On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not follow appropriate administrative procedures to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and, therefore, was unauthorized to do so. The decision was a 5-4 ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor ...
Foreign brand owners have often questioned whether they need a trademark registration in the PRC when engaging PRC factories for Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) activities. Previously, a pure OEM arrangement with proper authorisation from the owner of a trademark registration in the exporting country, would generally not be considered infringement of identical or similar PRC trademarks ...
In a split decision with far-reaching implications for both government contractors and the private bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Inserso Corporation v. U.S., recently addressed timeliness and waiver issues in the bid protest context. The facts of this significant case, the majority and dissenting opinions, as well as key takeaways for federal contractors and their attorneys, are discussed below. The Facts The U.S ...
In the recent decision of Abdul Malek Bin Mohamed v MISC Bhd dated 17 June 2020 [Award 840 of 2020], the Industrial Court recognised that the tenure of service of an employee in an organisation does not shield the employee from having to render satisfactory performance at the level required by the Company. The Industrial Court upheld the dismissal of an employee for poor performance after 32 years of service ...
A case of forced resignation does not automatically amount to an unfair dismissal. In the recent decision of Mohd Rizam bin Ibrahim v Prince Court Medical Centre Sdn Bhd dated 5 June 2020 [Award 716 of 2020], the Industrial Court ruled that although the employee was forced to resign, the same was with just cause and excuse ...
Key Points Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The holding does not change currently-existing legal obligations for California employers as discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited under the FEHA. California employers should ensure they are complying with FEHA’s posting and training requirements. On Monday, June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court published a long-awaited opinion, Bostock v ...
Key Points The third Golden Door iteration resulted in a common refrain: San Diego County has not yet reached the high bar for greenhouse gas mitigation (GHG) measures under CEQA Enforceability is a significant component of a CEQA compliant GHG mitigation measure In a nod to the recently approved Newhall Ranch plan, the Court of Appeal outlined the contours of acceptable carbon offset programs, both within and outside California In Golden Door Properties, LLC, v ...
Key Points Before undertaking a stock option repricing program, consider the tax impact on employees holding incentive stock options (ISOs) Additionally, consider the corporate and securities laws that govern repricing programs Introduction Stock options are a vital form of compensation at a wide range of privately-held companies.1 Stock options are intended to motivate employees to drive stockholder value and are used as an employee retention tool ...
This 12th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation brings new developments in labor and employment cases, consumer protection cases, and civil rights litigation. Price gouging and fraud for personal protective equipment (particularly N95 masks) remain major focuses, with manufacturers, retailers, and governments all taking action ...
Does the State plan to keep special support measures in the field of taxation for taxpayers after the end of emergency situation? Yes, on 10 June 2020 the Law on Overcoming the Consequences of the Spread of Covid-19 Infection came into force, by which, inter alia, the following measures are maintained ...
A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to have a significant impact on both copyright infringement matters and copyright registration practices in the Ninth Circuit, if not nationwide. The case, Unicolors v. H&M, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS U.S. App. LEXIS 17097 (9th Cir. May 29, 2020) involved claims for copyright infringement brought by Unicolors, Inc. (“Unicolors”) against retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (“H&M”) ...
In the recent case of MillChris Developments Ltd v Fiona Selski Waters [2020] 4 WLUK 45, before England’s Technology and Construction Court, a party to an adjudication applied for an injunction to prohibit the adjudication continuing on the grounds that due to COVID-19 it had insufficient time to comply with the adjudicator’s directions and would be unable to attend a site visit. The Court declined to make the injunction and ordered that the adjudication proceed ...
Key Points IRS proposed new regulations for like-kind exchanges under section 1031. The guidance provides the definition of real property and treatment of incidental personal property in the section 1031 context. On June 11, 2020, the IRS released proposed regulations for like-kind exchanges under Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") section 1031 to incorporate the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") changes ...
Analysis of the changes to the special legal rules onthe credit and financing moratorium. Through Decree-Law 26/2020 of 16 June (“DL 26/2020”), the Government has approved, a set of amendments to the special rules onthe moratorium on financing approved by Decree-Law 10-J/2020 of26March ...
The COVID-19 crisis has significantly slowed economic activity in all respects. The area of corporate mergers and acquisitions is no exception, and the level of activity, which was high before the crisis, has dropped significantly because of it. It is difficult to predict when and at what pace such activity will resume, but we expect that, like many other sectors of the economy, this market will be different from what it was before the crisis ...
This 11th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, identifies news reports placing the number of COVID-19 filings at around 2,700, with insurance coverage disputes former the single largest category. And so unsurprisingly, one of the matters we report this week is the dispute over whether those insurance coverage disputes should be consolidated into multi-district litigation ...
In a highly anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The opinion, released on June 15, 2020, was a consolidation of three federal appellate court decisions—Bostock v. Clayton County; Altitude Express v. Zarda; and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ...
1. Introduction Pursuant to Law no. 40 of 5 June 2020, published in the Official Gazzette no. 143 of 6 June 2020 (the “Conversion Law”), Law Decree no. 23 of 8 April 2020 (the “Liquidity Decree”) was converted into law with amendments. Below is a summary of the key amendments made to Chapter II (Urgent Provisions to Ensure Going Concern) by the Conversion Law. 2 ...
On May 27, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-41 (“Notice”) providing COVID-19 relief for businesses seeking to qualify for the production tax credit for renewable energy facilities under Section 45 (“PTC”) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and investment tax credit for energy property under Section 48 (“ITC”) of the Code ...
The difficulties in international transport caused by the pandemic may have a major impact on VAT settlements of Polish exporters. These complications may carry over to the possibility of applying the 0% VAT rate, thus affecting taxpayers’ cash flows. Restrictions caused by the state of epidemic may affect the possibility for businesses to apply the 0% VAT rate ...
One of the consequences of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis may be the need for some taxpayers to discontinue projects ...
Key Points IRS releases new COVID-19 relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds Taxpayers granted significant postponement of various timing requirements to ensure compliance with IRC section 1400Z-2 The IRS released Notice 2020-39 on June 4, 2020, providing significant relief for investors in qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) ...
