Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
Royal Court of Jersey (MacRae, Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Crill and Dulake) The judgment concerned an application by a Trustee of two Jersey law trusts for the blessing of its decision to give effect to an agreement between beneficiaries regarding division of the trust assets. A key aspect of the agreement was the addition of the late settlor’s widow to the beneficial class of one of the trusts in order for her to receive benefit under it ...
On 29 June 2021, the Ministry of the Environment (“MOE”) issued five new Prakas pursuant to Prakas No. 021 dated 3 February 2020 on the Classification of Environmental Impact Assessments (“EIA”) for Development Projects. These new Prakas determine the procedures and implementation guidelines for checklists used to prepare initial environmental and social impact assessment (“IEIA”) reports ...
The Fit for 55-package To achieve EU’s Paris climate goals, the EU Commission presented in December 2019 the European Green Deal, including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and become carbon neutral by 2050 ...
The green light was recently given for two substantive changes in family law practice. First, on 15 February 2022, the Mainland Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases (Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 639) (Ordinance) and Rules will come into operation. Secondly, there is a new Guidance Noteon Case Management and Time Tabling in Children and Ancillary Relief Proceedings issued by the Judiciary under Practice Direction SL10.4 ...
Key Points Opponents of the proposed Oakland A's stadium at Howard Terminal argued that the Governor missed a deadline to certify the project for an expedited environmental review pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 734, a special purpose bill. AB 734 contained no explicit deadline for certification, but it incorporated guidelines from AB 900, as amended, which did include a certification deadline ...
In re: MaxPower Semiconductor, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-146 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 8, 2021) In its only precedential patent case this week, the Federal Circuit denied a mandamus petition relating to the PTAB’s institution of inter partes reviews of MaxPower’s patents. The case touches on, but does not completely resolve, whether the PTAB can institute inter partes reviews where the parties have agreed to arbitrate those disputes ...
In July 2021, new private law cases received by Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service) fell by over 16%. According to the latest figures published by Cafcass this week, they received a total of 3,774 new private law cases in July 2021, 740 cases (16.4%) fewer than in July 2020. Private law cases generally consist of applications made to the family court by a parent or carer of a child following a divorce or separation ...
On 7 July 2021 we hosted the second event in our webinar series on International Arbitration, Regional Perspectives and focused on arbitration in Asia ...
In seeking to address the impact of climate change within Hong Kong’s fund management industry, the SFC has introduced new climate-related regulatory requirements for fund managers in relation to disclosures and to their investment risk and management processes. In this ten-minute podcast, Jeremy Lam outlines key features of the new regime, the timeframe for implementation and how best to plan ahead ...
Port districts in Washington now have broad authority to extend broadband into unserved areas. ESHB 1336 amends RCW 53.08.370 to grant ports broad authority to provide wholesale and retail telecommunication services within district boundaries and in some cases, by agreement with other government entities outside district boundaries ...
Key Points As litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) continues to drive lengthier and costlier environmental reviews, the use of "categorical exemptions" can provide a quick and efficient path towards CEQA compliance – but only if the exemption is legally sound and defensible. California's Fifth District Court of Appeal recently published Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. County of Inyo (Cal. Ct. App., Aug. 17, 2021, No ...
Belcher Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. Hospira, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1799 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 1, 2021) In an appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that Belcher Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Belcher”) engaged in inequitable conduct by withholding prior art from the Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) during the prosecution of Belcher’s patent ...
On September 2, 2021, Resolution of the Board of Directors Nº 017-2021-OEFA/CD (the “Resolution”) was published in the Official Gazette El Peruano, which amends the Regulation of the environmental emergency report of the activities under the purview of the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement- OEFA ...
Corporate/M&A Amendments to the Main Market Listing Requirements following Enhanced IPO Framework On 11 August 2021, Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa Securities”) reviewed the Main Market Listing Requirements (“MMLR”) to ensure parity of regulation with the Securities Commission Malaysia’s (“SC”) introduction of an enhanced initial public offering (“IPO”) framework which took effect on 1 January 2021 ...
The Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (“DFFE”) recently published a notice inviting consultation on her intention to publish a National Guideline for Consideration of Climate Change Implications in Applications for Environmental Authorisations, Atmospheric Emission Licences and Waste Management Licences (the “Guideline”) ...
[!<CDATA[ In one of its recent opinions, Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. Sec’y of the Army, the Federal Circuit issued new guidance on what contractors must show to prove the reasonableness of costs incurred following an (alleged) government-caused delay. The U.S. Army (the “Army”) and Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. (“KBR”) contracted for KBR to deliver thousands of trailers to Iraq by an agreed-upon deadline ...
[!<CDATA[ Multi-building condominium projects often raise unique legal issues as they do not squarely fall within the definitions used in state statutes. The Minnesota Supreme Court recently addressed the unique nature of multi-building condominium projects in Village Lofts at St. Anthony Falls Association v. Housing Partners III-Lofts ...
[!<CDATA[ This term the Supreme Court is set to resolve a circuit split over the extent of a federal district court’s power to order a person “who resides in or is found” in its district “to give testimony or statement or to produce a document or other thing for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal” pursuant to 28 U.S.C Section 1782(a) ...
[!<CDATA[ In May of this year, the Supreme Court of Wyoming held that a subsidiary of Sinclair Oil could invoke statutory bad faith damages after prevailing in a coverage dispute with its insurer, Infrassure. The court rejected the district court’s analysis that accepted the insurer’s narrow interpretation of Wyoming’s insurance code ...
[!<CDATA[ Effective September 1, 2021: HB 1578 closes the loophole of the previous version of Chapter 38 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code so that parties will be able to recover attorneys’ fees from LLCs, LLPs, LPs, or other organizations in lawsuits for breach of contract. Generally, Texas law provides that each party to a lawsuit is responsible for her attorneys’ fees ...
