At Patterson Belknap we continue to diligently monitor the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus and assess the potential legal and business issues that may arise relating to the virus. The situation is fluid, and best practices and guidelines are evolving in real time. We are closely monitoring the situation as it unfolds, and share our latest perspectives on the legal issues relating to COVID-19 below ...
Over the last few days, Judge Lawrence K. Marks, the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System, issued two memoranda bearing on COVID-19’s effect on the Commercial Division. First, by memorandum dated March 13, 2020, Judge Marks announced that he and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore have implemented a number of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect the well-being of court personnel ...
As the United States and countries all over the world continue to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, the race is on for Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. There is currently no FDA-approved therapy or vaccine for Covid-19. Given the profound urgency, life sciences companies and other researchers are prioritizing research and development of potential therapies and vaccines ...
The UAE authorities have been dynamic in implementing measures to control the spread of COVID-19 within the UAE. Please find below a non-exhaustive list of noteworthy measures that have been implemented by various UAE authorities to date ...
Discussing the legal concept ‘Force Majeure’ in credit agreements – if it can be called upon, it has in principle a temporary nature and does not relief you from payment obligations. In general, force majeure is an unforeseeable and unavoidable event that occurs after a credit agreement has been concluded (i.e ...
The Corona crisis is not only a huge challenge for health care, but also the consequences for the economy will be enormous. Different sectors (such as the hospitality sector and the transport sector) will not be able to overcome the difficult times we are currently facing without public support ...
The coronavirus crisis could make the ability of a business to perform pending contracts harder. Even though so-called ‘hardship’ clauses are perfectly valid and enforceable under Belgian law, hardship is not generally accepted as a principle of Belgian contract law. Until the rules on obligations of the new Civil Code, which recognise hardship, enter into force, there are exceptions and creative ways to deal with this problem ...
With the Corona crisis, countries such as Germany, France and the Czech Republic have already announced bans on exports of protective gear to avoid shortages at their countries. But is this in conformity with the principle of free movement of goods as provided for in articles 34-36 TFEU? This principle is one of the cornerstones of the European Union's internal market which implies that national barriers to the free movement of goods within the EU need to be removed ...
In this challenging period of the Coronavirus outbreak, your organisation might currently be taking strong internal measures to protect its employees while ensuring work continuity. Such measures could have data protection implications and therefore you might be wondering how to take them in accordance with the GDPR. We have answered the most important GDPR questions below ...
EUIPO On 16 March 2020, the Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has issued Decision No EX-20-3 extending all time limits expiring between 9 March 2020 and 30 April 2020, that affect all parties before the Office, to 1 May 2020. In principle, the new deadlines will not be communicated to the parties on a case-by-case basis ...
All shops, bars, restaurants and leisure centres will be closed at least until 6 April 2020. Only grocery stores, pet food stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices and book shops will remain open until that date insofar as the social distancing (at least 1 meter distance) can be guaranteed. Night shops can stay open until 10 pm insofar as social distancing is applied. Food stalls on markets are only allowed insofar as considered essential ...
Belgium is a complex country and many authorities have jurisdiction The Federal government is in charge of emergency planning. It can activate a federal stage emergency planning in which case the Federal Minister of the Interior has exceptional authority and can coordinate the emergency activities. As announced at a press conference on Thursday 12 March 2020, at about 10 pm, this federal stage has been activated ...
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 ...
The 30-day state of emergency was proclaimed by the President of Romania, in the context of the COVID – 19 outbreak in Romania. The Decree no. 195/2020 (the “Decree”) instituting such state of emergency is effective as of 16 March 2020 and substantially impacts not only the day-to-day life, but the businesses too ...
The coronavirus is making a significant impact to our daily lives in every respect. This includes a growing impact on the global economy and the day-to-day business activities of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. This legal alert summarizes the evolving situation and its implications on the operations of life sciences companies. HHS Declaration of Liability Immunity Issued The U.S ...
The Ohio State Dental Board (“Dental Board”) issued a COVID-19 advisory Monday, March 16, 2020, at the direction and request of Governor Mike DeWine ...
On Friday, March 13, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced several waivers of existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) regulations pursuant to Section 1135(b) of the Social Security Act, including the waiver of certain Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) obligations and Medicare conditions of participation during the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Less than one week ago the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 (coronavirus) a pandemic. In the days that have followed, the United States House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to provide access to testing, food assistance, Medicaid funding, paid sick leave and unemployment benefits to workers. The United States Senate is expected to pass a version to be signed into law in the near future ...
Limited liability companies and stock companies must file for the opening of insolvency proceedings if they are unable to pay their open debts (illiquidity) or over-indebted without a positive prognosis. If such ground to file for insolvency has occurred, managers are obliged to file for insolvency as soon as possible, but at the latest within 60 days. Otherwise they are personally liable - without limitation - for damages caused by a delayed filing for insolvency (i.e ...
Can a company collect data about a (potential) infection with COVID-19? Both, in case of information on a suspected case and in a confirmed case, special categories of personal data are processed. Whether a company may process such health data of employees, customers, suppliers or other third parties is exclusively governed by Art 9 GDPR ...
Which laws are applicable and what are the most important regulations? Epidemic Law 1950 COVID-19-Measures Law The legal basis for the measures imposed by the federal government last week is the Epidemic Law of 1913, which was re-introduced in 1950. The object and aim of the law are to combat notifiable transmissible diseases. This includes COVID-19 ...
When should we hold our annual shareholders' meeting this year? The shareholders' meeting of a stock corporation must be held each year within eight months as of the end of the financial year. Therefore, if the financial year corresponds to the calendar year, there is time until the end of August. If possible, we would therefore recommend holding the annual shareholders' meeting a bit later this year in order to be better prepared ...
We are all facing an unprecedented event in our lives with the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although we are COVID-19 free, we are implementing precautionary and contingency measures to protect the safety and welfare of everyone at the Firm, and those who are connected to the Firm. Effective 16 March 2020, we have been implementing a work-from-home system ...
The spread of the COVID-19 virus (“Coronavirus”) worldwide has had, in addition to the enormous impact on the health of the population, a notorious effect on the economic life of individuals and companies, and also on the execution of contracts. It affects the internal processes of a company, the production or services on which it depends to subsist, and even makes it difficult to fulfill the obligations assumed with third parties ...
Royal Decree No. 463/2020 declaring a state of alert in Spain to manage the COVID-19 public health crisis was published on March 14, 2020. Among other measures designed to respond to the outbreak and alleviate its consequences, all court and administrative time limits have been suspended for fifteen natural days (i.e. until March 29, 2020). This period, however, may be extended if necessary ...
