This 13th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation brings new developments in everything from constitutional law to tort liability. Shutdown cases show no signs of slowing down, and it seems probable that more will follow as some states reverse reopening plans in response to coronavirus outbreaks ...
This 12th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation brings new developments in labor and employment cases, consumer protection cases, and civil rights litigation. Price gouging and fraud for personal protective equipment (particularly N95 masks) remain major focuses, with manufacturers, retailers, and governments all taking action ...
This 11th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, identifies news reports placing the number of COVID-19 filings at around 2,700, with insurance coverage disputes former the single largest category. And so unsurprisingly, one of the matters we report this week is the dispute over whether those insurance coverage disputes should be consolidated into multi-district litigation ...
This sixth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19 litigation, sees us reporting on many of the same types of cases. Consumers continue to seek refunds for goods and services that have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with colleges and universities being a particular target. Consumers also have targeted retailers for alleged price-gouging behavior ...
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) held two virtual briefing sessions in October 2021 and provided useful guidance on its newest climate-related risk management requirements for fund managers, as detailed in the Consultation Conclusions on the Management and Disclosure of Climate-related Risks by Fund Managers (with amendments to the Fund Manager Code of Conduct (FMCC)) and the Circular issued on 20 August 2021 ...
South Africa is in lockdown in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and although we aren’t able to meet face-to-face over this period, we know how important it is to stay in touch, and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on recent tax developments. In this regard, it feels like a lifetime ago that the South African Minister of Finance delivered his 2020 Budget Speech on 26 February 2020 ...
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recently issued annual bid protest report is noteworthy because it shows that 31% of bid protests were sustained — more than double the rate for prior years— and that protesters received some form of relief from the procuring agency in more than half of the protests filed with the GAO in fiscal year 2023 ...
This week, Westlaw Today published an article by Dinsmore partner J.T. Wilson III about the generational shift in attitudes toward racial equity in light of George Floyd's death and about how business owners and employers must react accordingly ...
To mark the launch of EG's latest UK Cities Investor Guide at MIPIM 2023, Shoosmiths real estate partner Patrick Duffy joined a panel discussion on public-private partnerships. The session explored the opportunities and challenges that will affect the growth of UK cities, as well as what more can be done to attract innovation and investment ...
Across the UK, local people are creating businesses that could revitalise town centres – repair and sharing spaces, community bakeries, climate action hubs, genuinely affordable housing – services that develop critical social, economic and climate resilient infrastructure. But a major barrier to their success is the lack of access to affordable, secure, long-term land and property ...
Modern day company law has largely moved away from the concept of “ultra vires” which sought to limit the ability of a company to enter into transactions outside its stated objects. The British Virgin Islands officially moved away from the concept in 2005 pursuant to provisions under the BVI Business Companies Act ...
September 28, 2021 By: Joshua M. Robbins When harmed or in heated disputes, companies sometimes think about bringing the “big guns”—law enforcement agencies—into the fight. Often acting through counsel, a business may seek to refer a matter to the government for potential investigation and prosecution of competitors, business counterparties, former employers or employees, or entirely unrelated persons who have victimized the company ...
When a debtor, natural or legal person, is constituted in serious circumstances of insolvency in the face of a plurality of creditors, the legislator has foreseen as a mechanism to solve said problem three alternatives of action, depending on the qualities of the insolvent person: the insolvency creditors, bankruptcy and suspension of payments ...
The White House announced on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, that in early November of this year, it intends to end the COVID-19 travel bans imposed in 2020 and replace them with vaccination and COVID-19 testing requirements for almost all travelers ...
After spending over 10 years in court, the Google vs. Oracle copyright saga has finally come to an end. The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling 6-2 in Google’s favor, found that when Google used pieces of Java software developed by Oracle to build the Android operating system, it was within the parameters of the fair use doctrine that permits the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances ...
In Facebook v. Duguid, (Case No. 19-511) on April 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that equipment without the capacity to randomly or sequentially store or produce numbers is not an autodialer for TCPA purposes. The Facebook ruling focuses on text messages, which many institutions are using as a primary method of customer contact, but it is also a victory for those using predictive dialers and preview dialers without random and sequential source codes ...
Although some industries have halted all non-essential work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many patent and trademark offices around the world have remained open and operational, largely due to electronic filing capabilities ...
GLIMPSES OF UNION BUDGET 2022 With the economy riding on the twin waves of rapid economic growth and increased tax collections, the Union Budget for 2022-23 was presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister on February 1, 2022. A wide gamut policy and tax matters were outlined by the Minister in her speech, many of which found its way into the Finance Bill. We have put together the key takeaways for direct tax and indirect tax from the Union Budget. Trust this would be helpful ...
Union budget 2022-2023 Expectations Overview The economy of the resurgent India is expecting a road map with the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23. The Budget speech is likely to pen down new reforms and policies that helps the economy to maintain a sustained growth rate ...
In a recent case, a unilateral termination clause in the relevant contract had no bearing on whether termination via agreement between the parties was available, and the court held that novation of the contract by the conduct of the parties was valid ...
On June 17, 2008, the Supreme Court of Lithuania rendered a decision restricting the rights of the trademark owner to revoke his consent to use a trademark as a company name. In UAB Solvex Baltic v. UAB Scandihouse (Case No 3K-3-335/2008 (S)), the owner of the trademark SCANDIHOUSE petitioned the defendant to change its company name ...
The Unified Patent Court (the “UPC”), which will have jurisdiction over most European patents, is due to commence operations at some point between the final quarter of 2022 and early 2023. It has been a long time coming and is part of the ‘Unitary Patent Package’. The aim of this package is to establish unitary patent protection within Europe, and to make it cheaper and easier for patentees to obtain and enforce patents ...
Where a legacy under a will is left to a party that does not appear to exist, or at least cannot be identified, this can intensify what is an already traumatic experience for the deceased’s loved ones. When this happens, who should receive the legacy? In the recent petition by Vindex Trustees Limited [2021] CSIH 46, the Inner House of the Court of Session declined to provide directions on this question ...
