The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (‘ICC’) has issued a revised version of its Arbitration Rules. The 2021 Rules enter into force on 1 January 2021 and aim to make arbitration even more efficient, flexible and transparent ...
The 2020 Investment Priorities Plan (2020 IPP) has been promulgated by the Philippine President under Memorandum Order No. 50 dated November 18, 2020 (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/11nov/20201118-MO-50-RRD.pdf), and it became effective on December 6, 2020. The IPP is issued pursuant to the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987 (Executive Order No. 226), as amended (Omnibus Investments Code) ...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued its Annual Report to Congress, which provides statistics concerning bid protest filings for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, including the number of protests filed and sustained. The chart below, included in GAO's Annual Report, summarizes this information. Click here to view the summary table As shown above, most of the data points remained constant from the prior year ...
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” into law. Most referred to this as the Coronavirus Relief Bill and thought that it only contained a stimulus package. However, within it, were also changes to intellectual property law ...
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its COVID-19 guidance to address workplace issues related to COVID-19 vaccines, including mandatory vaccination policies. According to the EEOC, employers may mandate vaccines, but must attempt to accommodate employees who refuse vaccination because of disability or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance ...
An important update to Georgia’s statutory lien waiver laws will take effect on January 1, 2021. This summer, Georgia enacted an amendment to O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366 (the Lien Waiver Statute), that alters the form for interim and final lien waivers. The new statute makes it clear that lien waivers only waive lien or bond rights against the property and do not waive the right to file a lawsuit for non-payment or other related claims ...
It behooves construction professionals, be they materials manufacturers, general contractors, or lower-tier subcontractors, to carry some form of commercial general liability insurance (“CGL Insurance”). Having such coverage alleviates some of the potential risk and financial exposure a construction professional carries on a particular project. That is, of course, unless the construction professional gets sued and the insurer refuses to pay ...
The United States Court of Federal Claims recently dismissed multiple challenges to the accuracy of a Contract Performance Assessment Report (CPAR), not based on merit but based on jurisdiction. This serves as a reminder to all that the proper mechanism to challenge a CPAR must be obeyed for the claims to be heard. In Colonna’s Shipyard, Inc. v. United States, Colonna sought to challenge the accuracy of its CPAR from a previous Navy contract, the Narragansett Contract ...
The United States Sixth Circuit Court recently upheld a party’s contractual right to arbitration despite pre-lawsuit, informal letters suggesting that the parties litigate in court. In Borror Property Management, LLC v. Oro Karric North, LLC, the Sixth Circuit heard a dispute arising out of an Ohio federal trial court decision related to whether a party waived its arbitration right ...
The Alabama Supreme Court recently found that a party was in breach of an arbitration clause for declining to pay the fee schedule set forth by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and thus lost the right to compel arbitration. This case serves as a reminder to follow the orders of arbitral institutions or risk losing the opportunity to arbitrate your dispute ...
Moderator Adam Polk interviews Thomas Richie concerning the Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Johnson v. NPAS, which categorically banned incentive payments ...
Introduction If 2020 has been defined by COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry in 2020 might be defined by a related single issue — telehealth. Those phenomena are obviously connected. While telehealth has been around in varying forms for years, COVID-19 accelerated its growth, use, and acceptance in unprecedented ways. With that growth comes changes. Reimbursement rules have evolved as telehealth has grown and become more accepted ...
Introduction If 2020 has been defined by COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry in 2020 might be defined by a related single issue — telehealth. Those phenomena are obviously connected. While telehealth has been around in varying forms for years, COVID-19 accelerated its growth, use, and acceptance in unprecedented ways. With that growth comes changes. Reimbursement rules have evolved as telehealth has grown and become more accepted ...
While most Americans are likely aware that President Donald Trump signed a pandemic relief and government spending bill into law on Dec. 27, 2020 (the “Omnibus Bill”),[i] it is important for those who have intellectual property assets to understand that tucked away into this nearly 5,600-page legislation are laws impacting copyrights, trademarks, and patents ...
On December 24, 2020, the Brazilian President sanctioned, with some vetoes, an amendment to Law 11,101/2005, which governs judicial reorganizations, pre-packaged reorganizations and bankruptcy liquidations of businessmen and companies. The vetoes can still be overthrown by the Brazilian Congress ...
The Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) provides for a transition period ending on 31 December 2020. Thereafter, EU trade marks (EUTM) will cease to extend protection to the UK. To safeguard these rights, the UK government has implemented measures to ensure that EUTM owners will continue to enjoy trade mark rights in the UK. Trade mark rights registered as of 31 December 2020 will be automatically cloned into national UK registrations ...
Key issues The consequences in terms of applicable law will likely be limited A jurisdiction clause in general terms and conditions may be insufficient Consumer law may require attention where diverging future regulations are concerned The consequences in terms of applicable law are likely to remain limited Should parties not have included a choice of law in their agreement, then EU-courts apply the Rome I Convention to determine applicable law ...
Congress reached agreement on the third round of coronavirus-related relief measures (totaling approximately $900 Billion) as this issue was being written. The relevant statutory language is part of the massive Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) and was released on December 21, 2020. Passage by the House and Senate was swift, and approval by the President is expected ...
In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued five decisions worthy of particular note: Inserso Corp. v. U.S.[1] Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc.[2] Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. v. U.S.[3] LAX Electronics Inc. v. U.S.[4] Centerra Integrated Facilities Services LLC ...
It is the rare construction project that is completed without any change in the work. In most sophisticated construction projects, the contractual mechanism for managing these changes involves the issuance of a change order. However, managing change orders is not something project teams are always well-trained on, which can cause issues for small and big contractors alike ...
On Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules, which implement changes to the Physician-Self Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) regulations (respectively the OIG Final Rule and the CMS Rule, collectively the Final Rules). This alert is a part of the Dinsmore Health Care practice group’s ongoing summary of the Final Rules ...
In an update to our client alert from November 30 regarding the San Francisco commercial eviction moratorium previously passed by the Board of Supervisors, we note that, following our publication of the client alert, the Board of Supervisors, on December 1, amended the moratorium to clarify previous language on a retail tenant’s right to terminate its lease that was ambiguous ...
In a small victory for landlords of bankrupt tenants, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has ruled that the Chuck E. Cheese parent company may not use its bankruptcy filing to avoid paying its rent. The COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-at-home orders have prompted numerous retailers and restaurants to seek bankruptcy protection. Many of those companies successfully used the bankruptcy process to obtain relief from their rental obligations ...
Over the past several months, many disputes have arisen over whether the COVID19 pandemic or government responses to it provide, depending on the jurisdiction, an impossibility or impracticability defense for nonperformance under a contract. Now, we are beginning to see a flood of decisions addressing that defense. We previously wrote about two recent decisions from New York that are instructive on the defense of impossibility — the relevant standard under New York law ...
