Shoosmiths litigation team recently hosted a roundtable discussion with senior inhouse lawyers with clients in financial services, technology and the automotive sectors. In this discussion, each participant discussed their key takeaways from our recent Litigation risk 2024 report, their biggest concerns for the year ahead and identified some areas that need further exploration in 2025 and beyond. AI continues to create uncertainty making it a key litigation risk ...
From optimizing revenue to refining strategy and decision-making and safeguarding data – AI's potential benefits for businesses and their management are enormous. However, businesses and their corporate fiduciaries face an immense Goldilocks problem: too little reliance on AI can leave a company behind its competitors and breach standards of care ...
Simonsen Vogt Wiig (SVW) are reaching out to international contractors or suppliers seeking to capitalize on the significant opportunities presented by Norway’s ambitious defense investment plan, which includes the pledge to spend 600 billion kroner over the next 12 years on defense modernization and capabilities ...
On March 28, 2024, the Department of Finance Canada announced a one-year extension to the 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (?METC?) available to investors in flow-through shares. The extension means that the METC will be effective until March 31, 2025. This announcement came at a time when uncertainty loomed over the industry and some stakeholders feared that the government would not renew the METC. Over time, this tax credit has become a key component of flow-through share financings ...
The Bitcoin ‘halving’ event is rapidly approaching, anticipated to occur around the 19th or 20th of April. Currently, there’s an unprecedented level of attention on Bitcoin due to this event. So, what exactly does ‘halving’ entail, and why is there such a buzz surrounding it? The term itself evokes the intrigue of a suspenseful horror film, one that could be straight out of a Stephen King story ...
The Government is consulting on legislative changes to introduce greater flexibility to access surplus funds in defined benefit pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) opened consultation further to publishing a paper entitled “Options for defined benefit schemes” on 23 February 2024 ...
On March 26th, 2024, the President of the Republic enacted the Framework Law on Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure (the "Law"), after having been generally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, and the preventive control of constitutionality carried out by the Constitutional Court was concluded ...
On 28 March 2024, the Belgian Federal Chamber of Representatives adopted a new act implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (“Digital Markets Act”), as well as amending various provisions related to the organisation and powers of the Belgian Competition Authority (the “Act”) ...
Krogerus Disputes Day was held on 19 March at Little Finlandia. The popular event gathered dispute resolution and compliance experts to discuss about business disputes with distressed parties. We would like to thank all our speakers and guests for a great Disputes Day and interesting discussions! This year, Disputes Day's theme was Disputes and Distressed parties ...
I. Introduction and overview of the issues Many lawsuits involve both covered and uncovered losses. In nearly every state, if a complaint alleges both covered and uncovered claims, the insurer is obligated to defend the entire suit. E.g., Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Copart of Conn., Inc., 75 F.4th 522, 529 (5th Cir. 2023) (Texas law); Buss v. Superior Court, 16 Cal.4th 35, 48, 939 P.2d 766 (1997); General Agents Ins. Co. of America, Inc. v. Midwest Sporting Goods Co., 215 Ill ...
In a move aimed at protecting Americans’ data security, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14117 on “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Order”) ...
April 2, 2024 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman On June 6, 2024, new amendments to Washington State’s noncompetition statute (RCW 49.62) will go into effect, which place further limitations on the use of noncompetition agreements in Washington. Substitute Senate Bill 5935 introduces several modifications to RCW 49.62 that Washington employers (and employers with Washington employees) should be aware of: Broader definition of “noncompetition covenant ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on March 13 issued a highly consequential decision in U.S. Securities andExchange Commission v. Rashid, interpreting and applying the mental state for liability of investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. Over a strong dissent, the court reversed a finding of liability of the defendant investment adviser under basic principles of negligence law, and in doing so, provided a road map for future enforcement actions under the act ...
Ministry of Labour: Employers may discipline employees for disclosing a colleague’s salary Earlier, we informed about the position of the GIT of the Nizhny Novgorod Region that if the employer’s ****local policy**** prohibits the ****disclosure**** of the ****salary**** of other employees, then employees who view another employee’s pay slip and disclose his/her salary may be ****disciplined**** ...
Last week, a trial court in Buffalo ruled that a group of personal injury plaintiffs’ strict liability claims against a who’s-who of social media companies, arising out of the tragic 2022 Tops Friendly Markets mass shooting, could proceed to discovery, rejecting the argument that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act barred such claims from the get-go. Patterson, Diona Et Al v. Meta Platforms, Et Al, 0805896/2023 (NYSCEF Doc No. 409) ...
Artificial intelligence (?AI?) is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the fact that this human invention can now generate its own inventions opens the door to new ways of conceptualizing the notion of ?inventor? in patent law. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (?UK Supreme Court?) however found that an artificial intelligence system cannot be the author of an invention within the meaning of the applicable regulations under which patents are granted ...
In its traditional form, the advice of counsel defense can validate conduct that might otherwise be considered criminal. But invocation carries a steep cost: The defendant must waive his privilege with the lawyer who gave the advice in question. An additional prerequisite complicates utilization: The defendant must demonstrate good faith reliance on the advice he sought and received ...
By: Jennifer Misetich March 26, 2024 On March 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Huerta v. CSI Electrical Contractors, which provides certain clarity on nuanced wage and hour issues and the scope of the term “hours worked ...
March 25, 2024 By: Daniel C. Silva and Ross Garrett In March 2024, the Northern District of Alabama held that Congress exceeded its Constitutional authority by enacting the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The CTA requires variety corporate entities—everything from LLCs to trusts—to disclose beneficial ownership information to the U.S. Treasury Department ...
Moratorium on inspections of companies may be canceled from 01 January 2025 This is the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, announced during his address to the Federal Assembly. If the moratorium is abolished, a ****risk-oriented approach**** is expected to be introduced: employers will be checked according to ****risk indicators****, and if there are no risks, inspectors will carry out ****preventive visits**** ...
