Administrative Process

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Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning concepts

President Biden issued an Executive Order on October 30, 2023 designed to place the United States at the forefront of law and regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Executive Order on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” creates binding disclosure requirements for companies that are either developing certain large language AI models or acquiring or possess sufficient computing power to run such AI implementations (as described below). The Order also establishes, and directs several federal agencies to establish, industry benchmarks for ensuring robust, reliable, repeatable and standardized testing and evaluations of AI systems, create new standards for AI safety and security.

The Order contains a lot of detailed provisions and initiatives involving nearly every government agency and calling for wide-ranging studies and recommendations on nearly every facet of AI, significant provisions of which are described below.

Of particular note, however, the President invoked the Defense Production Act to impose certain requirements that will go into effect 90 days after the issuance of the Order. There are two significant requirements going into effect affecting companies that employ AI models and companies that employ or provide large computing capacity that can be used for AI.Continue Reading President Biden Issues Far-Reaching Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

On October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) issued its long-awaited final rule establishing a new standard for determining when two employers are joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act. If any two entities are deemed joint employers, both are obligated to bargain with a union that represents the employees. Moreover, each entity is responsible for any unfair labor practice committed by the other and both are subject to demands for recognition and/or an NLRB election.

The final rule, set to take effect December 26, 2023, rescinds and replaces the Board’s previous joint employer rule issued in April 2020. The most significant change under the new rule is the manner in which it alters what is needed to show that two entities share or codetermine employees’ essential terms of employment. The 2020 rule required an entity to possess and actually exercise “substantial direct and immediate control” over one or more of the essential terms. Under the new standard, an entity can be deemed a joint employer if it has authority to control at least one essential term, “whether or not such control is exercised, and without regard to whether any such exercise of control is direct or indirect, such as through an intermediary.”

Although similar to a previous standard announced in the NLRB’s 2015 decision in Browning-Ferris Industries, 362 NLRB No. 186, the new rule goes considerably further by establishing that mere possession of such authority, alone, is sufficient to find joint employer status.Continue Reading NLRB’s New Joint Employer Test Significantly Expands Circumstances Under Which Separate Entities Will Be Deemed Joint Employers

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On July 3, President Biden announced nominees Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak to the Federal Trade Commission, filling two Republican vacancies.

Ferguson has served as the Solicitor General of Virginia since February 2022, overseeing the state’s appellate litigation, including at the Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals. He served as counsel for Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and most recently, Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Ferguson spent several years in private practice after clerking for Judge Karen Henderson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Clarence Thomas on the US Supreme Court. Ferguson earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.Continue Reading White House Announces Nominees for FTC

By: Matthew A. Rossi and Eleanor Hudson Callaway

On Friday, April 14, 2023, the Supreme Court cleared the way for respondents in Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) administrative proceedings to challenge the constitutionality of those proceedings in federal district court while the administrative process is ongoing.  Typically, as required by…