Legal News

Strengthening Buy American statutes have been a rare area of bipartisan agreement in the current fractured political climate. In the final days of the Trump Administration, the Department of Defense (“DOD”), General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration jointly issued new regulations, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) to implement Executive Order 13881, “Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials.” On January 25, 2021,...

In September 2020, the FTC announced that it would be proposing a series of changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification regulatory regime with the anticipated publication of both a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) and Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”). Both were published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2020, triggering a 60-day comment period, which is set to expire on February 1, 2021....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

A recent Massachusetts trial court decision ruled that any objections to a payment application are waived unless a reviewing owner or contractor strictly follows the Massachusetts Prompt Payment Statute, Prompt Payment Act, G.L. c. 149, § 29E, which applies to most projects with a prime contract worth more than $3 million. See Tocci v. IRIV Partners, LLC, et al., Suffolk Superior Court, 1984CV000405 (November 19, 2020)....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Faced with a December 8, 2020, Memorandum and Order by Eastern District Judge Pappert (link) denying the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) request to enjoin the proposed Jefferson-Einstein merger, and the resulting right of the parties to complete the merger after 11:59pm on December 15, 2020 pursuant to the terms of a February 2020 temporary restraining order, the following procedural steps were taken......By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

On December 1, 2020, the Court of Appeals of Texas (1st District) reversed a lower court decision and held that where a party fails to show that a public university defendant has expressly breached a contractual provision, Texas sovereign immunity law shields the public university from a lawsuit See Texas Southern University v. Pepper Lawson Horizon International Group, LLC, No. 01-19-00395, 2020 WL 703584 (Court of Appeals (Tx. 1st District) December 1, 2020)....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr L...

Responding to calls from Philadelphia’s housing advocates to generate tax revenue for affordable housing, Philadelphia City Council adopted a trio of ordinances on December 2, affecting most new construction projects throughout the City. Mayor Jim Kenney is expected to sign the legislative package before the end of the year....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

The U.S. Small Business Association (the “SBA”) released on October 2, 2020 a Procedural Notice providing guidance as to a change of ownership of companies (a “PPP Borrower”) which received a loan (a “PPP Loan”) through the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”)....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

On September 3, 2020, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “Division”) updated its 2004 “Policy Guide to Merger Remedies,” which had been reinstated when the Division withdrew the 2011 version of that guide in September of 2018. The Division’s issuance of the new Merger Remedies Manual (the “Manual”) provides much-needed guidance to businesses and lawyers concerning the Division’s approach to seeking remedies when a merger is likely to violate Section 7 of the Cl...

Public construction in Pennsylvania and elsewhere continues to present substantial challenges to local governmental entities. While some projects have been deferred in the current health and economic climate, at some point, and we hope sooner rather than later, the normal course of public construction programs will resume....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

On June 29, 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a subcontractor’s commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy may provide a contractor listed as an additional insured on the CGL policy with insurance coverage for correcting the subcontractor’s faulty work. See Skanska USA Bldg. Inc. v. M.A.P. Mech. Contractors, Inc., No. 159510, 2020 WL 3527909 (Mich. June 29, 2020)....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP