Summary: On October 28, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement by prohibiting the award of any DoD contract to entities that require their employees to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that would restrict their employees from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a DoD contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative who is authorized
In our final quarterly case law update of 2022, we discuss four of the most significant employment law cases since August 2022 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Whistleblowing In the case of Kong v Gulf International Bank, Ms Kong made protected disclosures to the Head of Legal, Ms Harding ...
Asters' Counsel and pro bono legal advisor of the Committee on Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Development of the European Business Association (EBA) Anzhelika Livitska contributed to EBA White Paper "Deregulation of environmental legislation in a time of war and reforms aimed for European integration" ...
On 19 June 2022 Kyiv hosted Recovery Forum Ukraine 2022 organized by the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, KyivBuild Ukraine, Aquatherm Kyiv and ReBuild Ukraine. The event gathered the representatives of the state and local authorities, construction business-community, international financial institutions, and potential investors to discuss issues related to the rebuild of the damaged infrastructure in Ukraine as well as the ways of financing ...
Making variations to planning permissions as a scheme evolves is rarely a straightforward process, particularly where the changes go beyond the scope of non-material or minor material amendments. One tool that has been used extensively to achieve variations is the ‘drop-in’ planning application where a new consent is granted for an area that overlaps with the original permission ...
Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Motorola Mobility LLC, Appeal Nos 2021-1555, -1795 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 4, 2022) Our Case of the Week is ostensibly a case about whether a patent owner has standing to sue when that patent holder has granted an exclusive license. But the case turns on the application of collateral estoppel, when Uniloc, the patent owner, dismissed an appeal against Apple in an unrelated suit concerning the same facts. The case sounds like a cautionary tale about dismissing cases on appeal ...
The SEC Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert on September 19, 2022 announcing examination initiatives relating to Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-1 – the “Marketing Rule.” The compliance date for the Marketing Rule is November 4, 2022. Any advertisements distributed by investment advisers on or after that date are subject to the requirements of the Marketing Rule. This alert outlines areas that will be reviewed during examinations ...
Shoosmiths’ specialist construction and regulatory teams have provided a detailed response to the government’s consultation on implementing the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings under Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The firm’s response draws on its expertise working with key stakeholders in the construction industry and first-hand experience of the issues that are relevant to the proposed regulations ...
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is currently making its way through Parliament but what do we currently know about the Bill, which may have an impact on over 2,400 pieces of legislation on the UK statute books? You may be forgiven for not spotting the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (or the Brexit Freedoms Bill as it is affectionately known) slip in front of the House of Commons on 22 September 2022 as all eyes were on Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget at the time
Tackling base erosion and profit shifting remains a priority for the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”). It was recently reported that in the 2021 fiscal year, SARS dealt with 345 cases of transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting to the value of almost ZAR12-billion. Yet, only three South African courts have dealt with transfer pricing ...
On 7 October 2022, Federal Law No. 377-FZ (the “Law”) came into force. The Law granted mobilized citizens and their family members the right to receive preferential payment holidays on loans (including mortgages). Follow the link to learn more. Newsletter_Payment_holidays_for_mobilized_citizens.pdf (alrud ...
We are glad to present you a current digest of the most significant bills, regulatory changes, and measures affecting the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry for the period from June to October 2022. Follow the link to download the digest. ALRUD_Newsletter_Key_changes_in_Life_Sciences_for_the_June-October_2022_period_upd ...
You may have seen news items discussing a South African copyright case that deals with blind people’s rights to access books. It’s perhaps not that easy to follow, so we’ll try to make it as simple as possible. South African copyright law has been slow to evolve The South African Copyright Act dates back to 1978 ...
State securities regulators from Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas, and Alabama have issued cease and desist orders against Slotie, a Metaverse casino developer located in the country of Georgia. Regulators allege that the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) Slotie offers to investors are securities and that the ongoing sale of these NFTs constitute an ongoing unregistered issuance of securities ...
In October, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) brought charges against Kim Kardashian (“Kardashian”) for failure to disclose payments she received in connection with promoting EthereumMax on Instagram. This article outlines why public persons and projects operating in the web3 ecosystem must tread carefully so as to not implicate unwelcome regulatory oversight ...
On October 27, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 pandemic-related extensions of the deadline to present a government claim to a public entity under the Government Claims Act expired. In other words, a would-be claimant can no longer invoke the 120-day pandemic-related extension when presenting a claim. Background Government Code section 911 ...
ABC Corp. v. Tomoloo Official, Appeal Nos. 2021-2277, -2355, -2150 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 28, 2022) ABC Corp. v. eBay, Inc., Appeal No. 2022-1071 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 28, 2022) The following summary covers two decisions issued the same day, dealing with preliminary injunctions issued from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a single litigation. In one of those decisions, the Federal Circuit examined the notice requirement under FRCP 65(a) and held it was not met ...
While the Canadian government has said it intends to pass legislation dealing with cybersecurity (see Bill C-26 to enact the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act), many companies have already taken significant steps to protect their IT infrastructure. However, the Internet of Things is too often overlooked in this process. This is in spite of the fact that many devices are directly connected to the most important IT infrastructure for businesses ...
American universities have long attracted the best and brightest from around the world. They come both for the educational environment that protects free speech and open inquiry and for the sophisticated research opportunities that prevail in American academic labs – funded, in part, by American taxpayer dollars. Upwards of 9 in 10 students from some countries intend to stay, adding to America’s intellectual capital and its economic vitality ...
All contract legislation in Norway specifies time limits for filing a complaint. Put very simply, a complaint in this context is the process whereby a party to an agreement complains about a defect and asserts a claim within a defined time limit. Once the specified time limit has expired, the right to bring the claim will be lost. The logic behind the rules on complaints is that the parties to an agreement must be able to define the end point of, for example, a sale or delivery ...
Last Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the CFPB's automatic funding structure violates the Constitution. Because the decision calls into question virtually all of the CFPB’s actions since its creation, it has wide-ranging potential implications for all financial services industries. Please join us for a lunch-time webinar as we unpack the Fifth Circuit’s decision and what it means for your business ...
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) ...
