[!<CDATA[ Most state and federal courts have expressed a strong preference for parties to resolve their legal disputes via binding arbitration when there is an arbitration clause applicable to the dispute, there are instances where courts will deny such a request – even when the parties have expressly agreed to this particular forum in their construction contract ...
[!<CDATA[ As of September 1, 2021, in a change to Texas caselaw that had been in place for over a century, Texas contractors now have protection in certain circumstances from liability for defective plans and specifications provided to the contractor by someone else. In the 1907 Texas Supreme Court case Lonergan v ...
The UK's competition authority (CMA) unusually cleared a merger (Sony Music / AWAL) after nine months of investigation. Could a Phase 2 investigation have been avoided? On 16 March 2022 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued its final report into the completed acquisition by Sony Music Entertainment (Sony Music) of AWAL and Kobalt Neighbouring rights businesses from Kobalt Music Group Limited ...
The new Register of Persons Holding a Controlled interest in Land (RCI) will come into force in Scotland on 1 April 2022. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key points of the regulations behind the RCI1 and how they may affect landowners and tenants of registrable leases (being those longer than 20 years) in Scotland ...
March 24, 2022 By: Karen N. George and Andrew H. Selesnick The DMHC issued its final guidance on the No Surprises Act, confirming that the Knox-Keene Act constitutes a “specified state law” under the Act. The out-of-network reimbursement requirements for emergency services and the dispute resolution process in the NSA will therefore not apply to DMHC claims ...
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act received Royal Assent on 15 March 2022. Its effects will be felt far and wide across the UK real estate industry. We explained in our article Economic Crime Bill – what it means for real estate, that the aim of the new Act is to crack down on foreign criminals using UK property to launder money ...
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has recently published a study that it conducted with the largest active insurers in the Quebec insurance industry, entitled ?Critical Illness Insurance Supervisory Report?1 (hereafter the ?Report?) ...
Parents of children with special educational needs who are moving to further education should consider all options and make sure their local authority sticks to its deadlines, says Shoosmiths’ Guv Samra. The advice from the education law specialist comes as an important deadline looms for young people with Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs)who are transitioning to post 16/19 placements ...
BASF Plant Sci., LP v. Commonw. Scientific and Indus. Research Org., Appeal Nos. 2020-1415, -1416, -1919, -1920 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 15, 2022) Our Case of the Week, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, has something for everyone: questions of venue and statutory interpretation, invalidity and written descriptions, contracts and co-ownership of patents, and willfulness, injunctions, and royalty rates ...
In a defendant-friendly opinion, a split panel held that conduct based on an “objectively reasonable” reading of an ambiguous statute, absent contrary circuit court precedent or agency guidance, cannot constitute “knowing” misconduct under the False Claims Act. In United States ex rel. Sheldon v ...
March 16, 2022 By Braeden Mansouri and Alicia Guerra On February 15, California’s preeminent institution of higher education, UC Berkeley (“UCB”), began emailing student applicants that UCB may be forced to withdraw admissions offers as a result of a recent California Court of Appeal decision ...
The Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”) was enacted by Congress on January 1, 2021, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The Act’s purpose is to curtail shell companies often used in corporate transactions, including real estate transactions, from conducting illegal activities made possible by concealing the ownership and control of such entities ...
In re: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. and In re: Hyundai Motor America, Appeal Nos. 2022-108, -109 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 9, 2022) In the most recent of multiple mandamus rulings issued by the Federal Circuit in relation to Western District of Texas Judge Alan D ...
How has the use of digital technology, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to the rise in fraud? As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses experienced a rapid and significant increase in the use of digital technology. Bearing in mind health concerns, as well as business continuity, many businesses began to shift to widespread remote working environments ...
A decision this week from the Third District Court of Appeals serves as a reminder for why contractors need to be aware of all of the terms of the warranties they rely on and pass on to their customers. In West Bay Plaza Condominium Association v. Sika Corporation, a condominium association appealed the dismissal of its lawsuit due to claims that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong location ...
This week, the Ministry of Justice announced details about a new forward-thinking approach in private law children cases. The pilot scheme is intended to improve the way local authorities, the police and the family court share information to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse. The scheme The new approach is being piloted by family courts in Wales and Dorset, in cases dealing with child arrangement, specific issues and prohibited steps orders ...
We consider the first post Lloyd v Google decision considering loss of control damages under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 and its implications for the future of data and privacy litigation. It suddenly became much more difficult to bring collective privacy claims in England in November last year when Google succeeded in the Lloyd v Google litigation before the UK Supreme Court ...
The insurance industry typically has a significant role to play in public inquiries, and in this article we consider this from the perspective of insurance companies and policyholders. The Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallett DBE has been appointed Chair of the upcoming UK COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) and we currently await publication of the Terms of Reference, which will determine the scope of the investigation ...
Kochhar & Co. advised UK-based integrated manufacturing-services and power products company, Volex plc on its acquisition of majority stake in inYantra Technologies Pvt Ltd, an electronics design and manufacturing services company for USD 13 million (approx. INR 100 crore). The transaction entailed subscription to fresh equity issued by inYantra Technologies as also purchase of equity from the existing shareholders, by Volex plc through its Indian subsidiary ...