Key Points: An executive order from the governor's office modifies California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") noticing procedures, requiring local agencies to take extra steps to notify the public that environmental review processes are underway or have concluded for development projects. Extra steps include posting notices on agency websites and active outreach to interested parties ...
Key Points A discharge of pollutants to groundwater may require a permit under the Clean Water Act. The new “functional equivalent of a direct discharge” test will be difficult to apply. It will be a long and arduous process to reach uniformity as agencies, courts, and the regulated community try to figure out how to proceed on a case-by-case basis. On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court published its much-awaited opinion in County of Maui v ...
Another week brings another round of COVID-19-related lawsuits. We are identifying some early trends and provide a synopsis of the more relevant lawsuits below. Will nursing homes be overwhelmed by wrongful death lawsuits? The daughter of a woman suspected to have died from COVID-19 has filed a wrongful death suit against the company who owns the Life Care Center of Kirkland where her mother was a resident ...
On 1 October 2019, Hong Kong and the PRC brought into force the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Arrangement). The Arrangement empowers the courts of both jurisdictions to award interim measures in support of arbitration seated in the other territory ...
In X v Jemmy Chien, HCCT 31/2019 the Plaintiff applied to set aside an arbitration award on the ground that there was no valid arbitration agreement between the Plaintiff and Defendant. The Plaintiff’s case was that the Defendant was not the true party to the Service Agreement containing the arbitration agreement, as he had signed it as agent for another (Chen) who was the principal and true party to the Service Agreement ...
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority v AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited [2020] HKCFI 569, concerned a bond obtained by the contractor, Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited (Hsin Chong), from the Defendant, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Ltd (AIG), in favour of the Plaintiff, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (West Kowloon), as required under a construction contract ...
Yesterday, in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that the infringing defendant acted “willfully” to avail itself of the Lanham Act’s disgorgement remedy ...
The new COVID Prague program focused on business activities in the Capital City of Prague followed the fate of its predecessors COVID I and COVID II. This means that the available funds were exhausted on the same day as the receipt of applications, which thus ends. The COVID I and COVID II programs are also exhausted. Entrepreneurs thus have no choice but to wait for the announcement of the conditions of the COVID III program ...
The COVID-19 pandemic with contact restrictions and travel bans also poses challenges for civil proceedings. In the future, the functionality in pandemic times could be the material factor for the choice between state courts and arbitral courts because flexibility and options for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic are varying. State court proceedings Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, court deadlines must still be met ...
On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit departed from opinions issued by the Fourth and Ninth Circuits in ruling that violations of the FDCPA begin to run when the violation occurs. In Rotkiske v. Klemm, et al., plaintiff Rotkiske sued a law firm that, in 2009, had obtained a default judgment against him. The law firm moved to dismiss the FDCPA claim, alleging it was untimely ...
On July 4, 2017, amendments to the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (“WVCCPA”) took effect. One of those amendments requires a potential plaintiff to give a creditor or collector notice of alleged violations under the statute before the potential plaintiff can file a lawsuit against them. They then have 20 days to make an offer to cure the alleged violations, and the potential plaintiff has 20 days thereafter to decide whether to accept it ...
The 2015 amendments to the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (‘WVCCPA”) are not retroactive, according to a federal court in West Virginia. In O’Dell v. USAA Federal Savvngs Bank aka USAA, the court rejected a bank’s argument that the WVCCPA statute in effect at the time of trial applies. The court determined the WVCCPA amendments could not be applied to a scenario that predated their effectiveness ...
Earlier this month, a West Virginia federal court ruled a disclosure in a debt collection letter regarding potential tax implications for settling a debt did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) or the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (“WVCCPA”). In Garrettson v. Sentry Credit, Inc. et al., a debt collector sent a collection letter to the plaintiff debtor, offering to settle the debt for less than the amount due ...
In response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has passed several new laws to provide trillions of dollars of funding to affected businesses and individuals. But this also means there are new compliance considerations for entities receiving federal funds, especially as it relates to the False Claims Act’s “false certification” theory of liability ...
According to section 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation (Regulation) (Cap.599G), no group gathering of more than four persons may take place in any public place during a specified period, unless it falls within one of the exceptions set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulation. The specified period will last until 7 May 2020, but may be further extended depending on the rapid changes in the public health situation ...
Employers are now confronted with the next COVID-19 challenge: safely bringing employees back to work. The recent federal guidelines for “Opening Up America Again” specifically refer to recommended practices for employers ...
The Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) issued an order on April 15, 2020 containing the revised consolidated guidelines on the measures to be taken by the Central and State Governments for containment of COVID 19 (“Revised Guidelines”). The order/ Revised Guidelines specify the economic activities which will be permitted after April 20, 2020 (except in containment zones) ...
In the midst of the COVID-19 waves, the EU Commission rejected the delay proposals on the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)’s mandatory annual deadlines ...
At a news conference on April 20, Governor Wolf announced he is extending his stay-at-home order until May 8, 2020. But in a nod to a construction industry that has been particularly hard-hit by the Governor’s shutdown and stay-at-home orders, Governor Wolf said he also will permit construction (both residential and non-residential construction) to resume throughout the Commonwealth on May 8, 2020 ...
While the Trump administration looks to pass legislation aimed at Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), a lawsuit involving the extent of the CFPB’s authority and whether it can impose a $109 million penalty on a group of companies is continuing to be fought in a D.C. courtroom. In June 2015, PHH Corporation and a group of other companies asked the D.C ...
A West Virginia federal district court recently addressed a plaintiff’s claims that her reverse mortgage violated at least two statutes and West Virginia common law. The plaintiff was one of two borrowers on that mortgage and sued the mortgage lender and its servicing affiliate. The servicer moved to dismiss. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part ...
Late this afternoon, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued its decision in State v. AFL-CIO and upheld the constitutionality of West Virginia's “Right-Work-Act” (the Workplace Freedom Act). Justice Jenkins delivered the opinion in which our high court reversed the Circuit Court of Kanawha County and remanded the matter back to that lower court with instructions to enter Summary Judgment in favor of the State ...
