An increasing number of public companies – particularly banks and financial institutions – are disclosing cybersecurity incidents in their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Companies are also replacing boilerplate cyber risk disclosures with more detailed disclosures of specific events or threats ...
Bankruptcy Code § 1129(a)(10) provides that in order for a plan proponent to “cram down” - i.e., force acceptance of - a plan of reorganization on a dissenting class of creditors, at least one impaired class of creditors must vote in favor of the plan. Because a plan is often not accepted by all classes entitled to vote, the ability to procure at least one impaired, accepting class in order to cram down a dissenting class is essential in achieving plan confirmation ...
An interview with Weronika Pelc, the partner in charge of the Energy Law Practice at Wardynski & Partners, and Michal Barlowski, the partner in charge of the Bankruptcy and Restructuring practices at Wardynski & Partners, about shale gas projects in Poland. You recently visited Houston at the invitation of the law firm of Haynes and Boone for a seminar on shale gas mining in Poland ...
A recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) could mean trouble for many Community trade marks. There is now a heightened risk that national courts will invalidate these trade marks if they have not been used extensively enough in the European Union. Is broader protection better?A Community trade mark (CTM) confers protection in all 27 EU member states ...
On February 27, 2013, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 opinion in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, 568 U.S. ___ (2013), that securities fraud class action plaintiffs need not prove materiality at the class certification stage to invoke the fraud-on-the-market presumption of class-wide reliance ...
Business owners grudgingly accept lawsuits as a part of doing business. If you’re doing what it takes to advance your business, you will suffer the bumps and bruises that will result in your name on a legal pleading. You may even be the one who files the lawsuit.Almost any money you can recover in a lawsuit is eaten up by lost employee time, and, perhaps more importantly, the business owner’s loss of focus on healthy profits. If you are the one sued, you can never win ...
On February 5, 2013, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC’s (“TGPC”) motion for an emergency preliminary injunction preventing Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board (“EHB”) from reviewing permits issued by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) to TGPC associated with its Northeast Upgrade Project (“Project”) ...
The United States Supreme Court yesterday significantly limited the federal government’s ability to bring an action for civil penalties more than five years after the alleged misconduct occurred. In Gabelli v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Court held that the five-year limitations period governing most enforcement actions begins to run when the underlying violation occurred – not when the government discovered the violation ...
There are several TCI legal entities regularly established for carrying out business either internationally or domestically. The registration process of these entities is comparatively straightforward and can usually be completed for a fixed cost and within a short timeframe and are often attractive options in TCI as an offshore financial centre with no corporate or personal income tax ...
Outside the work permit regime, there are two possible types of residency in TCI-a. Permanent residency (which frequently comes with the right to work); b. Shorter term residency. Permanent residency is now available only to those who have lived and worked in TCI for a stipulated period. Previously such residency was available to individuals who made a specific level of investment in TCI: since September 2012, that is no longer the case ...
Much has been written about the consequences of failing to establish a reasonable plan to preserve documents once there is a duty to preserve. However, surprisingly little has been written about when a party can resume its normal document retention and destruction policy. The good news is that eventually the litigation hold can be lifted; the bad news is that you may not be able to life the hold as soon as you would hope or like ...
One of the provisions of the West Virginia Horizontal Well Control Act passed in December 2011 increased the permit fees for horizontal wells from $400 to $10,000. At the time this legislation was under consideration, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman told the legislature that the increased permit fee would allow him to nearly double the Inspection and Enforcement staff within the Office of Oil and Gas, which at that time numbered 17 ...
For the first time, Texas rules permit a motion to dismiss. On February 12, the Texas Supreme Court released the final version of Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a, which (1) establishes procedures for dismissal of civil claims, and (2) provides for the mandatory award of attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party ...
President Obama recently signed an executive order focused on improving the security of the nation’s infrastructure from cyber attack. Borrowing concepts from failed legislative efforts, the executive order (“Order”) calls for increased information sharing between the federal government and the private sector and provides for the development of a voluntary cybersecurity program for owners and operators of critical infrastructure ...
An expansion strategy doesn’t always need to be M&A driven. Hunton & Williams LLP partners Robert Acosta-Lewis and Susan Failla make the case for strategic alliances. When considering expanding into emerging markets, companies often look to traditional M&A oppor tunities or explore possible distribution or sales representation relationships. While both of these avenues may offer potential advantages, they also carry risks and limitations ...
The new Waste Act of 14 December 2012 went into force on 23 January 2013. It introduces major changes in the waste management system in Poland. The prior Waste Act of 27 April 2001 will continue to apply in certain areas, however. The new Waste Act was enacted primarily in order to implement the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) into Polish law. The deadline for transposing the directive was 12 December 2010 ...
On January 16, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted the final 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The 2013 VGP, which will be issued under the Clean Water Act (CWA), will replace the 2008 VGP and will regulate discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels greater than or equal to 79 feet in length. See 76 Fed. Reg. 76,716 (Dec. 8, 2011) ...
On January 31, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in In re Indianapolis Downs, LLC1declined to designate the votes of parties to a post-petition restructuring support agreement (i.e., a lock-up agreement), instead confirming the Debtors’ Modified Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”) based on the votes of such parties ...
Here are select December 2012 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on criminal law and procedure: 1. REVISED PENAL CODE Rape; Pruna Guidelines ...
Amendments to Mining Business Regulation The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources recently issued Regulation No. 24 of 2012 (“Regulation 24”) amending his Regulation No. 28 of 2009 on Organizing Coal and Mineral Mining Businesses ...
Here are select December 2012 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on commercial law:Corporations; liability of corporate officers. Settled is the rule that debts incurred by directors, officers, and employees acting as corporate agents are not their direct liability but of the corporation they represent, except if they contractually agree/stipulate or assume to be personally liable for the corporation’s debts, as in this case. Ildefonso S. Crisologo vs ...
On 14 November 2012, the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration of the (“MOMT”) issued MOMT Regulation No. 19 of 2012 regarding Terms of Partial Assignment of Work to Third Party Companies (“Regulation No. 19”) Regulation No. 19 covers two types of outsourcing: business activity outsourcing (pemborongan pekerjaan); and manpower outsourcing (penyediaan tenaga kerja) ...
After the financial crisis hit the markets in 2008, small and medium sized enterprises ("SME") have found themselves at the sharp end of diminished access to credit. In their search for credit, they have turned to alternative forms of financing, such as crowdfunding. Last year around €300 million was raised through different types of crowdfunding. This amount is expected to increase significantly in 2013 ...
