The Week at Ropes & Gray: Much Ado in Washington and a Step Forward for Brexit

Weekly happenings of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

• Changes in Washington are happening at a breakneck pace, and Ropes & Gray is on top of the legal developments in immigration law, privacy, health care, government enforcement and tax, all highlighted on our Capital Insights site:
• Immediately following President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration signed Jan. 27 announcing travel restrictions for seven countries, a team of Ropes & Gray attorneys sprung into action to provide legal counsel to individuals and companies on time-sensitive immigration questions. While courts around the country grapple with the order, our lawyers are following their rulings closely, including one out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts that appears to open a window during which visa holders currently abroad can try to reenter through Boston Logan International Airport.
• Another immigration order from President Trump last week directed federal agencies to ensure “their privacy policies exclude persons who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable immigration” – a break from how the government previously has treated personally identifiable information of those individuals in many contexts, including the processing of visas and immigration records.  A Ropes &  Gray client alert discusses the privacy implications, assessing both the initial impact and longer-term effects. 
• In a new video, health care partner Tom Bulleit discusses the impact of the Trump administration on health care, and in particular on the Affordable Care Act. Said Mr. Bulleit: “The inescapable conclusion from the current state of things is that nothing can be predicted with any degree of confidence … I would be watching closely, but not making any major changes to the business plan I had adopted before the election.” 
• While Congress considers the president’s cabinet post nominations, government enforcement partner Colleen Conry considers the outlook for white collar enforcement under a Jeff Sessions-led Department of Justice. Among other predictions, Ms. Conry suggests that a DOJ under a conservative administration will still be very active in the corporate space, taking a tough stance on white collar crime to deter corporate misconduct. 
• Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the UK House of Commons voted in favor of a bill that provided Prime Minister Theresa May with the authorization needed to invoke Article 50 and start the process for the UK to leave the European Union. This Ropes & Gray alert provides a summary of the UK government’s official policy paper released the day after the vote, which set out its approach to the exit. For other resources on all things Brexit, visit Ropes & Gray’s Brexit webpage.