On May 23rd, Governor Abbott signed SB 709, fundamentally changing Texas’s contested hearing process for environmental permits. Effective September 1, SB 709 requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt rules implementing its changes by no later than January 1, 2016 and to provide notice before then that these changes apply to applications filed after September 1 ...
Last week, State Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) announced new legislation intended to immediately encourage more residential construction in areas near public transit and job centers. Entitled the More Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, Equity and Stability (More HOMES) Act, SB 50 is essentially version 2.0 of SB 827, a similar housing bill proposed by Senator Weiner that failed in committee earlier this year ...
The Oregon Senate will soon be deciding on a bill that would allow an owner of a lot or parcel at least two acres in size in an area zoned rural residential to build an accessory dwelling unit, or “ADU,” on that lot or parcel, provided there is already a single-family dwelling on the lot or parcel ...
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the scope of the Dodd-Frank Act's anti-retaliation measures. The decision resolved a split in authority by excluding from Dodd-Frank's whistleblower protections those persons reporting suspected violations only within their companies. In reversing the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that "Dodd-Frank's anti-retaliation provision does not extend to an individual who has not reported a violation of the securities laws to the SEC ...
The Ministry of Production (Produce), through the National Fisheries Health Agency (Sanipes), issued a guide with preventive measures to be implemented by operators of fishing and aquaculture infrastructures during the exercise of their activities against the expansion of COVID -19 ...
Following recent developments in the Middle East, the Sanctions Monitoring Board (the “SMB”) has issued a guidance note on the targeted counter-terrorism sanctions which are applicable to Malta in terms of Article 7(5)(b) of the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act (Chapter 365 of the laws of Malta). This guidance note follows the conflict which arose in the Gaza Strip on the 7th October 2023 ...
Following from the recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine, there has been a heightened interest in sanctions, specifically, those sanctions being imposed against Russia ...
Following from the recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine, there has been a heightened interest in international sanctions ...
Capturing lightning in a bottle: As fast-growing San Francisco concludes its largest rezoning in 10 years, will its novel new urban-planning guidelines for South of Market represent what the city's downtown needs in a fast-moving business, cultural and economic environment? In early December 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave final approval of the "Central SOMA Plan," (the Plan) resulting in the largest rezoning of the commercial heart of the city since the renowned Downt
The City and County of San Francisco (SF) issued a COVID-19 surge-related travel and quarantine order (Quarantine Order) on Dec. 16, 2020, and an updated Shelter-In-Place Order (SIP Order) on December 9 (updated Dec. 30, 2020). Under those orders, every person who enters SF after having been outside the Bay Area within the last ten days must quarantine for 240 hours from the time of arrival in SF. However, two exceptions apply to those working on construction projects in SF ...
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ruled yesterday that Cal/OSHA can continue to enforce its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS), at least for now. On February 25, 2021, Judge Schulman issued an order denying Plaintiffs' applications for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS) in two cases ...
In 1968, the Supreme Court held in Bruton v. United States that a defendant was deprived of his rights under the Confrontation Clause when a nontestifying codefendant's confession naming the defendant as a participant in the crime was introduced in their joint trial, regardless of any instruction that the jury should consider the confession only against the confessing defendant ...
On July 15, 2022, Justice François Lebel of the Court of Québec rendered a decision confirming that, in the case of the sale of immovable property, a clear and unambiguous exclusion clause, whereby the warranty is waived at the buyer?s risk, results in a break in the chain of title preventing the buyer from taking any legal action under such warranty against the seller and previous sellers ...
Ever since Serbia’s Stabilisation andAssociation Agreement with the EU (‘SAA’) entered into force in September 2013, Serbian media have paidsignificant attention to the country’s obligations concerning the acquisitionof agricultural land by foreigners. The fear of one part of the public appearsto be that, due to the application of the SAA, large portions of Serbianagricultural land will be sold out to foreigners ...
On December 7, 2021, in Georgia v. Biden, Case No. 1:21-cv-163, a federal district court judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States. This injunction was nationwide applied to all federal contractors ...
On December 9, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued a new statement regarding the court orders enjoining implementation of the federal contractor vaccine mandate ...
This news alert includes information on the way in which the authorization for safe passage permits shall be granted on account of the nighttime curfew that stands in Chile as of the evening of this Sunday 22 March 2020, as an additional measure to face the Covid-19 pandemic: Individual safe-passage permit Collective safe-passage permit Permanent authorization for emergency personnel Authorization for companies and people who carry out transport of goods Airport Staff Passengers
The SEC Division of Examinations (“Examinations”) issued a Risk Alert on April 26, 2023 to highlight the importance of establishing written policies and procedures for safeguarding customer records and information at branch offices. Examinations provides that a branch office includes any location other than a firm’s main office, including offices of any independent contractors through which a firm may offer investment products and services ...
The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal ("CICA") has delivered a valuable judgment on the application of section 238 of the Companies Act (as revised) in Re Trina Solar Limited.[1] This case update can be read in conjunction with our previous briefing setting out certain practical points to note in 'fair value' appraisal proceedings ...
On 24 February, following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine a wave of sanctions have been initiated by the US, EU and UK, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. As the conflict continues, the level of sanctions applied are likely to increase. The sanctions imposed by the UK include amendments to Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the “2019 Regulations”) which were enacted in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 ...
In the course of regular updates on Russian counter-sanctions, we would like to provide you with information on Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated November 08, 2023 No. 844 “On Additional Temporary Economic Measures Related to Circulation of Foreign Securities” (“Decree No. 844”). Decree No ...
This briefing provides an overview of the salient points of Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Circular No. 016 (Rules Implementing the Criminal Provisions of Republic Act No. 10667, Otherwise Known As the Philippine Competition Act)1 (“PCA Rules on Criminal Provisions”). A ...
The March 18, 2020 edition of the Official State Gazette has published Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of March 17, 2020 on urgent and extraordinary measures to confront the economic and social impact of COVID-19. The decree-law comes into force on its publication date, for a one-month term, and allows this term to be extended. The adopted measures cover many different fields of business activity. Below is a summary of the main measures classified by area ...
For most of the last three decades, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama have waged a multifront water war, filing cases in federal courts across the United States. This war, and these cases, turn on apportionment of two river basins: the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin and the Alabama-Coosa- Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin. At the heart of this legal tug of war lie competing uses—and visions—for the basins ...
