Key Points Later this month, the Berkeley City Council is expected to consider ending exclusionary zoning by December 2022. The city has a long history of implementing single-family zoning, which encourages more expensive stand-alone homes that are often inaccessible to disadvantaged populations. The shift would place Berkeley, which in 1916 became the nation's first city with single-family zoning, at the forefront of a modern era of inclusionary housing policy ...
Following last week’s FHFA announcement extending the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosure and eviction moratoria and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, the White House announced on February 16 that FHA, VA, and USDA will extend their single-family residential foreclosure and eviction moratoria, and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, to June 30, 2021 ...
The reasons for the changes to the Golden visa rules: A legislative authorisation in the 2020 State Budget 2020 authorised the Government to review the rules on residence permits for investment provided for in Law 23/2007 of 4 July by the end of 2020. The aim is to encourage investment in inland areas, urban regeneration, cultural heritage, activities of high environmental or social value, and productive investment and job creation ...
A summary of the decision in Allay (UK) Limited v S Gehlen and a reminder to employers to keep equal opportunities training up to date to be able to rely on the all reasonable steps defence under s 109 (4) of the Equality Act 2010. It is common for employers to provide employees with equal opportunities training, to underpin workplace culture as well as to prevent discrimination from taking place. A recent case, however, provides a salutary reminder to keep such training up to date ...
Many of us chuckled at the viral video of a Texan lawyer who appeared at a remote court hearing as a cat. This unfortunate filter mishap does, however, act as a warning to all lawyers to check their settings before attending remote hearings as it looks like they are here to stay. Over the last 12 months, the use of virtual court hearings has sky-rocketed (perhaps unsurprisingly) in the wake of the COVID pandemic ...
Takeaways from webinar on 2 February 2021 hosted by Karen Howard, Matthew Stimson and Grace Mitchell from our planning & environmental team. What are public rights of way and why are they relevant? A public right of way (PROW) is a type of highway - a route across land over which the public at large has a right to pass/ repass without permission or interference ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click the link below. We all know a happy engaged employee is a productive and successful employee. Unfortunately, the UK has one of the least engaged employee populations in Europe ...
The ongoing court action, often referred to as the «Stolt Commitment Case», was commenced in the aftermath of a collision between MV «Thorco Cloud» and MV «Stolt Commitment» outside Singapore in 2015. MV «Stolt Commitment» was owned by a Dutch company, and was flying Cayman Island flag ...
Please find, herein, the latest up-to-date digest of the most significant court decisions, concerning legal regulation in the field of labour and employment. Here are the key decisions of the Higher Courts of the Russian Federation, as well as precedents of regional judicial authorities, in the second half of 2020. Electronic Evidence <>1 ...
In Fishbourne Developments Limited v Stephens, the Court of Appeal emphasised the importance of applying commercial common sense and considering the relevant factual background to a case when interpreting contracts. Fishbourne, a developer, had the benefit of an option to acquire a 117 acre farm in West Sussex ...
&The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in BGT Holdings LLC v. United States, 1 recently held that the government does not have the discretion to deny a contractor's request for equitable adjustment (REA) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.245-1 (Government Property) where the conditions specified in that clause are present and the contractor is able to show financial loss ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. Traditional bricks and mortar retailers, occupying premises under long leases with upwards only rent reviews, can be forgiven for looking enviously at online retailers and their flexibility and comparatively low overheads ...
Following the renewal of the state of emergency, Decree 3-A/2021 of14January of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, determines the closure of various types of establishments. Inthiscontext, the employment support measures were amended by Decree-Law 6-C/2021 of 15 January and Decree-Law 6-E/2021 of15January, which we summarised below. 1 ...
In Joanne Properties Ltd v Moneything Capital Ltd and Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 1541, England’s Court of Appeal had to decide whether the parties had entered into a binding contract of compromise contained in written communications passing between their respective solicitors. The Court below had held that a binding contract had been made, despite the fact that the correspondence in question had been marked “subject to contract” ...
A recent UK Supreme Court Judgment, the Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK Ltd) & Ors [2021] UKSC 1, clarified whether a variety of insurance policy wordings cover business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and public health measures taken by UK authorities in response to the pandemic from March 2020 ...
The recent judgment from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd [2020] UKSC 48, raised important questions about the requirement that there can not only be no actual bias, but also no apparent bias on the part of arbitrators in favour of or against any party in arbitration and also about the obligation of arbitrators in international arbitrations to make disclosure of multiple appointments concerning the same or overlapping subje
Last year, there were a number of notable developments in competition law, as detailed in this article, several of which involve or are relevant to the construction industry. The Ocean Park case concerned proceedings against a company and its director for exchanging competitively sensitive information with a co-tenderer in a bidding exercise. A number of judgments were handed down in proceedings against contractors ...
Traditionally, Dutch mortgage lenders have always found themselves in quite a good position in the event of their borrower and mortgagor becoming insolvent. As a firm general rule, it is fair to say that the position of a secured creditor is quite secure under Dutch law. Recent insolvency and COVID related regulations have, however, made some inroads into the Dutch secured lender’s stronghold ...
In December 2018, section 53.1 was added to the Patent Act (the? Act?) Allowing reference to be made to communications exchanged with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office ("CIPO") During the prosecution of an application with respect? [... ] to the construction of a claim.? This concept is more commonly known as? File wrapper estoppel ...
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 ...
As we continue through Lockdown 3, we are seeing how children can be caught in the middle of family disputes involving separated parents trying to navigate living arrangements between different family bubbles. With that in mind, it appears to be more important than ever within the context of private law children proceedings for the courts and authorities to be alert to the views of the children when determining what should happen ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. One sector that has performed robustly during the pandemic is build-to-rent (BTR), with demand set to continue in the coming years as investors look to this sector to deliver long-term returns. According to a recent report, over £1 ...
