The Supreme Court has issued Supreme Court Administrative Matter No. 20-12-01-SC (Re: Proposed Guidelines on the Conduct of Videoconferencing) dated December 9, 20201 (Court Videoconferencing Guidelines) to ensure that hearings via videoconferencing are conducted in an orderly manner and that the constitutional rights of the accused are protected ...
A recent UK Supreme Court Judgment, the Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK Ltd) & Ors [2021] UKSC 1, clarified whether a variety of insurance policy wordings cover business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and public health measures taken by UK authorities in response to the pandemic from March 2020 ...
The Electronic Communications Code was subject to a wholesale re-write in 2017, with the intention of facilitating the faster roll-out of the UK’s digital communications infrastructure. Three years on, the government has commenced a consultation on proposals to revise aspects of the Code to ensure it is fit for purpose ...
The introduction of mandatory pre-installation of applications developed by Russian market players, caused by a wave of cases of abuse by global companies of their dominant position in digital markets, is a significant innovation in Russian antitrust and consumer protection law. To reduce the risks of restricting competition and balance the bargaining power of global corporations with small domestic application developers, amendments to the Law dated February 7th 1992 No ...
In a recent press release, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS/OIG) announced five additional guilty pleas relating to a $1 billion telepharmacy fraud scheme. However, unlike many health care fraud cases, this particular case was investigated over the course of three years by an interagency team comprised of personnel from HHS/OIG, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S ...
Traditionally, Belgian labour law distinguishes between two forms of telework, namely structural telework, regulated by the Collective Labour Agreement n° 85, and occasional telework, regulated by the Act on Workable and Agile Work. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a third category has been added, namely 'Covid telework', which was, at a certain point, recommended but has now been made compulsory again by the government ...
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 business interruption insurance disputes dominated media headlines for most of 2020. Nonetheless, there were a number of other insurance rulings that will undoubtedly shape the coverage landscape. Policyholders enjoyed a number of significant wins including significant victories related to COVID-19 business interruption cases. The start of a new year gives us an opportunity to highlight some of 2020’s most notable coverage decisions ...
Two federal cases in the Northern District of Ohio recently reached very different conclusions on whether the state’s COVID-19 shutdowns of restaurants permit valid claims for business interruption insurance coverage. Reviewing essentially the same facts and policy provisions, one court found for the insurer, holding no coverage to exist. The other found for the policyholder, awarding coverage. The opposite results will no doubt lead to further upcoming appellate activity in Ohio ...
In a scenario that has played out across the country for nearly a year now, a group of restaurants based in Ohio were ordered by government authorities to close their on-site dining operations to abate the spread of the coronavirus. However, when the restaurants sought insurance coverage for their loss of business income, their insurer, Zurich American Insurance Company, denied coverage. Last week, the U.S ...
The majority of people with a mobile phone or access to the internet have received unsolicited emails or calls from telemarketers (cold marketing). While the practice of cold marketing is decades-old, the recent awareness in data protection and privacy has affected this concept in recent times, particularly in relation to access to the data of consumers ...
The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision relating to the coverage of business interruption insurance claims made following the COVID-19 pandemic. A key question was whether the Supreme Court ruling would finally provide the clarity that the expedited test case sought to achieve for both policyholders and insurers. The good news for all is that the Supreme Court has indeed provided much more clarity in relation to most issues ...
How does one resolve a dispute involving thousands of individual items where it is impractical to deal separately with each one? A recent decision in the Technology and Construction Court provides some guidance - but raises further questions. The case is Standard Life Assurance Limited v Gleeds (UK)(a firm) and Others (December 2020, TCC). Standard Life had engaged Costain as its main contractor for the development of a large residential and retail development in Berkshire ...
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) has shed some light on what will happen to existing and outstanding COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”) applications and payments, particularly over the festive season. We discuss the must-knows for employers below ...
Parliament has revised the federal telecoms legislation – in particular, the Federal Telecommunications Act (TCA) and its various implementing ordinances. These revised regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021. The revision of the telecoms legislation brings about several fundamental changes that affect consumers as well as telecoms service providers (TSPs) and telecoms operators ...
When the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent in March 2020, an avalanche of articles appeared in which many insurers took the position that there was no coverage for losses associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus due either to a lack of physical loss or damage to property necessary to trigger coverage under most commercial property policies, or to the effect of virus exclusions found in many such policies ...
Happy New Year! Not surprisingly, the Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog’s top ten most read posts of 2020 are dominated by COVID-19 business interruption insurance issues, as these disputes monopolized media headlines throughout the year. While 2021 shows promise for gaining control over the disease, the resulting insurance disputes are certain to remain center stage and our team will continue to report on material developments involving COVID-19 and other insurance coverage issues ...
It behooves construction professionals, be they materials manufacturers, general contractors, or lower-tier subcontractors, to carry some form of commercial general liability insurance (“CGL Insurance”). Having such coverage alleviates some of the potential risk and financial exposure a construction professional carries on a particular project. That is, of course, unless the construction professional gets sued and the insurer refuses to pay ...
Introduction If 2020 has been defined by COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry in 2020 might be defined by a related single issue — telehealth. Those phenomena are obviously connected. While telehealth has been around in varying forms for years, COVID-19 accelerated its growth, use, and acceptance in unprecedented ways. With that growth comes changes. Reimbursement rules have evolved as telehealth has grown and become more accepted ...
Introduction If 2020 has been defined by COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry in 2020 might be defined by a related single issue — telehealth. Those phenomena are obviously connected. While telehealth has been around in varying forms for years, COVID-19 accelerated its growth, use, and acceptance in unprecedented ways. With that growth comes changes. Reimbursement rules have evolved as telehealth has grown and become more accepted ...
On 24 September 2020, Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik ─ “BPS”) issued BPS Regulation No. 2 of 2020 on Indonesian Standard Business Classifications (Klasifikasi Baku Lapangan Usaha Indonesia ─ “KBLI”), which is known as the 2020 KBLI. The 2020 KBLI came into force on its issuance date and revoked BPS Regulation No. 95 of 2015 on the KBLIs, as amended by BPS Regulation No. 19 of 2017, which is known as the 2017 KBLI ...
On December 10, 2020, the Minister of Finance, Éric Girard, introduced and tabled Bill 82 entitled An Act respecting mainly the implementation of certain provisions of the Budget Speech of 10 March 2020 (hereinafter the " Bill" ) before the National Assembly. The Bill opens the door to possible limitations on the duty to defend with respect to certain categories of liability insurance contracts to be determined by regulation ...
The Brexit transition agreement, which governs the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom in 2020, including arrangements relating to data protection, ends on December 31, 2020. Without an agreement, the UK becomes a third country The European Union and the United Kingdom are still in intensive negotiations over how they will shape future trade relations, and it is so far unclear whether they will arrive at a follow-up agreement ...
All eyes were on health care in 2020, as the industry faced unprecedented challenges presented by the global coronavirus pandemic. Stories and images of overburdened frontline health care workers dominated the news cycle for most of the year, and the rapid development of one or more seemingly effective vaccines has engendered a cautious optimism for a return to normalcy in 2021 ...
With many medical practices and healthcare practitioners moving to telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, questions abound on legal requirements, privacy, and the future of healthcare. Schwabe’s Healthcare team has taken a closer look at the legal issues surrounding the rise of telemedicine during the pandemic and the implications for our healthcare future in the four articles below ...
