Generally, mediation and its process are foreign to most litigants. With the possible exception of the parties’ lawyers and insurance adjusters, often even the most sophisticated business clients have never been in mediation and do not fully understand the process or know what to expect. Frequently, as the mediator, in the early stages of the day I hear: “It is not my fault ...
To raise the Reynolds privilege established in the landmark English House of Lords decision in Reynolds v Times Newspaper Ltd[1] in a defamation claim, a defendant is required to establish that the matter was one of public interest and that the defendant practised “responsible journalism” in publishing the impugned words ...
On January 21, 2019, Google was fined nearly $57 million (approximately 50 million euros) by France’s Data Protection Authority, CNIL, for an alleged violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).[1] CNIL found Google violated the GDPR based on a lack of transparency, inadequate information, and lack of valid consent regarding ad personalization. This fine is the largest imposed under the GDPR since it went into effect in May 2018 and the first to be imposed on a U.S ...
The dispute between ride sharing companies Uber and 99 is increasingly fierce. Now the main stage is Rio de Janeiro. In May 2018, Uber filed a lawsuit against 99 in the city, claiming misleading advertising. Less than two months ago, 99 began an aggressive discount campaign in the city to promote the 99Pop service in Rio, competing directly with Uber ...
Haynes and Boone CDG is proud to continue to feature a chapter in Global Arbitration Review’s (GAR)Guide to Energy Arbitrations, the Third Edition of which has just been published. TheGuide to Energy Arbitrationsis a widely regarded reference tool for energy companies, their advisers and arbitrators ...
In case C-323/17 People Over Wind and Peter Sweetman v Coillte, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that mitigation measures could not be taken into account at the screening stage of an appropriate assessment. Facts This case focused on proposed works that were necessary to lay a cable connecting a wind farm to the electricity grid and the potential effects that this would have on two special areas of conservation ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company v. Christian Funeral Directors, Inc., No. 18-5267 (6th Cir. Dec. 26, 2018), recently upheld a district court’s declination of jurisdiction over an insurer’s declaratory judgment action on coverage ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company v. Christian Funeral Directors, Inc., No. 18-5267 (6th Cir. Dec. 26, 2018), recently upheld a district court’s declination of jurisdiction over an insurer’s declaratory judgment action on coverage ...
Minority shareholders – often forced to silently accept the rule of the majority – should be given a voice. In May last year, Jerry Low, a minority investor in Asiatic Group (Holdings), wrote an open letter to the management highlighting concerns regarding the SGX-listed company’s poor performance, juxtaposing this against the high remuneration enjoyed by its senior management team ...
In the latest development in an eventful year, Federal Decree-Law 24 of 2018 introduces amendments to the Federal Penal Code, originally enacted as Federal Law 3 of 1987. The amendments are designed to make the Penal Code consistent with other recent federal legislation and current federal enforcement policies. Only ten provisions of the statute have been affected, out of the more than 400 total articles contained in the statute ...
“Arbitration agreement” is defined under section 19 of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap 609) as an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not. Disputes submitted to arbitration may involve contractual claims and non-contractual claims, such as tortious claims ...
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on December 4, 2018, inHelsinn Healthcare SA v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.as to whether the “on-sale” bar under the America Invents Act (“AIA”) renders an inventor’s private sale to a third party as prior art for purposes of determining patentability. 35 U.S.C ...
View a PDF of the November 2018 Edition of the Haynes and Boone Media, Entertainment and First Amendment Newsletter. Must Websites Comply With the ADA? Website ADA compliance litigation is all the rage, manifesting itself as an epidemic of “website drive-by lawsuits.” Beyond the litigation controversy, the issue is whether websites must be accessible to the visually-impaired via screen reader software to comply with the ADA. Circuit Courts are split ...
While the motivation behind the Civil Justice Commission’s consultation paper – aimed at enhancing the Court system – is laudable, the proposed introduction of litigation scale costs may hurt Singapore’s standing as a global litigation hub. In 2015, the Chief Justice established the Civil Justice Commission (CJC) to review Singapore’s civil justice system, with the goal of transforming and modernising the litigation process ...
The Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“Act”) was introduced to address cash flow issues affecting contractors in the construction industry as a result of delays and/or lengthy periods of payment under construction contracts. Under the Act, an unpaid party [1] is entitled to initiate an adjudication proceeding in order to claim any amounts due and/or owing to them under a construction contract ...
This case highlights the importance of registering a franchise with the Registrar of Franchises and the consequences of not doing so. In particular, the effect and applicability of section 6(1) of the Franchise Act 1998 (“FA 1998”) are discussed. Facts The subject matter was “Dr. Fong’s Method” of teaching mathematics to students in primary and secondary school, which was developed by Dr. Fong Ho Kheong (“Dr. Fong”). Dr ...
In an order dated at the end of 2018, the DIFC Court accepted that a party seeking an anti-suit injunction against proceedings in a foreign court must show that proceeding before the foreign court is or would be “vexatious or oppressive” to that party ...
In the Court of Appeal (CA) decision of Securities and Futures Commission v Cheng Chak Ngok (CACV 95/2017; [2018] HKCA 590), the less disputed element of insider dealing, namely the element of “dealing” was at issue. As there was no direct evidence showing the dealing in this case, the issue was whether the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to draw inferences that there was in fact dealing in the relevant shares ...
View the PDF version of the October 2018 IP Beacon. Jason Bloom Co-Authors SCOTUS Amicus Brief for INTA in Key Copyright Case The International Trademark Association (INTA) tapped Haynes and Boone Partner Jason Bloom to co-write an amicus brief inFourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, a pending U.S. Supreme Court case that will address a key issue regarding when copyright owners can sue for infringement ...
English High Court considers whether there was good consideration for an oral variation of a settlement agreement related to sale of valuable antique textiles. Sometime in the spring of 2014 two Iranian businessmen and antiquities dealers, London based Mr. Shavleyan and LA resident Mr. Simantob, kissed and shook hands on a deal about the payment of the balance of a debt due under a 2010 settlement agreement ...
Destruction of evidence can be fatal in any lawsuit, but it is especially troubling in construction defect disputes. It's always important to allow an opponent and their expert the opportunity to inspect premises and review the alleged defects. A recent Pennsylvania appellate decision highlights the need to do more than just allow a site visit in a defect case. It also drives home the need for clients to advise counsel of any repairs or changes to work at issue in a lawsuit ...
In Scots law, it is possible to acquire certain rights to land – access, for instance – simply by the passage of time. This process is known as “prescription” and is outlined in the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. There are two forms of prescription: positive and negative. Negative prescription extinguishes certain rights after a period of time ...
Earlier this year, in a widely followed arbitration case, a unanimous panel of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, concluded that the New York County, Commercial Division, erred when it partially vacated an arbitration award on the ground that the arbitrators manifestly disregarded the law. As a result, the Appellate Division confirmed the arbitration award ...
On September 20, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced settlements with three Boston hospitals for disclosing Protected Health Information (PHI) to ABC News documentary filmcrews.[i] In total, the hospitals paid OCR $999,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule ...
