The Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, abolishing the Chevron doctrine, provides the False Act Claims defense bar with a potent new weapon. Two critical elements of any FCA claim are the falsity of the claim and scienter, which requires proof that the defendant acted knowingly. The government and relators' counsel often rely heavily on regulatory guidance issued by administrative agencies to establish these elements of their FCA claim ...
You did not get paid for your labor and material, so you ask, what can I do? Alabama’s lien law provides you an opportunity to place a lien on the property for certain unpaid amounts for labor and materials. If you follow the proper procedures to perfect the lien and obtain a judgment in your favor, you may force the sale of the property to collect on your judgment (see Ala. Code § 35-11-226). This article focuses on the procedural basics of Alabama’s lien law ...
On 16 July 2024, Legal Notice 166 of 2024 was published in Malta. This implemented the relevant provisions of DORA (full title being Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector and amending Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009, (EU) 648/2012, (EU) 600/2014, (EU) No 909/2014 and (EU) 2016/1011) into Maltese law ...
Shipping and Bermuda’s Corporate Income Tax Act The initial taxing determination You have determined that you have a shipping entity within a “Bermuda Constituent Entity Group”, which itself is within an “In Scope MNE Group” for the purposes of the Tax Act. Furthermore, you have already made various adjustments to the taxable income in accordance with Part 6 of the Tax Act ...
After the White House announced its New Process to Promote the Unity and Stability of Families, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting applications on August 19, 2024. This process will help ensure U.S. citizens with undocumented spouses and/or children can keep their families together during the permanent residence process ...
Introduction On June 14, 2024, the Superior Court of Québec issued a decision1 interpreting section 938.1.2.2 of the Municipal Code of Québec, which came into force in 2019. This provision gives a person interested in participating in the awarding process the opportunity to file a preliminary complaint about a requirement in the tender documents that they believe does not ensure the honest and fair treatment of tenderers ...
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in a case that may have far reaching implications for businesses facing consumer protection claims in the state. The Court has granted allocator in Halpern v. Ricoh U.S.A., Inc ...
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit provided a cautionary tale for trade secret owners who seek preliminary relief against a competitor who hires its former employees but do not clearly articulate the trade secrets the owner seeks to protect. In early 2023, Insulet Corp. sued EOFlow Co. in the District of Massachusetts for misappropriating trade secrets supposedly obtained from employees EOFlow hired away from Insulet years earlier ...
****Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!**** The authorities in Russia and the rest of the world have recently been paying more and more attention to data protection issues ...
On 1 July 2024, the Act of 15 May 2024 on measures to address over-indebtedness and protect companies in difficulty (the“Act”) was published in the Belgian Official State Gazette. The main amendments of the Act, as well as its entry into force, are briefly discussed below ...
The Chancellor’s statement on 8 July 2024 stated that mandatory housing targets will be restored as part of the reform of the National Planning Policy Framework in England and Wales. This is expected to be included in the King’s speech on 17 July. The planning regime in Scotland is devolved and it is the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) that applies. Challenges and court cases followed the publication of NPF4 in February 2023 ...
Introduction On July 2, 2024, the Superior Court rendered a decision in Lallier c. Société d?assurance Beneva inc.,1 ruling on an insured?s claim against his insurer for an insurance benefit further to a loss, as the insurer had denied coverage, alleging the insured?s intentional fault. Despite the absence of hard evidence of the insured?s intentional fault, the Court ruled in favour of the insurer based on evidence established by presumption ...
Businesses throughout the United States have been monitoring the lawsuit filed by Ryan LLC, which challenges the legality of the Federal Trade Commission’s ("FTC") Non-Compete Rule (the “Rule”). The Rule is scheduled to take effect on September 4, 2024. It makes most existing non-compete agreements unenforceable and prohibits new agreements except in limited circumstances. On July 3, 2024, the U.S ...
Transfer Pricing rules are fundamentally based on the Arm’s Length Principle, articulated in art. 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. This principle is pivotal for bilateral and multilateral tax treaties to avoid double taxation, reiterated in point 1.6 of the OECD’s “Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations ...
As previously reported, on April 24, the Federal Trade Commission passed a Final Rule that would render almost all non-compete agreements with workers unlawful, effective September 4, 2024. However, a recent decision from the Northern District of Texas blocked enforcement of that Rule for a short list of litigants and casts doubt on the Rule’s enforcement in the future ...
The Supreme Court has overturned the Chevron Doctrine–a four decade-old ruling that enabled Federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress, and to have such interpretations enjoy a significant degree of deference ...
Administrative law has long had a reputation for boredom. But three blockbuster cases out of the Supreme Court last week have changed that. Each case is its own game changer, but together, the three cases are a sea change in an area of law typically known for consistency. Three things you need to know: In Ohio v. EPA, the Supreme Court stayed the EPA’s enforcement of a federal clean air plan covering more than 20 states ...
The federal government has announced a new policy that will grant a path to work authorization and legal status for the undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. The policy, which is known as “parole in place” or “PIP,” is expected to be similar to the existing PIP program in effect for family members of U.S. military personnel ...
Whilst the impact of the upcoming general election remains to be seen, the Government has recently proposed scrapping the Commercial Agents Regulations for new agency arrangements. Background The Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (CAR) implement the Commercial Agents Directive (86/653/EEC) (Directive) ...
On 23 May, the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No.3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024 were signed, setting out the confirmed go-live date of the Procurement Act of 28 October 2024. On 24 May, the Cabinet Office published the latest tranche of its official guidance on the Procurement Act. The Cabinet Office has arranged the guidance documents under the four stages of the commercial pathway: Plan; Define; Procure; Manage ...
On 12 June 2024, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) published its final report, ‘Railway Station Catering Market Study’. It evaluates the effectiveness of competition in station catering and whether the market is delivering value for money for passengers and taxpayers. The ORR has identified barriers to competition, such as limited space and protected leases ...
In a unanimous decision today, the Supreme Court rejected efforts to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, overturning an earlier decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court ruled that the physicians and medical associations who brought the case did not have the right to challenge the FDA's regulation of the drug. To have standing, plaintiffs must show they have a “personal stake” in the case ...
A new set of regulations regulating the grant of a temporary emphyteutical concession to the emphyteuta, tenant or operator of Government-owned commercial property came into force on 4th June 2024 in virtue of Legal Notice 131 of 2024 (the “Regulations”) ...
A recent parliamentary report, the last to be published before the upcoming UK general election, says that we need to “fundamentally change the way we think” about AI ...
