Special Report "COVID-19 in Central America" on special measures taken in each country of our region prepared by the multidisciplinary team of Consortium Legal. The information contained in this publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is constantly updated and is subject to change ...
On May 27, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a further extension of certain deadlines that were about to expire on May 31. The latest order provides until July 1, 2020 for certain actions delayed due to COVID-19. For small and micro entities only, filings that would have been accepted if filed by June 1, 2020, will now be deemed timely if filed by July 1, 2020 ...
Preparation of financial statements and corporate income tax, recommencement of time periods, remote trials, gradual return to workplaces, insolvency proceedings and compliance with criminal law In a new edition of our COVID-19 Special Newsletter, we examine the key new legislation approved over the past two weeks in all areas of business law ...
As dealer networks in the automotive sector re-open for business following the COVID-19 lockdown, we share below our main competition law watch outs for suppliers over the coming weeks and months. We know that current market conditions are tempting some people to reach out to their competitors – any competitor contact needs to be managed carefully from a competition law perspective ...
On June 8, the Federal Reserve announced a number of changes to the Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”), involving all three facilities, the Main Street New Loan Facility (“MSNLF”), the Main Street Priority Loan Facility (“MSPLF”), and the Main Street Expanded Loan Facility (“MSELF”) ...
As Pro Bono Counsel at a large southern law firm and the former Executive Director of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, Tiffany Graves sees how systemic inequities affect minority groups on a daily basis. “Firms have to do more,” she says, to counteract institutional racism and bring much-needed reforms to America’s legal and justice systems ...
On June 5, the President signed the PPP Flexibility Act. As first described in Buchalter’s previous ALERT, this new law creates the following adjustments to PPP requirements: For loans entered into on or after the date the Act became law, the minimum repayment period is to be extended from 2 years to 5 years. For loans prior to that date, the borrower and lender may agree to extend the loan term to 5 years ...
The Ministry of Public Health has published changes in the strategy to be followed for the eventual de-escalation of the confinement measures to be followed, repealing agreement 144-2020 ...
The events of this spring had many school districts looking forward to summer break. Unfortunately, it’s not quite resting time yet. On May 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released new rules, which apply to colleges as well as K-12 schools and mark the first time the department has promulgated regulations under Title IX addressing how schools must handle sexual assault cases involving students ...
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 ...
This tenth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, finds us reporting fewer shutdown-related cases than in previous weeks, suggesting that these cases are winding down as the country opens back up. By contrast, our prediction that workers' compensation and personal injury cases would begin to pick up with reopening appears to have borne out, with this week bringing the first reported “household exposure” claim ...
Issuers need to make transparent the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their companies. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) emphasized the importance and obligation of timely and transparent disclosure of “high-quality information” in a recent statement issued on May 29, 2020. It recalled the corresponding obligation for issuers to report on important matters and encourages companies to comply with their disclosure obligations ...
On March 28, 2020, the Act on Measures in Corporate, Cooperative, Association, Foundation, and Home Ownership Law to Combat the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic (COVID-19 Act) entered into effect. Among other things, the COVID-19 Act provides for substantial facilitations for stock corporations to hold general meetings. The most important innovation for use in practice is the possibility of holding general meetings entirely virtually, i.e ...
On 7 April 2020, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Health, adopted the Covid-19 Working Hours Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the Working Hours Regulation), which allows exceptions to the Working Hours Act for a limited period of time from 10 April 2020. 1 ...
In the context of the Corona crisis the German Federal Government has demonstrated that it is capable of acting quickly and pragmatically. The conditions for payment of short-time working benefit had already been adapted to the corona situation through past measures, and on May 14, 2020 the German parliament approved further changes through the Social Package II. The changes of relevance to employment law are set out briefly below ...
On 28 May 2020 the Federal High Court (Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”) handed down its judgment in the Planet49 case after a long legal dispute (we have already reported in detail on the previous instances including the judgment of the European Court of Justice). The Federal High Court’s judgement contains a large number of important statements which can only be fully assessed once the written grounds are published ...
The Ohio House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly in favor of House Bill 606, known as the “Good Samaritan Expansion Bill.” The bill grants temporary immunity from civil liability and professional disciplinary actions to a wide range of health care providers for injury, death, or damages arising from health care services rendered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Key Points A five bill, California Senate housing package heads to Appropriations after unanimously passing key committee votes last week. CEQA streamlining, increasing density, and affordable housing remain top priorities, including one bill seeking to incentivize commercial use conversion to residential use ...
As clients and counsel wrestle with the changing dynamics within litigation and trial work, Bradley has assembled trial lawyers with experience from hundreds of trials and a jury consultant of national standing to present on what is happening in courts across the country and how it is impacting the judicial system as we know it ...
Key Points As the State begins to open back up, COVID-19 employment related litigation also begins. Several trends have emerged. On an individual and class-wide basis, Plaintiffs cite disability discrimination, emotional distress, retaliation, reimbursement, public nuisance and WARN Act claims, among others ...
Last year, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu noted that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to “fundamentally chang[e]” “the legal concepts of inventor or author.”[i] The USPTO recently had cause to consider this issue. On petition, the USPTO considered whether an applicant can name an AI program as an inventor on a patent application ...
The Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (“SUPPORT Act”)[1] was enacted on October 24, 2018. Among other things, the SUPPORT Act amended the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (“Sunshine Act”)[2] to expand the definition of “covered recipients”[3] for payment tracking and reporting purposes ...
Federal and state government enforcers have been turning their focus to nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and other long-term care facilities. While this enforcement priority is not tied specifically to the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities can expect additional scrutiny as they are considered “ground zero” for infections ...