Trees are ubiquitous. They are a natural part of our landscape and valued for the beauty they provide (not to mention the environmental benefits) as well as their lumber and economic value. Landowners often value their trees, but when a landowner needs to remove trees for development tensions can arise between the government’s interest in preserving and protecting the environment and the landowner’s inherent property rights ...
There are numerous reasons why your pension might be in England and Wales while you are not. Perhaps you lived and worked in England or Wales then moved abroad, or you live overseas and did a stint of employment here. Whatever the situation, the majority of English and Welsh pension administrators neither recognise nor implement pension orders made in foreign courts following divorce ...
The New Homes Quality Code has been published and this article sets out some initial aspects for housebuilders to consider. After a consultation process lasting almost five years, the New Homes Quality Code (the Code) and Developer Guidance were published by the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB) on 17 December 2021. The Code will replace the current Consumer Code for Home Builders and will apply across the UK for the benefit of purchasers buying new build homes for their own occupation ...
December 22, 2021 By: John Epperson Commercial real estate (CRE) professionals are well aware that a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is required when acquiring commercial property ...
On Dec. 21, 2021, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a Health & Human Services (HHS) OIG Data Brief on genetic tests provided under Medicare Part B. The goal of the OIG in reviewing this data was “to analyze nationwide trends in genetic tests provided and payments made under Medicare Part B.”[1] As a result of this analysis, the OIG determined that there is a significant risk of overuse and misuse of genetic testing ...
A recent opinion from the Court of Appeals of Georgia illustrates that contracts entered into with an unlicensed contractor, which are often unenforceable by an unlicensed contractor under many states’ laws, likely will not defeat the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) deference to arbitration as the forum for determining whether a contract is valid and enforceable. In Jhun v. Imagine Castle, LLC, the Jhuns hired defendant Imagine Castle to perform remodeling work at their home ...
In Appeal of Carothers Constr., Inc., the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (the “Board”) rejected the Government’s reliance on strict compliance with the material specifications for a 2 1/2″ thick roof deck product when the contractor proved the substitute 2″ thick roof deck was equivalent ...
A pair of recent rulings involving the economic loss doctrine from North Carolina serve as a timely reminder to carefully consider the extent of contractual remedies in negotiation of construction agreements – lest a later breach of contract remedy prove insufficient, and further recovery barred by the economic loss doctrine ...
Legislation about retainage has become common place as many states have adopted different limitations, requirements, and schemes. A recent case in Tennessee is a good reminder that you must pay attention to all of the relevant state’s requirements. Failure to do so can be costly. In Snake Steel, Inc. v. Holladay Construction Group, LLC, the Tennessee Supreme Court recently addressed Tennessee's retainage requirements ...
In November 2021, OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard that applied to employers with 100 or more employees (the “ETS”). The ETS required those employers to either adopt a policy requiring their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or adopt a masking and weekly testing regime that included removing employees who tested positive for COVID-19 from the workplace ...
The case concerned the use of competitor’s brands in key word advertising on Google. Ikano Bank and two banks in the consumer loan market demanded that Bank Norwegian’s advertising on the Internet using the banks’ characteristics as paid keywords should be prohibited pursuant to the general clause of the Marketing Act. The principle character of the case was demonstrated by the support from Virke, The Federation of Norwegian Enterprise, in favor of the three claimants ...
We have been involved in several noteworthy trademark and unfair competition disputes throughout 2021. In particular, we prevailed before the Supreme Court in a highly cited unfair competition and trademark dispute between Bank Norwegian AS and the three competing banks Komplett Bank, Ikano Bank, and BRA-bank in the «Google Ads» matter ...
The court of appeal’s decision has been referred to by several law firms as an important clarification that such internal notes are indeed encompassed by privilege and not disclosable. We do of course agree that maintaining trust in the attorney-client privilege is important, but in this context, it was hardly a point that needed clarification ...
Following the publication of its guidance on environmental claims in September 2021, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) will start reviewing potentially misleading claims in January 2022. Enforcement action may follow if claims breach consumer law ...
With just seven days left until Christmas Day, there’s no denying we are well in the midst of the festive build up. But, for those holding out for a special ‘I Do’ surprise this year, Christmas might just come a bit earlier than expected. Predictions made previously by Bridebook [1] show that the weekend before Christmas is when most intending spouses do, in fact, pop the question ...
On Jan. 25, President Biden signed Executive Order 14005 (the “Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers”), which modified the Buy American Act (BAA) to require the use of more American-made components on government projects ...
It may seem logical that personal injury damages awarded for someone’s on-going medical needs following a serious injury would be ring-fenced on a divorce. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. The leading authority on this point is Wagstaff v Wagstaff from 1992 in which, when referencing an attempt to ring-fence damages on divorce, it was stated that “the capital is not sacrosanct nor any part of it secured against the application of the other spouse” ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently signaled its intent to prioritize prosecuting individuals who commit corporate environmental crimes ...
Ahead of the 2021 holiday season, as children dream about the toys that Santa Claus will bring them, let?s take a look back at a landmark decision that reviews what is copyrightable under the Copyright Act ...
The pandemic alongside a renewed focus on climate change following COP26 and the growing interest in ESG credentials are all contributing to a changing world of work ...
On December 14, 2021, Treasury issued an important update to its guidance on use of CARES Act funds. Currently, there is a deadline of December 31, 2021 to spend CARES Act funds on eligible expenses. While Congress is considering legislation that would extend that deadline to December 31, 2022, there is no assurance that legislation will pass ...
The decision in R. (on the application of Palmer) v Northern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court has confirmed that an administrator can be prosecuted and potentially incur personal liability for a failure to notify the Insolvency Service of proposed collective redundancies ...
This article reports on a judgment of the High Court in relation to a dispute between a Saudi-based company, Selevision Saudi Co (SSC), and a Qatari-based company, Bein Media Group LLC (BMG), both of which operate in the broadcasting sector. This judgment clarified the effect of Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 62.18 and the extent to which it imported the provisions of CPR 8 into an action to enforce an arbitral award made in a foreign jurisdiction ...
