In this issue, we present an overview of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism. This edition also includes some key takeaways from a recent debate in Stockholm on the relevance of Section 36 of the Contracts Act in commercial disputes. Additionally, we provide an update on the proceedings before the Court of Appeal concerning the temporary injunction granted by the Oslo District Court in the Norwegian climate case ...
SyCipLaw Senior Partner and Head of Litigation Department Ricardo P.G. Ongkiko, Partners John Christian Joy A. Regalado, and Ma. Patricia B. Paz-Jacoba have authored the Philippine chapter in the newly released Chambers International Arbitration 2024 Global Practice Guide (GPG) ...
On September 15, 2023, the DOLE issued Labor Advisory No. 20, Series of 2023, providing new guidelines on the implementation of a Cancer Control and Prevention Policy and Program in the Workplace. Under the Labor Advisory, employers and their employees are required to adopt such program, which shall include the following areas: 1. promotion of a safe and healthy lifestyle, including the mental and social well-being of employees; 2 ...
HR teams have a lot on their plate, but a key priority for 2024 is undoubtedly protecting the employee brand proposition. Our 2024 online programme is focused on supporting HR teams to do just this, equipping them with the tools they need to protect the employee brand proposition of the organisations they work for. Our latest webinar focused on what organisations need to do to manage conflicting protected beliefs ...
Chambers and Partners recently published its Enforcement of Judgments Global Practice Guide 2024. The Philippine chapter was authored by SyCipLaw partners Ramon G. Songco, Anthony W. Dee, Ricardo Ma. P.G. Ongkiko, head of the Firm's Litigation department, and Russel L. Rodriguez ...
Chambers and Partners recently published its Corporate Immigration Global Practice Guide 2024. SyCipLaw senior partner and Employment and Immigration department head Leslie C. Dy and partner Rodelle B. Bolante authored this year’s Philippine chapter ...
Force majeure remains a hot topic when it comes to contracts. Following the pandemic, Suez Canal blockage and international sanctions, parties to contracts have been looking at how to possibly recover their losses or minimise the effects of delays. One question that had arisen was whether contracting parties could be forced to find a way around the issues by being commercially minded, particularly where they had an obligation to use reasonable endeavours to overcome the force majeure event ...
The UK Cabinet Office has just announced, in a brief statement that the date for the Procurement Act 2023 to enter into force has been postponed. At less than 2 months from the planned “go live” date which was slated for 28 October 2024, in a surprise announcement, the new Government has decided to push this back. The reasoning for the decision stems directly from the change in administration following this year’s General Election ...
Over the last year, we have monitored a lawsuit in Georgia that alleged a hedge fund (“Fearless Fund”) violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981—the federal prohibition on racial discrimination in contracting—by operating a grant contest that awarded $20,000 grants to select small business owners, all of whom, by the contest’s express rules, had to be Black women. That case, American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management, LLC, settled yesterday ...
A federal court has issued a nationwide injunction blocking enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) new rule that would ban nearly all non-competition (“non-compete”) deals. The rule, issued on April 23, 2024 (the “Non-Compete Rule”), would broadly ban employer/employee non-compete agreements nationwide and was set to go into effect on September 4, 2024 (“Effective Date”) ...
September 11, 2024 By: Amber Healy, Craig Nickerson, and Spencer Adler On September 3rd, 2024, Los Angeles County’s Fair Chance Ordinance (“FCO”) went into effect, establishing new criminal background check requirements for employers in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The FCO expands the limitations placed on employers by California’s Fair Chance Act (“FCA”) ...
The trend for financial services businesses and others to procure services from FinTech providers – and for providers to offer their services direct to consumers – has increased over the last 15 years. In this article, we outline some of the key areas of law that relate to FinTech. Similar to technology law more broadly, FinTech law is very much a “discipline of disciplines” ...
SyCipLaw's Employment & Immigration Update (Volume XIX, Issue 1) features the latest issuances from the Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE), summaries of Supreme Court decisions, and labor and immigration updates. Please read the full bulletinhereor via thislink. Labor Advisories DOLE Labor Advisory No. 23-23: Guidelines on Minimum Public Health Standards in Workplaces Relative to the Lifting of the State of Public Health Emergency due to COVID-19 DOLE Labor Advisory No ...
Dr. Christine Calleja from Mamo TCV Advocates and Dr. Matthew Brincat from Ganado Advocates will be participating in an upcoming webinar organised by Novargo on the 12th of September. This webinar will focus on tackling key employment law issues encountered by HR professionals. Participants will have the chance to ask questions and gain invaluable insights on effectively navigating complex legal matters and workplace challenges ...
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision on the Department of Labor's (DOL) rule concerning tipped employees. This final rule, introduced in 2021, addresses the amount of time a tipped employee can spend on "tip-producing work" versus "non-tip-producing work ...
In Harrington v. Purdue Pharma LP in June, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Bankruptcy Code does not authorize nonconsensual releases of nondebtors as part of a Chapter 11 plan ...
The National Interest Waiver (“NIW”) is a special provision within the EB-2 employment-based immigration category that allows individuals to bypass the usual labor certification process (“PERM”) required for most employment-based green cards. The NIW is granted to foreign nationals who can demonstrate that their work is in the national interest of the United States, making it a valuable option for highly skilled professionals ...
Carey Olsen announces new counsel within Bermuda employment law practice Bradley has over ten years of experience advising clients on a full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. He also advises on all aspects of Bermuda immigration law, both for corporate and individual clients, in addition to data protection and privacy matters. Bradley was admitted as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2011 and was called to the Bermuda Bar in 2020 ...
Until recently, employer matching contributions under qualified plans were required to be conditioned solely upon employee contributions made to the plan. However, one of the many changes enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Pub. L. 117-328 (“SECURE 2.0”) enabled certain qualified plans to condition employer matching contributions on employees’ qualified student loan repayments, effective for plan years beginning in 2024 ...
At a time when Canada and many other countries are taking steps to protect users from harm online,1a decision was handed down by the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the “Court”) on January 15, 2024, regarding the conduct of a competitor with respect to complaints about intellectual property infringement made on Amazon’s e-commerce website ...
On Aug. 1, following five years of litigation, Tevra Brands LLC's antitrust suit against Bayer Healthcare LLC came to an end in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ...
By: Stephen Best, Clayton Barnett, and Brian Adkins August 27, 2024 Introduction As many sports lawyers are aware, there have already been several examples of name, image, and likeliness (“NIL”) litigation throughout the country. In fact, we previously reviewed several groundbreaking cases which stood to fundamentally alter the landscape of college athletics ...
On the 9th of August 2024, the Health and Safety at Work Act, Act XXXIII of 2024 (Chapter 646 of the Laws of Malta) (hereinafter referred to as the ”Act”) was published by Parliament. Upon coming into force, the Act shall repeal the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (“OHSA” or “Authority”) Act (Chapter 424 of the Laws of Malta) and its subsidiary legislation ...
The primary purpose of the trial period is to assess whether the employee meets the employer’s reasonable performance expectations. Conversely, it gives the employee a chance to determine if the job aligns with their needs and preferences, benefiting from a shorter notice period during this phase. Once the trial period is over, the employee automatically gains full job protection ...
On August 20, 2024, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered an order prohibiting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from implementing a new rule that would have prohibited employers from enforcing non-compete agreements for the vast majority of employees in the United States as of September 4, 2024 (see our prior analysis of that rule here ...
