $2.52 billion against multifamily and healthcare properties during the first quarter of its latest fiscal year. That's a 38% drop in production from the same period a year earlier when the agency funded 249 loans with a balance of $4.09 billion. Lending Volumes Decline The decline in production isn't a surprise, given that commercial property lending overall has continued to remain lackluster as a result...

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently declared that AI-generated voices do fall within the meaning of “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in a ruling issued on February 8, 2024.1 The ruling follows a recent surge in robocalling and robotexting using AI technologies that simulate a human voice or that generate call content using a prerecorded voice, resulting in a significant number of complaints from consumers and attorneys general. Going forward, businesses and callers who use AI-generated...

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On 21 January 2024, the final text of the EU Regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (“AI Act”) was made public through unofficial channels but has yet to be formally adopted in the legislative process. Not surprisingly, the almost 900-page working paper still contains numerous substantive changes, many of which primarily affect AI system providers. For most companies, however, the much more interesting question is: What obligations do they face if they want to use third-party AI systems? The European AI Regulation...

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A regular feature of AlixPartners’ Annual Container Shipping Report is a section detailing trends to watch in the coming year. Each year, when we prepare our latest report, we review our selection from the prior cycle to learn how well our forecasts held up against real-world events. In last year’s report, we named five trends to watch in 2023 and suggested how they might develop during the year. Read on to learn how they played out. Trade flows in flux We noted...

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