IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2010, THE SUPERIOR COURT RENDERED TWO INTERESTING DECISIONS IN CASES INVOLVING FIRES. WE WILL REVIEW THESE DECISIONS , WHICH HAVE A NUMBER OF FEATURES IN COMMON, INCLUDING THE CONSIDERABLE SUMS OF MONEY AT STAKE, THE LENGTHY TIME PERIOD BETWEEN THE LOSS AND THE TRIAL, AND THE NUMBER OF PERSONS INVOLVED IN THE CONDUCT OF EACH CASE.THE GOODFELLOW CASE: “THE DORMANT FIRE ”On August 22, 1998, a major fire broke out in Goodfellow Inc ...
“Therein the patient must minister to himself” (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 3) With only seven days to go before the expiry on 1 April 2010 of the previous insurance block exemption, the European Commission adopted a new exemption, albeit in very much reduced form ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears all U.S. patent infringement appeals, issued an order on April 26, 2010 requesting briefs from the parties in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson, and Co. (appeal no. 2008-1511) to consider en banc the standards by which courts should find “inequitable conduct ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears all U.S. patent infringement appeals, issued an order on April 26, 2010 requesting briefs from the parties in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson, and Co. (appeal no. 2008-1511) to consider en banc the standards by which courts should find “inequitable conduct ...
Website owners have had a legal duty to make their websites accessible to the disabled for more than a decade. With the new Equality Act 2010 reinforcing those duties later this year, now is a good time for website owners to remind themselves of their duties and prepare for the new Act ...
Proposals to extend the scope of freedom of information in Scotland will, if accepted, expand an existing risk to the commercial confidentiality of companies bidding for public sector contracts ...
Referring to Newsletter Issue No. 12 in relation to the Health Bill, the new Health Law No. 36 of 2009 was finally issued on 13 October 2009. Under the Health Law, mothers must breastfeed their babies exclusively from birth until 6 months old. It is expected that family members, the Government, Regional Governments and communities will support lactating mothers by providing time and space for them to breastfeed their babies in work places and public areas ...
FACTS Mr. Gibbens, the insured, became a paraplegic following an inflammation of his spinal cord. This inflammation was caused by the herpes HSV-2 virus, contracted during unprotected sexual intercourse with three different women in January and February 2003. A diagnosis of viral infection was confirmed on February 17, 2003. Mr. Gibbens’s condition deteriorated rapidly and, on February 23, 2003, he became paraplegic ...
The most senior decision-making body of a university, the governing body (council) exists 'to oversee the development and adoption of institutional strategic plans and key policies, to monitor and review the institution's overall performance and to bear ultimate accountability for the institution' ...
If universities want to ensure that they own inventions developed by academic staff in the course of their employment, they need to review their IP arrangements and take immediate steps to ensure that they have properly secured those rights ...
In Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Limited (No 3), Justice Cowdroy considered whether iiNet Limited (iiNet), the third largest internet service provider (ISP) in Australia, should be held liable for infringement of copyright by its subscribers, on the basis that iiNet had authorised those infringements.Proceedings were brought against iiNet by 34 applicants comprising many of the major film studios and their exclusive licensees in Australia (applicants) ...
To be considered a support payment according to both the federal and provincial tax laws and regulations, payments must consist of an amount that is receivable on a periodic basis for the maintenance of the recipient and/or a child of the recipient. The recipient, or creditor of support, must have discretion as to the use of this amount ...
The government has released a discussion paper outlining proposals for the reform of Australia's insolvent trading laws designed to ensure that the insolvency laws complement and assist the conduct of workouts. The paper seeks submissions on issues that arise for directors from operation of the insolvent trading laws, particularly in the context of attempts at business rescue outside formal insolvency administrations ...
With regard to the professional obligations of a lawyer, is it possible outside the physical confines of the tribunal to let a judge know exactly what he thinks of him? Should the response be negative, does it not unduly restrain his right to freedom of expression otherwise guaranteed to all by virtue of the charters of rights and freedoms? This is the question to which the Court of Appeal had to respond recently by rendering judgment in the case of Doré v ...
The concern expressed in our last Australian Legal Update about the possibility of Australia following most of the rest of the developed world into recession fortunately proved unfounded. Australia has been a notable exception to the experience of many other countries in this respect ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) announced that, as part of President Obama’s recently proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, the PTO’s budget would be $2.322 billion, a 23 percent increase over FY 2010. This significant budget increase is part of PTO Director Kappos’ long term plan for increasing PTO examination efficiency and decreasing the backlog of applications ...
During negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, it was suggested that sometimes "we all have to jump together". Having read through the Local Government and Communities Committee Report published on 28th January 2010 following an inquiry into Local Government Finances, this quote has particular resonance. While there is perhaps nothing new in the report, it is certainly timely as local government works its way through the budget setting exercise for 2010/11 ...
Yesterday, January 26, 2010, Judge David Hittner of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an important opinion in the Stanford Financial case that paves the way for targets of criminal and civil enforcement proceedings to obtain insurance coverage for costs of defending themselves ...
Seeking a state purchasing contract? You may now be required to register as a lobbyist. Some independent contractors who help vendors secure procurement contracts in Texas are now required to register with the Texas Ethics Commission.1 House Bill 3445, which the Texas Legislature passed last spring during the 81st Texas Legislative Session, established new guidelines for lobbying activities related to state procurement contracts ...
Under the Tobacco acT (r.s.Q., c. t-0.01), employers mUst prohibit their employees from smoKing inside their establishments. howeVer, the act is mute on no smoKing oUtside, on the company’s land ...
In its Sea Judgement of 10 September 2009 (C-573/07), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) further clarifies its “in-house” jurisprudence. More specifically, it goes more deeply into the notion of control ...
In Belgium, contracting agreements are subject to the Belgian Civil Code (‘BCC’) plus several other regulations. In this article, we briefly discuss five rules which foreign investors or principals may be surprised apply to Belgian contracting agreements. Make sure you avoid these pitfalls!1 ...
The Acoset judgment of the ECJ dated 15 October 2009 (C-196/08) was related to a dispute about an institutionalised public-private partnership (IPPP). A local authority wanted to grant a concession to a newly-created semi-public company, whose minority shareholder would be a private company selected by an open tender procedure. The minority shareholder would be responsible for the operations of the semi-public company ...
In the Horizon Pleiades case, the Council of State was confronted with an interesting question: if a public authority organises a procedure to select its partner for a PPP company, which will perform works or services which would normally be covered by the Procurement Directives, does the selection procedure have to comply with the rules laid down in the Procurement Directives or can a “light” selection procedure be used? In its ruling, dated 19 June 2009, the Council of Stat
How can the government’s attitude and approach to internet issues best be described? The Canadian government recognises that Canada is a small country in a global economy and it pursues a general policy to ensure that Canada is ‘connected’ ...
