“Public service is a noble calling” that requires great sacrifice, often requiring public officials to surrender personal conveniences in favor of public business ...
Shoosmiths’ mobility partner, Ben Gardner, was a speaker at SMMT Connected 2024, hosted in London. Ben moderated a panel discussion focused on the remaining challenges to a safe and responsible commercial rollout of automated vehicles. The summit was aimed at addressing the latest advancements in connected and automated vehicle technology. The UK’s automotive sector leads the charge in this transformative revolution, making substantial investments in cutting-edge technologies ...
The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a temporary Ohio law providing that income earned by remote workers would be taxed by the municipality that was their principal place of work, rather than the municipality where they actually performed remote work during the COVID-19 emergency period. The 5-2 decision in Schaad v. Alder, Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-525, came on February 14, 2024 ...
Norwich Pharmacal applications against BVI registered agents: BVI Commercial Court provides new guidance In its recent judgment, the BVI Commercial Court has provided clarification and guidance on Norwich Pharmacal applications against BVI registered agents ...
Maximising benefits: The importance of efficiently leveraging W&I Insurance to structure M&A deals Warranty and Indemnity (“W&I”) insurance is a risk management tool that transfers the liability of the seller to the insurer. W&I insurance typically covers the breach of warranties and indemnities provided by a seller/warrantor and the occurrence of events that were unknown or undisclosed to a buyer ...
On March 8, 2024, just days before it was set to take effect, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District of Texas vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB’s”) recent rule on determining the standard for joint-employer status. The NLRB issued the rule on October 26, 2023. It established a seven-factor analysis, under a two-step test, for determining joint employer status ...
Muted voices: can beneficiaries of a STAR trust be empowered to play "devil's advocate" In In the Matter of the G Trust[1] the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands was asked by the trustee of a Cayman STAR trust to give directions in relation to the question of who should participate, and in what capacity, in an application for rectification of a deed supplemental to the trust (the "rectification application") ...
Last month, special counsel Robert Hur issued a report detailing his reasons for declining to charge President Joe Biden for retaining classified documents from Biden's time as vice president. Regardless of one's views on its conclusions and underlying rationale, at least some of the report's significance results from the rare glimpse it provides into prosecutorial decision making. The report was delivered pursuant to special counsel regulations, but the U.S ...
On February 12, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Quebec handed down its decision in Société d?assurance Beneva inc. c. Bordeleau,1 dealing in particular with the burden of proof incumbent on an insurer when it denies coverage on the basis of an insured?s intentional fault, and an award of damages against an insurer for breach of its duty of good faith. The facts This decision was rendered further to a dispute between Société d?assurance Beneva inc ...
In the recent judgment of John Mussington & Anor v. Development Control Authority & Others (Antigua and Barbuda) [2024] UKPC 3, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (“JCPC”) found that the appellants had standing to challenge the construction of an airstrip in Bermuda ...
Quebec is a fertile ground for class actions, with over 550 active cases and between 50 to 100 applications for authorization filed each year. While 2023 marked the fifth anniversary of the ?new? class action division: what is there to watch in 2024? Read on to find out. Opioids and the State: Sanis Health v ...
In a 2023 trip and fall case, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant Wal-Mart. Kozlowski v. Wal-Mart Stores E., LP, No. 5:21-cv-261-ACC-PRL, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116861 (M.D. Fla. May 19, 2023). The plaintiff alleged that she tripped due to humps and ripples in a floor mat at the front entrance of the store ...
The recent decision to permit 45 million competition law claimants to claim against Meta has thrown fresh focus on the real risks posed to organisations after data breaches. Here, we discuss recent trends and make some predictions. Following the news that up to 45 million claimants under competition law have been given the go-ahead for a £2bn class action against Meta, many are thinking about what the real risk of class action litigation is after a mass data breach ...
From Dominic Cummings to Nicola Sturgeon, 2023 was a noisy, headline-grabbing year for the UK’s public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. What’s coming in 2024? And what does it mean for businesses? In terms of media exposure, the first full year in the life of the UK’s official Covid-19 Inquiry was a resounding success ...
2023 was largely characterised by macroeconomic volatility and heightened geopolitical tension. Due to this, many companies are now facing unexpected legal disputes after finding themselves or their contractual counterparties in distressed situations. Disputes Day 2024 will therefore focus on Disputes and Distressed Parties. The event will be organised on 19 March and it aims to provide practical insights to help companies navigate the complexities of legal disputes ...
Re Coinomi - Reconsidering the remedies for unfair prejudice Whereas the position at first instance (Re Coinomi [2022] EWHC 3178 (Ch)) had determined that a shareholder could not claim damages in favour of the company when invoking the statutory unfair prejudice jurisdiction, the appeal (reported as Ntzegkoutanis v ...
The Supreme Court of the United States recently unanimously reversed the 2nd Circuit’s ruling on an employee asserting a retaliation claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). Now, employees asserting a retaliation claim under SOX need to only show that their protected activity was a contributing factor in the adverse employment action. An employee does not have to prove that the employer had retaliatory or discriminatory intent to prove retaliation under SOX ...
Pension funds: hedging longevity risk Bulk Annuities Market Recent hikes in interest rates have led to huge increases in the funding levels of many UK defined benefit pension schemes (DB Schemes). Now they are in surplus, many DB Schemes are considering a bulk annuity transaction or "buy-in". As a result, the bulk annuity market is booming ...
The Commission for the Unification of Federal and Local Judicial Principles (the “Commission”) recently issued a number of decisions aimed at harmonising certain “judicial principles”. Since the doctrine of stare decisis is not followed in the UAE, there have been instances of incongruities in the application of law by the UAE courts ...
