On 19 January 2022, the Scottish Government approved legislation that will require local authorities to set up licensing schemes for short-term lets, and require all short-term let properties to hold a suitable licence ...
On 10 February 2022, Shoosmiths hosted a webinar exploring practicalities, possibilities and predictions ahead of the upcoming UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry, which is due to commence in the spring. The webinar was aimed at supporting any businesses affected by the pandemic, and who might wish or be required to take part in the Inquiry. Compered by Charles Arrand (Partner), the webinar included talks by Paul Eccles (Partner), Joanne Sear (Principal Associate) and Hannah Howard (Associate) ...
Maritime activities a natural habitat for Norwegians Norway is a maritime nation with an extensive coastline. A coastline dotted with towns and hamlets form where the inhabitants for generations have ventured onto the high seas to trade and exploit its natural resources. Today several hundred thousands of Norwegians work in ocean related industries, traditional once such as coastal and high seas fisheries and transportation, newer once such as aquaculture and oil & gas activities ...
Effective Today, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will no longer require vaccinated individuals to wear masks in all indoor public settings under its updated Guidance for the Use of Face Masks (Updated Guidance). This effectively lifts the indoor mask mandate in most California counties, both where local officials have aligned with CDPH Guidance, and where officials never issued their own local mask mandate ...
The Oregon legislature is currently considering, as part of its February 2022 session, three bills that form a comprehensive set of changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act (Senate Bill 1501), create a small forestland owner tax credit (Senate Bill 1502), and update the forest harvest tax (House Bill 4055). The bills stem from negotiations between private forestry companies, small woodland owners, conservation groups, and fishing organizations ...
The Oregon legislature is currently considering, as part of its February 2022 session, three bills that form a comprehensive set of changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act (Senate Bill 1501), create a small forestland owner tax credit (Senate Bill 1502), and update the forest harvest tax (House Bill 4055). The bills stem from negotiations between private forestry companies, small woodland owners, conservation groups, and fishing organizations ...
On February 12, 2022, the Regulation of Law No. 21,325 on Migration and Foreigners (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette. In turn, Law No. 21,325 on Migration and Foreigners (the “New Law”) was enacted and published in the Official Gazette on April 20, 2021, however its entry into force was subject to the publication of the Regulation. In view of the foregoing, the provisions of the New Law came into force last February 12 ...
HMRC publishes updated guidance on termination fees and compensation payments and confirms the VAT treatment of dilapidations. On 7 February 2022, HMRC published Revenue & Customs Brief 2 (2022) (the 2022 Brief), its long-awaited updated guidance on early termination fees and compensation payments ...
Adapt Pharma Operations Limited v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-2106 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2022) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in both the majority opinion and dissent, provided an extended discussion of obviousness analyses. This discussion comes in the context of the Federal Circuit affirming the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey’s finding, namely, that U.S. Patent Nos ...
By Michael Flynn Under the long-recognized valid when made doctrine, if a loan was not subject to a state usury law when it was made, it does not subsequently become even if it is subsequently sold or assigned to another party. The doctrine long was applied by courts and utilized in secondary market sales, but its application to a non-bank purchaser was rejected by the Second Circuit in 2015 in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC ...
On November 5, 2021, CMS published an interim final rule regarding vaccination requirements for staff working for Medicare and/or Medicaid certified Skilled Nursing Facilities ("SNFs"). On December 28, 2021, CMS issued QSO 22-07-ALL covering the guidance and survey process related to these new regulatory requirements. This QSO is specifically applicable to California ...
Key Points Employees again are entitled to up to 80 hours of employer-paid sick leave for COVID-related absences through September 30, 2022, retroactive from January 1, 2022 Vaccine related absences are now covered absences for entitlement to paid sick leave In certain instances, employers may require employees to provide documentation of COVID test results for themselves or family members in order to receive the paid sick leave On February 9, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Senat
In Stadler v Currys, the High Court awarded summary judgment against a claimant who alleged distress following an inadvertent data breach. Here, Philip Tansley and Kathryn Williamson consider the court's reasoning and the implications of the decision. Introduction The High Court has last week handed down yet another useful judgment for defendants facing claims for breach of UK GDPR, misuse of private information, breach of confidence and negligence as a result of a data breach ...
In connection with the changes to the migration law that came into force on 29 December 2021, ALRUD presents below the new checklist. This checklist will be useful for foreign nationals, company managers, HR directors, Compliance officers, as well as heads of legal departments and other persons interested in or responsible for hiring foreign workers in Russia ...
In connection with the changes to the migration law that came into force on 29 December 2021, ALRUD presents below the new checklist. This checklist will be useful for foreign nationals, company managers, HR directors, Compliance officers, as well as heads of legal departments and other persons interested in or responsible for hiring foreign workers in Russia ...
February 10, 2022 By: Tracy A. Warren, Kathryn B. Fox, and Michelle K. Meek On Thursday, February 9, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would prohibit companies from compelling to arbitration cases where there are allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment, even where an employee has signed an otherwise enforceable arbitration agreement. The bill, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, was previously passed by the U.S ...
2021 was a doozy for business litigators — and their clients — in Florida state court. In the span of about a year, the Florida Supreme Court introduced three sweeping changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure: a fresh summary judgment standard, a new apex deponent rule and immediate review of early punitive damages decisions. While these changes touch all civil litigation, they've reverberated particularly powerfully throughout the Florida business litigation world ...
The past year has seen substantial activity by the federal courts in guarding against government overreach in False Claims Act cases. One of the principal areas courts have focused on is the FCA's knowledge requirement — i.e., FCA liability can only be imposed where a person violates the act knowingly. Two recent decisions, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S ...
The Federal Circuit issued numerous precedential opinions last week, two of which answered long simmering questions about inter partes reviews (IPRs). Below we discuss a case addressing whether admissions of prior art in the patent itself can be considered as prior art in an IPR. Our Case of the Week reversed Federal Circuit precedent concerning the scope of IPR Estoppel ...
The General Department of Taxation (“GDT”) issued Instruction no. 1972 GDT on 31 January 2022 (“Instruction 1972”) which sets out obligations for taxpayers in Cambodia that carry out projects for public interest in connection with a grant or loan agreement (“Agreement”) or memorandum of understanding (“MoU”) between the Royal Government of Cambodia and another government or national development agency or partner international organisations ...
As the Czech government signed off on the EU “Green Deal”, which aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050, the Czech Republic needs to find ways to achieve this goal, or at least to get close to it ...
On January 31, 2022, the Financial Market Commission (“FMC”) opened a public consultation process (the “Regulatory Proposal”), in order to simplify the registration process in the following registries, and the ongoing reporting obligations of entities registered in those registries: Registry of Foreign Reinsurance Brokers. Registry of Foreign Securities. Special Registry of Reporting Entities ...
