Many U.S.-based life sciences companies outsource their clinical trial needs to laboratories outside of the U.S., including labs located in the European Union (EU). Others conducting clinical trials in the U.S. may be involved with the collection and processing of EU patients’ data in some other capacity. Despite the benefits of such international cooperation, these arrangements trigger an array of compliance obligations for U.S. companies under a number of EU laws[1], including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its rules pertaining to data processing activities.

Over the past few days, Governor Charlie Baker’s office has released guidance for employers on its phased reopening of the Massachusetts economy.  The plan to reopen includes a carefully planned, four-phase approach which addresses which businesses can open when, and what requirements those businesses must follow in order to resume operations.  Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks or longer, before transitioning to the next phase, though public health trends may require the state, or certain regions, to revert back to previous phases.

Outside GC's immigration team shares important immigration-related developments below:

Although the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) received additional funding on April 24^th, many small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis still report difficulty with navigating the application process. The Treasury Department has responded by issuing more PPP-related guidelines and information on its CARES Act assistance page.

A non-solicitation clause is a provision in a contract generally prohibiting the hiring (or attempting to hire) of one of the other party’s employees or contractors. It can be thought of as an “anti-poaching” provision. Often, vendors will add such a provision to keep its customers or clients from poaching the vendor’s employees in an attempt to avoid using the vendor by bringing the vendor’s expertise in house. When this happens, the vendor loses not only a key employee, but also, in many case, a client.

When the federal government announced the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) several weeks ago, making available $349 billion for loans to small businesses impacted the COVID-19 health crisis, borrowers scrambled to submit loan applications in accordance with the “first-come, first-served” process. On April 16th, PPP funds were depleted, leaving many small businesses empty-handed. In response to the continued need, the government has approved additional funds for both the PPP and the SBA’s other loan program that can be used to reduce the impact of COVID-19, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program ("EIDL Program”).

Last night, President Trump signed a Proclamation restricting immigration to the U.S. for certain foreign nationals. The order takes effect at 11:59pm EDT on April 23, 2020 and is effective for 60 days (and may be continued depending on labor market conditions.)

The coronavirus has toppled business as we know it, and many companies are attempting to right themselves by scaling back, including seeking to be excused from contractual obligations pursuant to a “force majeure” provision in their agreements. Force majeure is one of a handful of standard “boilerplate” contract terms that is often skimmed over (at best) or overlooked by the parties, given its relative unimportance as compared to more substantive provisions. However, when faced with unexpected and/or uncontrollable circumstances, a precisely worded force majeure clause can sometimes offer a lifeline that will excuse one party’s performance obligations.