In this episode, Mike Burke, AGG Corporate partner and co-leader of the firm’s International Initiative, is joined by Lorna Conn, CEO of talent solutions organization Cpl, to discuss “Brand Ireland.” Mike and Lorna look at...more
In this episode, Mike Burke, AGG Corporate partner and leader of the Ireland & Northern Ireland practice, is joined by Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland to discuss Enterprise Ireland’s investment approach to...more
My last post discussed the potential (but likely very small) impact of the relatively new U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on Irish and Northern Irish exports to the U.S. In this post, I turn to the related question of whether...more
Several Irish and NI companies have asked me whether the recently-imposed US tariffs on aluminum and steel would impact their products–products that use/incorporate aluminum and steel. Much of the confusion stems from how the...more
Just back from a two-week swing through Belfast, Antrim (at a wonderful InvestNI program) Londonderry/Derry, Galway, and Dublin, meeting with companies looking to export to the U.S. One question that came up time and again:...more
Register the IP you’ll use in the US, most likely your trademarks. Many Irish and Northern Irish companies mistakenly believe that their home jurisdiction trademark registrations will be effective in the US. Nope. Also, some...more
The first thing you should do when considering whether to export your product to the United States is determine whether the product can be marketed or sold in the United States, or if there are license or registration...more
Ten days ago I was in Belfast, speaking on a joint Invest Northern Ireland- Catalyst program about doing business in the US. Much virtual ink has been spilled on this blog about when an Irish or Northern Irish company should...more
Over the past two weeks, I’ve reviewed two non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for Northern Irish companies that are expanding to the US. I’ve written about NDAs in the past: NDAs and You: Perfect Together. The NDAs were...more
As I’ve posted before, I usually advise non-US companies to form a corporation when expanding to the United States. Every now and then, I get some pushback because the non-US company has heard about ‘limited liability...more
On Friday, I used the phrase “Uber Settlement” as (maybe) click-bait to introduce an important, but hidden, issue facing Irish and Northern Irish companies operating in the US. As I noted in that post, many Irish and Northern...more
5/11/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Ireland ,
IRS ,
Misclassification ,
Northern Ireland ,
Penalties ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Uber recently settled—for US$100 million—two class-action cases involving some of its drivers, and one of the issue points in the litigation was whether Uber drivers are independent contractors or employees under relevant US...more
Businesses operating in or expanding to the US, including those from Ireland and Northern Ireland, use independent contractors to avoid some of the baggage associated with the employer/employee relationship under US law. The...more
8/7/2015
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Control Test ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Foreign Entities ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ireland ,
Misclassification ,
Northern Ireland
Officers and directors of Irish and Northern Irish companies whose products would be regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (life sciences companies, specifically) should be aware of developments on the issue of...more
7/10/2015
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Officers ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Indictments ,
Ireland ,
Medical Devices ,
Misbranding ,
Northern Ireland ,
Off-Label Promotion ,
Off-Label Use ,
Personal Liability
AGG produces a monthly update of legal and regulatory issues that affect the FDA-regulated community, including regular updates on legislative initiatives from our Washington, DC office. The June 2015 update is now available....more
Foreign investors increasingly complain that US arbitration is morphing in to a process closer to full-blown litigation. I’ve always found it interesting that ‘full-blown’ is used to describe ‘all-in’ litigation and ‘all-in’...more