Following rehearing en banc, an evenly split full Fourth Circuit has affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a qui tam action based on the defendant’s “objectively reasonable” interpretation of ambiguous regulations—the Safeco defense. Though the Fourth Circuit panel’s decision is now vacated, no circuit split exists on the question. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court is weighing a possible grant of cert in two similar Seventh Circuit cases ...
On 13 September 2022, the Microfinance Supervision Committee (“Committee“) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance issued Directive No.4/2022 (“Directive“), which outlines risk-based management strategies required of microfinance institutions (“MFIs“) to combat money laundering and terrorism. The Directive also pertains to Section 69 (c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Union Parliament Law No ...
In this article, we look at three IP-related matters that have come up recently. THREATS - BREACH OF CONFIDENCE / PRIVATE INFORMATION There’s been an interesting UK court decision dealing with breach of confidence: Clearcourse Partnership and others v Jethwa (2022). In this case, a party involved in a business sale heard and used information that he was not supposed to hear ...
Please be informed that the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation clarified the procedure for the preservation of jobs of mobilized citizens (Letter of the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation No. 14-6/10/В-13042 as of September 27, 2022) ...
A Fourth Circuit ruling in a False Claims Act case has created a 4-4 circuit split over the issue of the act’s knowledge requirement, Bradley partner Elisha Kobre explains. This makes the issue ripe for the US Supreme Court, where a ruling on whether an objective or subjective standard should apply will resonate in FCA litigation for years, he says. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s en banc decision Sept ...
October 4, 2022 By Braeden Mansouri and Alicia Guerra On September 28, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two of the most anticipated housing bills of this legislative session: AB 2011 and SB 6. Both bills have the potential to increase significantly the amount of land available for residential development by deeming housing a permitted use in certain types of commercial zones ...
Provisur Technologies, Inc. v. Weber, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2021-1942, -1975 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 27, 2022) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit reviewed an IPR decision and addressed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s consideration of certain evidence submitted to supplement a prior art disclosure. The Court also found that the Board violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) by failing to sufficiently explain its rationale concerning its obviousness determinations ...
In April of 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14026, which increased the minimum wage for employees of federal government contractors to $15. The Executive Order provided that this minimum wage would be adjusted to account for inflation. On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the $15-an-hour minimum wage for federal contractors will increase to $16.20 because of inflation ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently filed fraud charges against the City of Rochester, New York (“City”), former City executives, and the City’s municipal advisor, reminding us of the importance of up-to-date, accurate disclosures when it comes to the financial condition of political subdivisions, as well as the risks of issuing debt using outdated financial statements ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
The Supplement to MM2H — Premium Visa Programme (“PVIP”) Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, announced the launch of the “Premium Visa Programme” on 1 September 2022 ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, questions about employee health-privacy-related symptoms, testing, and vaccination became prevalent in discussions about the workplace at all levels—from “the water cooler” to national news ...
Introduction: Lawyers as Stewards of a Noble Profession In the final scenes of the movie “A Few Good Men” – one of the great classics of legal cinema – under dramatic, but extremely risky cross-examination by Lt. Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise), Col. Nathan Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson) admitted to directing the kind of “Code Red” discipline which led to the unintentional death of a Marine stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba ...
On September 27th, 2022, Law No. 21,488 was enacted, incorporating new crimes in the Chilean Criminal Code sanctioning the theft of timber. The new regulation, in its first article, adds the "Paragraph IV ter. of the theft of timber" in the Chilean Criminal Code to grant a special regulation of these crimes. Thus, if the value of the timber obtained through the theft exceeds approximately USD 615.00, an accessory penalty will be applied consisting of a fine of USD 4,615.00 to USD 6,154.00 ...
In the CyberMonday event, from October 3 to 5 2022, will be fully in force the reforms to Law No. 19,496 on Consumer Rights Protection in the field of e-commerce, introduced mainly by the "Pro-Consumer" Law and the Electronic Commerce Regulation. The following are the main aspects and obligations to be taken into consideration for the event: Promotions, offers, contests and sweepstakes must disclose the terms and conditions governing them and their term of duration ...
On September 23, Kudun and Partners were invited by TrustLaw, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, to be the legal experts in their Legal Health Check Workshop. The core objective of the event was to raise awareness of how law firms, like Kudun and Partners, can work with TrustLaw to provide pro bono legal services to NGOs, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and social enterprises (SEs). Chai Lertvittayachaikul and Emi Rowse (Igusa), partners of Kudun and Partners, presented at the event ...
According to official statistics, almost 104,000 couples got married in Ukraine during the first half of such a difficult year of 2022. It is interesting that during the same period of 2021, a little less than 86 thousand couples exchanged marriage vows. Such indicators indicate that the full-scale war did not prevent those who have a desire to create new families ...
Presidential Decree No. 647 “On the Declaration of Partial Mobilisation in the Russian Federation” was published on September 21, 2022. Over the last couple of days, we have received many enquiries requesting legal advice as to how to continue business normally in view of Russia’s new realities. Now, more than ever, it is important to act strictly in accordance with the law ...
Bank Indonesia recently updated its regulation on domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions. Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 24/7/PBI/2022 on Foreign Exchange Market Transactions (“BI Reg. 24/7/2022”) replaces the previous regulation on DNDF, BI Regulation No. 20/10/PBI/2018 (as amended). BI Reg. 24/7/2022 makes some noteworthy amendments on the DNDF terms and introduces new thresholds and provisions on DNDF transactions ...
The ever-growing industry of Peer-to-Peer Lending (“P2P Lending”) has driven the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan – “OJK”) to issue OJK Regulation No. 10/POJK.05/2022 on Technology-Based Collective Financing Services, which came into force on 4 July 2022. The regulation provides more detailed and extensive provisions to cater with the rapid development of the industry ...
After extensive discussions and multiple changes to the draft bill since 2016, the Indonesian House of Representatives passed the draft bill on Personal Data Protection on 20 September 2022 (“Personal Data Protection Law”). The Personal Data Protection Law will be the basis of the regulations on personal data protection and this advisory highlights the key provisions ...
Governor Newsom has signed AB 21881 into law that will create anti-discrimination protections for individuals that use cannabis while off duty and away from the workplace, with exceptions for certain industries, such as building, construction and those subject to federal drug testing regulations ...
Lauren Bowkett is a fraud and financial crime expert in the Business Crime and Compliance Team at Shoosmiths. She is an expert in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and has successfully intervened in numerous POCA cases to assert her clients third party interest rights ...
