If you spend any time reading about the virtual currency space, you’ve picked up that blockchain technology is creeping into hundreds of industries and countries worldwide as more and more people create ways to use the public electronic ledger to better our lives in the not-too-distant future. Money transfers, trade settlements, property and health records, and just about any other part of the human endeavor are being tweaked, changed, and disrupted by this new technology ...
The Issue: The explosive subject of sex trafficking has emerged in the media and in the public's consciousness around the world. Sexual activity in hotel rooms is not new, nor is it illegal for consenting adults. However, there are greater risks for hospitality operators who fail to maintain a certain level of vigilance about whether they may be enabling sex traffickers and facilitating their activities ...
The Issue: The explosive subject of sex trafficking has emerged in the media and in the public's consciousness around the world. Sexual activity in hotel rooms is not new, nor is it illegal for consenting adults. However, there are greater risks for hospitality operators who fail to maintain a certain level of vigilance about whether they may be enabling sex traffickers and facilitating their activities ...
Introduction There are multiple insurance policies available on the market to protect your property in Quebec. But how well do you know all your options? In 2016, we addressed peer-to-peer insurance, which is essentially a community of users wanting to insure similar goods and services together.1 However, in November 2021, the Superior Court of Québec rendered an interesting decision2 on self-insurance in the context of insurance offered by two (2) student associations ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in VAM Check Cashing Corp. v. Federal Insurance Company, No. 11-2644-cv, (2d Cir. Nov. 7, 2012), found the "overt felonious act" requirement in a crime insurance policy to be ambiguous. The court held, therefore, that the insured would be entitled to coverage for a theft at the insured’s store, even though it occurred as a result of a covert scheme to defraud ...
On April 17, 2024 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Division of Examinations (the “Division”) issued a Risk Alert regarding investment advisers’ compliance with amended Investment Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) ...
The United States Supreme Court will soon decide whether public officials may be liable for blocking constituents on social media. On October 31, 2023, the Court heard oral argument in O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier[i] and Lindke v. Freed,[ii] cases in which local school board officials and a city manager, respectively, are alleged to have blocked constituents from commenting on, or viewing, public social media accounts used for both government business as well as personal affairs ...
On April 18, 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a staggering $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Particularly startling about the settlement is that Dominion was valued at around $51 million as recently as 2018, meaning that the settlement resulted in a payout up to fifteen times Dominion’s value. Dominion filed the lawsuit in response to publicly broadcast statements by Fox News and its guests after the 2020 election ...
The High Court has ruled in favour of pop star Rihanna against high street clothes retailer Topshop, which used an unauthorised image of her (almost identical to one used on her CD) on some of its T-shirts.Customers had believed it was an approved image, so the High Court confirmed Topshop was guilty of passing off ...
The popularity of wild camping following the easing of the first lockdown caused a number of problems for landowners and managers concerned about the impact on the countryside. Now, as we head into a summer of staycations, landowners may wish to familiarise themselves with the public’s right of responsible access afforded by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 ...
The Manchester Crown Court made an order confiscating a landlord’s rent under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for breaching a planning enforcement notice. Manchester’s Curry Mile is home to one of the largest concentrations of Asian eateries in the UK. Until recently, the Mile had also been the home of ‘Dubai Café’ ...
On 25 September 2020 Parliament approved the final draft of the revised Data Protection Act (rev-DPA).(1) The rev-DPA is expected to enter into force in 2022. However, it is subject to a facultative referendum and the corresponding ordinance will be adapted accordingly – thus, the rev-DPA is still a work in progress ...
On 18 January 2019, the Supreme People's Court and the Department of Justice of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region jointly signed theArrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters between the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(the "New Arrangement"). In Hong Kong, the New Arrangement was meant to be implemented via local legislation ...
A Texas federal court recently ordered an insurer to reimburse an oil and gas company for costs and expenses incurred while defending against environmental claims. The court found that a duty to defend existed even though the insured failed to immediately notify the insurer of the occurrence, giving rise to the claim as required by the insurance policy, and despite alleged willful miscon- duct that was excluded from coverage under the policy ...
Gennex Media LLC, a customizable product online marketplace, and its sole officer and shareholder Akil Kurji, have agreed to an FTC consent decree resolving allegations the company falsely claimed its Brandnex novelty products were “Made in USA,” “USA MADE,” and “Manufactured Right Here in America!” when, in many instances, they were wholly imported from China ...
The controversial Indian Premier League (IPL) is now underway, with English cricket stars conspicuous by their absence. They have been banned from both the IPL and its rival tournament, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Players competing in the ICL will receive a 12 month ECB ban, from all forms of English Country cricket ...
Generations of restauranteurs and hoteliers have been told they cannot give away liquor. Since liquor by the drink was originally adopted in Tennessee in the late 1960s, it has been illegal to give away wine or spirits at any restaurant, hotel, entertainment venue or other on-premise outlet. No more. P.C. 755 allows any liquor by the drink establishment to serve a complimentary sample of wine ...
Representation and warranty insurance (RWI) has boomed in popularity in the highly-regulated world of healthcare provider deals, and many dealmakers assume it will continue to be available as we ride the current wave of deals seeking to close by year-end 2021. That assumption may be wrong ...
Business interruption insurance claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic have raised numerous questions for practitioners, businesses, and insurers ...
Following the launch of a real estate investment trust with buy-back condition (the “REIT buy-back”), which we extensively covered in our last article, “Overview of REITs with buy-back conditions: The new mechanisms to help real estate owners survive in the midst of Covid-19”, aiming to alleviate the woes that business operators, particularly the hospitality sector, have endured during the Covid-19 era, on May 10, 2022, according to information revealed by the Director of
