On 7 April 2023, the Belgian Cour de Cassation reversed its long standing case law and decided that (from now on) disputes concerning the termination of exclusive distribution agreements are eligible to be settled by arbitration. 1. The legal background The Belgian Economic Code (previously known as the 1961 Distributorship Act – the “Act”) provides special protection against the unwarranted termination of an exclusive distribution agreement ...
In its recent judgment of 21 December 2016, the Tournai Commercial Court (‘Court’) declared it did not have jurisdiction to deal with a dispute concerning the termination of an exclusive distributorship that the parties had agreed to submit to arbitration. This judgment was based on the new definition of arbitrability in the Belgian Judicial Code, which entered into force in 2013, and marks a new era for the arbitrability of Belgian distributorship law disputes ...
The quality of one’s life is determined by the quality of the questions one asks oneself every day, and the realization that this truth applies equally to lawyering. Our theory, borne of experience, is that a lawyer conditioned to ask an empowering question when adversity strikes, such as: “How can I use this?” is a better and more effective advocate. You might one day owe your life to an accident. Literally ...
Shoosmiths won increased provision for an adult child from her father's estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, achieving all of the costs benefits of the Defendant’s failure to beat the Claimant’s Part 36 offer. Recorder Williamson QC heard the trial remotely over two days on 21 and 22 January 2021 in the Peterborough County Court. He handed down judgment on 2 February 2021 ...
In 2022, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued six bid protest decisions worthy of particular note. ASRC Federal Data Solutions LLC ESimplicity Inc. v. U.S. Hydraulics International Inc. v. U.S. IAP Worldwide Services Inc. v. U.S. MP Solutions LLC Trace Systems Inc. This article by Aron C. Beezley, Patrick R. Quigley, Sarah Sutton Osborne, Lisa Markman, Nathaniel J. Greeson and Gabrielle A ...
Towards the end of 2018, the South African Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe (the “Minister”), published the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry, 2018 (the “2018 Mining Charter”). It is indicated that “implementation guidelines” are to be published in the near future. What follows is a summary of a few of the salient features of the 2018 Mining Charter ...
28 January 2021 saw the release of a Notification Concerning Guidelines for the Identification and Verification of Customers and Ultimate Beneficial Owners (“AMLO Notification”) by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (“AMLO”) ...
[!<CDATA[ Effective September 1, 2021: HB 1578 closes the loophole of the previous version of Chapter 38 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code so that parties will be able to recover attorneys’ fees from LLCs, LLPs, LPs, or other organizations in lawsuits for breach of contract. Generally, Texas law provides that each party to a lawsuit is responsible for her attorneys’ fees ...
The Texas Supreme Court has held that a mineral lessee enjoys surface rights over a pooled tract even if that tract is not producing oil or gas. Key Operating & Equip., Inc. v. Hegar, No. 01-10-00350-CV, 2014 WL 2789933 (Tex. Jun. 20, 2014). Mineral lessee Key pooled part of a 191-acre tract (the Curbo tract) with an adjoining tract (the Richardson tract) to form a single unit. Key used a road across the Curbo tract to reach oil and gas operations on the Richardson tract ...
The Texas Supreme Court recently declined to reach a question of significant interest to energy companies and landowners—whether deep subsurface wastewater migration can give rise to trespass liability when the wastewater crosses lease lines. See Envt’l Processing Sys., L.C. v. FPL Farming Ltd., No. 12-0905 (Tex. Feb. 6, 2015) ...
In French v. Occidental Permian, Ltd., No. 12-1002 (Tex. June 27, 2014), the Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on how to calculate royalties where production is obtained through an enhanced recovery technique like the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) ...
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT or Commission) issued three orders on March 26, 2020, establishing a new COVID-19 Electricity Relief Program for residential customers and modifying certain regulatory requirements applicable to retail electric providers (REPs) and electric utilities, including transmission and distribution utilities (TDUs) ...
The “right to be forgotten” (“RTBF”) has been central to the global debate over the balance between individual privacy and freedom of information and of the media in recent years. Such right has been affirmed by the European Court of Justice in a milestone case in 2014, as well as later in the UK, although its application in other countries remains uncertain ...
Earlier this year, the Tenth Circuit dismissed two appeals in connection with the Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) Final Rule implementing its regulations imposing new standards and obligations on hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands (“Fracking Rule”). The appeals had been filed challenging the district court’s prior ruling that struck down the rule in the face of industry, state, and tribal challenges ...
Constitutional Court, Gerald Camilleri et vs Advocate General et, 6th October 2020 The Maltese courts of Constitutional Jurisdiction were tasked with deciding a claim of violation of fundamental human rights as filed by the applicants, who had purchased a property in Sliema - in respect of which the provisions of the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance, Chapter 158 of the Laws of Malta are applicable - and which the applicants knew was tenanted by third parties under a title of lease resulting from
Constitutional Court, Gerald Camilleri et vs Advocate General et, 6th October 2020 The Maltese courts of Constitutional Jurisdiction were tasked with deciding a claim of violation of fundamental human rights as filed by the applicants, who had purchased a property in Sliema - in respect of which the provisions of the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance, Chapter 158 of the Laws of Malta are applicable - and which the applicants knew was tenanted by third parties under a title of lease resulting from
As a matter of important update that may impact potential and scheduled payments of dividends, interest, royalties and other similar “passive types” of income from Russia, please be informed that on 18th of May 2023 Russian Media has announced that Double Tax Treaties (the “DTTs”) with “Unfriendly States” will be temporarily suspended by the Presidential Decree in June 2023 ...
The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) in Quadro Services Ltd v Creagh Concrete Products Ltd [2021] EWHC 2637 (TCC) held that a claim referred to adjudication with three separate payment applications was still considered a single dispute for the purposes of adjudication. The adjudicator therefore did have jurisdiction to consider all three payment applications to determine the sum due, and the adjudicator’s decision was enforced ...
Cases challenging the constitutionality of state pass-through entity (PTE) nonresident owner withholding or composite return statutes are extremely rare. However, a recent Alabama Circuit Court decision, Black Eagle Minerals, LLC v. Alabama Department of Revenue, Case No. CV-2018-900328.00 (Cir. Ct. Montgomery County, Ala., July 27, 2020), highlights why such challenges may be more common when PTE composite returns are mandatory ...
