In December, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment in favor of a landlord holding that a contractor’s lien could not attach to the real property being improvement by a tenant of the landlord. The reversal allowed the contractor’s lien enforcement claim to proceed. K.D. Construction of Florida, Inc. v. MDM Retail Ltd, arose from improvements made to a movie theater by a contractor ...
Creating a family using surrogacy is a popular option for male same-sex couples. Surrogacy is when a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for a couple, or another person. Altruistic surrogacy is available in the UK and preliminary considerations are likely to include, which of the couple will be biologically linked to the child and what type of surrogacy will be used ...
Investors were awarded compensation under a bilateral investment treaty, but under EU law, payment of the award constitutes unlawful State aid. This Catch-22 situation is at the heart of a long-running case across jurisdictions. In the latest development, the European Commission has decided to refer the United Kingdom to the European Court of Justice in relation to a judgement of the UK’s Supreme Court to lift the stay of enforcement of an ICSID arbitration award against Romania ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,We are pleased to bring you the latest legal updates for February 2022.Tax & RevenueThe Income Tax (The Incentive for Manufacturers of Pharmaceutical Products Scheme) Rules 2022 have been gazetted on 17 February 2022 and have effect from year of assessment 2021 ...
[!<CDATA[ As costly class action retirement plan litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proliferates, mandatory individual arbitration has become an increasingly appealing alternative for certain benefit plans. However, the benefits of arbitration can only be realized if it is enforceable ...
[!<CDATA[ The Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in St. Luke’s Hospital et al. v. ProMedica Health System, Inc.[1] addresses whether and when a unilateral refusal to deal can result in competitive injury within the meaning of the federal antitrust laws. The appeal centered on the significance of a “Change in Control” provision in a provider contract between St. Luke’s and ProMedica’s affiliated health plan, Paramount ...
This article examines whether the UK competition authority's decision means a change in the analysis of mergers in the digital economy. On 30 November 2021 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded in its Report that its concerns can only be addressed by Facebook selling GIPHY in its entirety to an approved buyer ...
The Court of Appeal has considered the question of whether it is fair and appropriate for a Court of Protection Judge to visit the person who lacks mental capacity and about whom the Judge is being asked to make a best interest decision. Mr Justice Mostyn, sitting in the Family Court, has recently provided further guidance about determining whether a party to litigation has mental capacity to litigate ...
As we await a formal announcement about how the UK COVID-19 Inquiry will be structured, we compare the different approaches that have been adopted by other public inquiries. Introduction Public inquiries are an important and increasingly utilised vehicle for change in society, but they are sometimes criticised for delay, for inefficiency and for providing recommendations that are not ultimately implemented ...
The scope of the insured’s liability (and thus, the insurance companies’ auxiliary liability) is affected not only by national law, but also by EU legislation and case law regarding “use of a motor vehicle.” After a recent Supreme Court resolution, a contradiction between the two has emerged. Motor insurance is one of the most economically significant types of insurance policies ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Investing in India can be challenging in view of the myriad of laws at both the Central and State level, as well as cumbersome sector specific requirements. Many-a-times, foreign investors tie up with Indian promoters to overcome these hurdles. However, difficulties get amplified when they get embroiled in litigation / arbitration with Indian promoters over issues related to mismanagement, control, earn-out payments etc ...
Key Points As of January 2022, CMS is posting each skilled nursing home's weekend staffing levels and staff turnover rates on its public-facing Care Compare website. This information will be used in the Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating System and will affect facilities' Five Star ratings starting in July 2022 ...
Key Points As of January 1, 2022, skilled nursing facilities are not limited to hiring licensed nurses to fill the role of infection preventionist. California still requires the total time dedicated to the infection preventionist role be full-time. In January 2021, Assembly Bill (AB) 2644, codified as Health & Safety Code Section 1255 ...
