Global Crisis
Hub & Resource Center

Trees are ubiquitous. They are a natural part of our landscape and valued for the beauty they provide (not to mention the environmental benefits) as well as their lumber and economic value. Landowners often value their trees, but when a landowner needs to remove trees for development tensions can arise between the government’s interest in preserving and protecting the environment and the landowner’s inherent property rights. Often these pressures are most prevalent in local governments so-called tree or woodland ordinances...

Late Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Order and Opinion lifting the stay that previously had been entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which had prevented the OSHA COVID-19 emergency technical standard (the “ETS”) that applied to employers with 100 or more employees from going into effect. This reversal puts many employers in the position of having to immediately restart compliance efforts that may have been paused during the pendency of the stay...

The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently signaled its intent to prioritize prosecuting individuals who commit corporate environmental crimes. In conjunction with recent changes announced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD”), Todd Kim, announced that the ENRD will shift focus to criminal prosecutions of individuals to encourage environmental compliance. Environmental prosecutions reached an all-time low during the Trump Administration, and the vast majority were misdemeanors and petty offenses...

The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) will have significant impacts on brand owners and might offer new tools and procedures for challenging blocking trademarks and problematic registrations for those willing to take advantage of the new law. The TMA was passed by Congress in December 2020 before the USPTO announced the final Rules for implementation on November 17, 2021...

In a long-awaited policy announced in an October 28, 2021, speech at the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, the Department of Justice has embarked on more aggressive enforcement of white collar and corporate prosecution. During the Trump Administration, such prosecutions reached historic lows, but that is about to change. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced significant changes to DOJ policies on corporate enforcement. Monaco noted in recent years, corporate misconduct, such as export controls violations and cybersecurity crimes, has implicated national security concerns to a greater extent...