The International Lawyers Network condemns in the strongest possible terms the reckless and unprovoked attack by Russia on Ukraine. We join with the International Bar Association in their statement against this blatant breach of international law and send our support to our member firm, PETERKA & PARTNERS Ukraine, and their families, as well as the citizens affected. We hope for an end to the war as soon as possible.
ILN Statement on Ukraine
International Lawyers Network
The International Lawyers Network (ILN) is a leading association of 91 high-quality, full-service independent law firms.
Since 1988, the ILN has helped its members keep pace with today’s global economy, through access to the tremendous strength and depth of the combined expertise of 5,000 lawyers in 66 countries on six continents.
ILN member firms are among the most respected and most experienced counsel in their jurisdictions. Clients’ increasing need for reliable foreign counsel is well-met by the personalized, high-quality and cost-effective legal services provided by ILN member firms. Unique to the ILN are the strong personal and professional relationships among its members and their clients developed over the past 30 years. Far from a mere directory, the ILN is an affiliation of lawyers who gather on a regional and worldwide basis annually and work routinely with each other to address client requirements and needs.
Each of the ILN’s member firms is international in outlook and staffed by highly trained senior attorneys, who are experts in a broad range of practice areas. ILN members have demonstrated experience in working successfully with international companies. They are independent, mid-sized firms within their jurisdictions, and are committed to the focus of the International Lawyers Network, admitted to the Network only after a rigorous application process. The ILN provides clients with high-quality service from experienced local counsel who work in firms that maintain excellent reputations in their own countries. This means that clients have immediate access to attorneys who are native, both linguistically and culturally, to the country of interest.
The ILN’s international directory app is available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones. To access the app, click here or log on to ILNmobile.com from your smartphone. Request more information about ILN membership here.
EEOC Issues New Workplace Artificial Intelligence Technical Assistance
Since late October 2021, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launched its Initiative on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Algorithmic Fairness, the agency has taken several steps to ensure AI and other emerging tools used in hiring and other employment decisions comply with federal civil rights laws that the agency enforces, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Among other things, the EEOC has hosted disability-focused listening and educational sessions, published technical assistance regarding the ADA and the use of AI and other technologies, and held a public hearing to examine the use of automated systems in employment decisions.
New York City Considers Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Weight and Height
*UPDATE: Mayor Adams signed Int. 0209-2022 into law on May 26, 2023. It will take effect on November 22, 2023.
Mayor Eric Adams finds on his desk this week a New York City Council bill that would provide New York City based employees, visitors, and residents protection from discrimination based on their height or weight. The proposed local law would amend Section 8-101 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, also known as the NYC Human Rights Law (NYCHRL).
On May 11, 2023, an overwhelming majority of the New York City Council (44 out of 51 members) voted to amend the Administrative Code to add two more characteristics, height and weight, to this list. The bill will take effect 180 days after Mayor Adams signs it into law. If he does so, New York City will join a small cohort of places (including Michigan, Washington State and Washington, D.C., to name a few) that have legislated on this issue.
New Jersey Creates Website to Provide Guidance for Recently Enacted Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights
On May 8, 2023 the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“NJDOL”) announced that it has created a web page to highlight key provisions and provide guidance for compliance with the recently enacted Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (the “Law”). As we previously discussed, the Law creates notification requirements for temporary help service firms when placing a temporary laborer at a worksite, prohibits retaliation against a temporary laborer for exercising his or her rights under the Law, and requires equal pay and benefits for temporary laborers performing the same or substantially similar job functions as employees of the third party contracting employer at each worksite. Although the bulk of the Law’s provisions do not take effect until August 5, 2023, the notification and prohibition on retaliation provisions are effective as of May 7, 2023.
The web page provides an overview of the Law and a set of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) covering the Law’s key provisions. The FAQs discuss which provisions went into effect on May 7 and summarizes those set to take place August 5, noting that additional guidance will be published in the coming months.
