DoD Proposes Significant Amendments to the DFARS Data Rights Scheme
Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.27.16
On June 16, 2016, DoD issued a proposed rule to amend the DFARS to implement section 815 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012, which made significant changes to the data rights scheme for DoD contracts. Among other things, the proposed rule permits the release of “segregation and reintegration” technical data and computer software outside of the government (subject to restrictions), even when the item, component, or process to which that data pertains or the computer software was developed exclusively at private expense; expands DoD’s ability to order technical data and computer software post-award; doubles the time period in which DoD may challenge asserted data rights restrictions; and expressly imposes no time limit on DoD’s right to challenge fraudulently asserted restrictions.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26
DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability
On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
Auto Dealers: The FTC Is Back in the Driver’s Seat — Warning Letters Signal Renewed Federal Scrutiny
Client Alert | 13 min read | 06.12.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
