What is litigation funding and why is it attractive? Also known as legal finance or litigation finance, third party funding – historically – was considered an improper or corrupting influence on litigation. These old offences of champerty and maintenance were first decriminalised in England in 1967 ...
October 6, 2021 By: Jennifer Guerrero While a remote work environment can provide many benefits to all of the parties involved, it also can present significant challenges for organizations that need to remain Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) compliant ...
In re: Vivint, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1992 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 29, 2021) In an appeal from the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit addressed whether a party may challenge the validity of an issued patent by ex parte reexamination when the challenger has repeatedly tried to use inter partes review (“IPR”) to forward the same argument. The Federal Circuit held that, when applying 35 U.S.C ...
Due to the non-renewal of the constitutional state of exception of catastrophe, the health authority modified the Covid-19 regulations. The main changes are mentioned below: A. STEP-BY-STEP PLAN MODIFICATION On October 1st 2021, Exempt Resolution No. 994 was published in the Official Gazette, which regulates and establishes a new version of the “Step-by-Step Plan” ...
Financial Services Malaysia Overnight Rate as Alternative Reference Rate Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) announced on 24 September that the Malaysia Overnight Rate (“MYOR”) is an alternative reference rate for Malaysia. The MYOR: will be administered and calculated by BNM as the volume-weighted average rate of unsecured overnight Ringgit interbank transactions, including BNM’s overnight monetary operations (excluding Standing Facilities) ...
1. General 1.1 Prevalence of Arbitration Litigation continues to be the primary method of resolving disputes in Malaysia, for both domestic and international disputes. This is not expected to change in the near future ...
The government has announced a series of measures to tackle ongoing shortages of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers and poultry workers in the UK. This includes relaxing immigration rules to offer over 10,000 temporary visas in the run up to Christmas. Brexit, the Coronavirus pandemic, tax changes and additional factors such as an ageing workforce have all contributed to a shortage of food processing workers and HGV drivers in the United Kingdom ...
On Monday the White House announced that the COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed on passengers from the UK and most of the EU would be eased, allowing fully vaccinated passengers to enter the country from early November. This will be welcomed by families that have been kept apart as a result of the ban first imposed by President Trump 18 months ago. The UK moved to end similar restrictions on US travellers in July, and both sides of the pond are once again open for business ...
In October 2020 the Information Commissioner’s Office (the “ICO”) announced that it was issuing a Penalty Notice to British Airways (“BA”), imposing a financial penalty of £20 million following a data breach that resulted in hackers obtaining the personal data of 400,000 BA customers. This was a significant reduction from the ICO’s original intention to issue a fine of £183 million ...
Covering employee wages since 1 March 2020, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ("furlough") is set to end on 30 September 2021, with a deadline for final claims to be made by 14 October 2021. Employers still using the scheme should be engaging with employees about its end, and may now need to make some tough decisions that have been postponed while furlough continued ...
Arbitration is an increasingly popular means for cross-border dispute resolution, and it has also led to an increasing number of court applications in Hong Kong seeking enforcement of local and foreign arbitral awards ...
There were conflicting judicial opinions of first instance courts as to whether the exception in summary judgment applications under Order 14, rule 1(2)(b) of the Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A) (Fraud Exception) covers actions in which the defendant is not alleged to be a party to the fraud, but where allegations of fraud are made against a third party. In R. Stahl Inc ...
It seems logical that when a claimant requests that a claim be amended to include an additional condition based upon a theory of substantial aggravation, the easiest element to prove would be that the condition pre-existed the date of injury. Recently, in Houlihan v. Hamilton County, 2021-Ohio-3087, the Ohio First District Court of Appeals found that a claimant must prove a condition existed at the time of the injury before they can establish a substantial aggravation ...
Summary On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued his Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (the “Executive Order”) that, when implemented, will require most federal contractors to comply with all guidance for federal contractor and subcontractor workplace locations published by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (see www.saferfederalworkforce.gov) ...
September 28, 2021 By: Joshua M. Robbins When harmed or in heated disputes, companies sometimes think about bringing the “big guns”—law enforcement agencies—into the fight. Often acting through counsel, a business may seek to refer a matter to the government for potential investigation and prosecution of competitors, business counterparties, former employers or employees, or entirely unrelated persons who have victimized the company ...
As many of us continue to work from home and/or have opportunities for travel and meeting up restricted, we are continuing to run our essential webinar series for employers to ensure that our clients and contacts remain up to date and equipped to deal with all eventualities! Our latest seminar focused on disability and Long COVID ...
At the end of this month, court fees are increasing. The change is the result of a consultation led by the Ministry of Justice earlier in the year which considered whether court fees should be increased by inflation. The full consultation can be accessed here. From 30 September 2021, the cost of a divorce will rise from £550 to £593. At the moment, where the divorce is based on adultery, behaviour or desertion i.e ...
The National Drug Agency Department of the Institute of Public Health, through exempt resolution No. 01746 of September 6, 2021, approved a guide to provide guidelines regarding the technological transfer of pharmaceutical production processes, necessary to obtain the authorization of a new manufacturer of a medicament, maintaining the previously authorized one ...
In January 2020 the first signs of Covid-19 were of a commercial nature. Business activity related to China – which is a large part of the maritime industry in Asia – started slowing down considerably. Projects experienced delays, new ventures were postponed and a general slowdown could be felt throughout the maritime business world. As February and March came around, the first Covid-19 cases started being reported in Singapore ...
In re: Juniper Networks, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-160 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 24, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit issued its fifth writ of mandamus this year ordering transfer of a patent case out of the Western District of Texas courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Alan D. Albright. (Our write-up of the recent precedential decision in In re Samsung is available here ...
The Decree, which came into force on 20th September 2021, has abolished the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre (EMAC) and the DIFC Arbitration Institute (DAI). The Decree has taken the local legal and business community by surprise, and has given rise to legitimate concerns as to its impact on arbitration proceedings presently underway ...