New Jersey Federal Judge Rules That Federal Courts Lack Subject-Matter Jurisdiction to Enforce a Department of Labor Preliminary Order
On April 19, 2023, in Gulden v. Exxon Mobil Corp., a federal district judge in New Jersey concluded that federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to enforce preliminary orders to reinstate former employees under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”). In so doing, the district judge declined to enforce OSHA’s preliminary orders requiring ExxonMobil to reinstate two former employees to their jobs for the remainder of the agency’s investigation into the pair’s whistleblower complaint, reasoning that the statutory text only confers federal district courts authority to enforce final orders. Gulden is a win for employers because it joins the growing chorus of federal district courts that have concluded that the Department of Labor may not force a company to preliminarily reinstate an alleged whistleblower before the Secretary of Labor’s final order.
Video: What the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Means for Employers – Employment Law This Week
As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we turn our focus to the conclusion of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023:
What does the end of the COVID-19 PHE mean for employers? Epstein Becker Green attorneys Brianna Richardson and Eric I. Emanuelson Jr. describe the challenges employers may encounter as they navigate crucial decisions regarding policies, procedures, and benefits during the ongoing transition process.
Workplace Mass Shootings Are a Reminder That Employers Need Legally Compliant Workplace Gun Policies
Some of the most notable recent mass shootings in the United States have been perpetrated by current or former employees in their workplaces. For example, on April 10, 2023, an employee of a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, who had been notified that he was going to be terminated, shot and killed five bank employees and wounded many others who were attending a morning staff meeting. In 2021, a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority employee shot and killed nine of his fellow employees in a San Jose, California railyard. In its publication, “Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2022”, the FBI reported that of the 50 active shooter incidents in the United States in 2022, 14 of them, comprising 28 percent of the total, occurred in “commerce” settings.
Columbus, Ohio, Will Hop on the Salary History Ban-Wagon in March 2024
Columbus has joined Toledo, Cincinnati, and a number of states and locales around the country, in banning employers from asking job applicants about their salary history.
Effective March 1, 2024, covered employers in Ohio’s capital will be prohibited from:
- inquiring about an applicant’s salary history,
- screening applicants based on their salary history,
- relying solely on salary history when deciding whether to offer an applicant employment or determining their compensation, and
- retaliating against applicants for not disclosing their salary history.
Salary History
Currently, neither the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor the Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibit employers from screening applicants based on prior salary, requesting an applicant’s salary history, or conditioning an applicant’s employment on providing their salary history. However, salary history bans, which are intended to eliminate the perpetuation of discriminatory pay disparities, have become increasingly common both at the state and local level. As of April 2023, more than 40 states and localities have adopted some form a salary history ban.
Defining Boundaries: IP Law Addresses Exterritoriality, Lexicography & Human Touch

“Yes, the law is about words…,” says Ben Chiriboga in writing about the essential skills that lawyers must have. And Ken White noted more recently that “the entire project of the law is about words meaning specific things.” But our problem often is that the law, or lawyers, frequently use unfamiliar or exotic terms that others claim have no more understood meaning than a reference to a “vermicious knid,” and those or other lawyers may overuse a word that they do not seem to actually comprehend. Indeed, understanding and enforcing the rule of law is itself commonly about defining an undefined concept.
NYC Publishes Final Rule for AEDT Law and Identifies New Enforcement Date
On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) issued a Notice of Adoption of Final Rule to implement Local Law 144 of 2021, legislation regarding automated employment decision tools (“AEDT Law”). DCWP also announced that it will begin enforcement of the AEDT Law and Final Rule on July 5, 2023. Pursuant to the AEDT Law, an employer or employment agency that uses an automated employment decision tool (“AEDT”) in NYC to screen a candidate or employee for an employment decision must subject the tool to a bias audit within one year of the tool’s use, make information about the bias audit publicly available, and provide notice of the use of the tool to employees or job candidates.
AAA, JAMS and CPR Comparison Chart for US Domestic Arbitrations
This chart provides practical guidance on the differences between the three major US domestic
arbitration forums. Counsel may use it to assess the benefits of each forum’s rules and modify the particular rules that most affect their client’s business and industry sector, and the types of disputes they are likely to encounter. Read more…
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