On June 1, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued an important decision addressing the intent element of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in United States ex rel. Tracy Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Thomas Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. The FCA imposes liability on anyone who “knowingly” submits a false claim to the federal government and defines “knowingly” to include actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, or recklessness ...
By: Matthew Seror and Aaron Levine On June 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that will likely determine once and for all whether courts are empowered to void copyright registrations based on immaterial registration errors, or whether a showing of bad faith or an intent-to-defraud is required. The underlying case, Unicolors v. H&M, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS U.S. App. LEXIS 17097 (9th Cir ...
In Dubin v. United States, the Supreme Court gave a narrowing construction to a federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. This statute provides that whomever, “during and in relation to any [predicate offense], knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person” is a guilty of a crime ...
The honourable justice Louis-Paul Cullen of the Superior Court rendered a judgment on September 23, 2011 which dismissed a motion for authorization to exercise a class action instituted by Mr. Kerfalla Toure (hereinafter "Toure") against Brault & Martineau (hereinafter "B & M) . (1) In order for a class action to be authorized by the Superior Court, the Code of Civil Procedure sets out the four conditions which must be fulfilled ...
On April 28, 2005, the Chambre des notaires du Québec filed a petition to declare unconstitutional and of no force and effect requirements issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) under sections 231.2 and 231.7 as well as subsection 5 of section 232(1) of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) (ITA) to obtain documents or information prima facie protected by professional secrecy ...
In a judgment handed down on February 16, 2021, in a case involving former de facto spouses, the Superior Court dismissed an interlocutory injunction filed by the plaintiff seeking the eviction of the defendant from what had been their common residence. After having lived together in a de facto union for 32 years, the parties separated. The plaintiff, sole owner of the family residence, left the residence while the defendant continued to live there ...
Ecuador is no stranger to the “State Capitalism” economic stream which prevailed in South America in the last two decades. This way to directly involve the central government to the country’s economy has triggered deep changes to the commercial relationships ...
The State Budget Law for 2022, Law 12/2022 of 27 June (“SBL2022”) was published on 27 June 2022 and came into force on the following day. SBL2022 is framed in a context of expectations for the economic recovery of the country in what is hoped will be a post-pandemic period. It has been presented as a budget that promotes economic recovery and reinforces policies favourable to investment. However, the greatest changes that have been proposed relate to the taxation of individuals ...
On 20 May 2020, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China issued the Circular on Supporting the Development of New Forms of Trade (Circular). The Circular summarised previous pilot experiences and, established foreign exchange (forex) policies that are meant to optimise new forms of trade[1]. The Circular has been implemented since the date of its promulgation ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on the spectre of personal criminal liability for charity trustees. During the recent Trustees’ Week the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said that one of the week’s aims is to inspire more people to come forward to serve as trustees, to prepare a pipeline of able and passionate people, willing to take on the mantle of trusteeship, ensuring the good work of charities is sustainable ...
Jersey contracts are not subject to a general duty of good faith and mere silence, without more, cannot amount to a misrepresentation. These were some of the key outcomes of the Royal Court's decision in Hard Rock Limited and Anor v HRCKY Limited [2023] JRC 169. What happened? In 1999, Hard Rock sold to HRCKY the franchise rights to run a Hard Rock Café in the Cayman Islands. The franchise was initially a lucrative operation ...
Due to the dramatic increase in Covid-19 infection numbers, there were calls – once again – to postpone the social elections that are scheduled for the period between 16 and 29 November 2020. However, on 27 October 2020, the social partners reached an agreement not to do so, but to extend the opportunities for voting electronically or by post so that the elections can take place in Covid-proof circumstances ...
From gyms, pools, gardens and co-working spaces to group litter picking, charity fund raising and book clubs, the build to rent (BTR) sector is founded on the provision of social value and community. The over-arching purpose of BTR is to create thriving communities of tenants whose willingness to utilise space and engage with neighbours goes beyond the mere occupation of a building ...
Facts This month, the Inner House (Scottish appeal court) handed down judgment in Van Oord UK Ltd v Dragados UK Ltd, an appeal from the commercial court concerning the interpretation of an NEC3 contract for the dredging of Nigg Bay, part of the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project. Dragados Ltd, the main contractor (and Defender and Respondent) was employed by Aberdeen Harbour Board and subcontracted all dredging works to Van Oord Ltd, the Pursuer/Reclaimer ...
The turmoil within the Croatian retail company Agrokor, which owns Mercator, the largest Slovenian retailer, caused a significant stir in the Slovenian public, with the suppliers and especially in politics ...
The False Claims Act (“FCA”) is one of the most powerful anti-fraud weapons available to the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). It permits treble damages and makes penalties available for each false claim the defendant submitted to a federal payor. The DOJ effectively deployed the FCA against mortgage lenders in the aftermath of the sub-prime lending crisis to obtain, in some cases, billion-dollar settlements ...
In the recent case of E v L [2021] EWFC 60, the court has reconsidered how the sharing principle applied to marriages that are short and/or childless. Through the years, family courts have developed three key principles for financial remedy proceedings: “needs”, “sharing” and “compensation”. This article focuses on the two former principles ...
On 13 October 2022, Shoosmiths hosted a webinar on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (the ‘Inquiry’). The webinar took a closer look at the structure and progress of the Inquiry, alongside the commercial and legal considerations that any potential witness or party should be aware of, including the role of a Core Participant (‘CP’). The webinar was hosted by Paul Eccles (Partner) and included talks by Alex Friston (Associate) and Charles Arrand (Partner) ...
The Sharjah Court of Appeal recently declined to apply the principle of separability of an arbitration clause, on the basis that the underlying agreement (i.e. in which the arbitration clause was contained) was not defective or argued to be invalid by the appellant. This judgment has potentially significant implications for parties who intend to rely on an agreement which contains an arbitration clause to assert claims in court ...
The possibility of buying real estate rests normally on the capacity of an individual or company to acquire debt, reason why credit entities play an essential role in the success of the real estate market. Lately, we have noticed that in addition to the traditional loan guaranteed by a mortgage, there is an offer for loans guaranteed by a security trust ...
Key Takeaways The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to take a case regarding Section 101 of the Patent Act as it applies to inventions involving natural laws. The Federal Circuit recently invalidated claims belonging to American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. relating to the manufacture of a prop-shaft using a natural law under Section 101 ...
