In Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1233), the Court made an order requiring various banks to supply documents by way of disclosure to the Plaintiffs and permitting (indeed, encouraging) the banks to do so by use of electronic or digital versions of those documents being uploaded to a data room ...
Cyber frauds, in particular email scams, have become a common trend of crime in Hong Kong in recent years. Fraudsters use various means to deceive the victims into transferring money to unauthorised bank accounts. Upon discovery of the fraud and based on information obtained from the bank, the victim may apply for an injunction from the court to freeze the recipients’ bank accounts and if the victim is lucky enough, there will be some credit balance left to recover ...
As workplaces continue to reopen, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued additional guidance addressing various return to work issues and leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new DOL guidance, summarized below, appears on the DOL’s FFCRA Questions and Answers page ...
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of the disease. California, after having permitted much of the state to reopen businesses, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and on July 13th implemented a new statewide order to curb the increase, reimposing certain business closures ...
In the rush to seek relief under force majeure clauses following the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is likely that some claims were made incorrectly, albeit in good faith. Particularly in circumstances where force majeure relief is linked to a purported termination, the party seeking to terminate needs to comply with any contractual requirements and ensure that the event relied upon is capable of being caught by the force majeure clause ...
As we have outlined in Part 1 and Part 2 of our blog series, ‘Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation’, employers have a duty to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace as much as reasonably practical. Consequently, employers may determine it is appropriate to conduct certain active screening, such as questionnaires, temperature screening, and testing ...
As organisations start planning their post COVID-19 workforce arrangements, leaders need to consider how these new and amended work practices will help or hinder their efforts to strengthen their risk culture. While having a distributed workforce increases some challenges to improving risk culture, it also provides opportunities which need to be embraced. It is becoming increasingly clear that the post COVID-19 workplace will be very different to what it was before the pandemic ...
Companies subject to product liability lawsuits – and their counsel – know the importance of promptly examining whether the company is subject to general personal jurisdiction or specific personal jurisdiction of the forum court. A court with general personal jurisdiction over a defendant can hear any and all claims against that defendant. After the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S. Ct 746 (2014) and BSNF Railway Co. v ...
In two recent Awards of the Industrial Court involving the retrenchment of 7 Claimants, Mizman Bin Ngadinan & Others v City Facilities Management Sdn Bhd (Award 989 of 2020) and Roslan Bin Mohd Tahir & Others v City Facilities Management Sdn Bhd (Award 990 of 2020), the Industrial Court found that the LIFO principle was inapplicable where the selection criteria and process adopted by the Company involving specialised skills sets and the competency of the employees was upheld ...
Did you know? The Hong Kong courts are now relaxing the legal test on what is a “penalty” to allow a wider range of agreed damages in commercial contracts. Why does this matter to you? It is notoriously difficult and time consuming (not to mention costly!) to assess damages for breach of contract which must be proved by the innocent party ...
On 22 July 2020, data protection authorities from Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Switzerland and United Kingdom (together the Authorities), issued an open letter (Letter) on global privacy expectations of video teleconferencing companies (VTC companies)[1]. Why there is such a Letter? As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Authorities have witnessed an increasing use of VTC tools, both in social and business contexts ...
While most employers and HR departments still are addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") issued new standard forms for handling Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") claims. Specifically, there are new forms for FMLA notice of eligibility, designation notice, and medical certification for employees to use. At first glance, the new forms look quite different than their predecessors, but there are no major changes ...
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the "CEWS") Is a key component of the Government of Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan. The purpose of the CEWS, adopted on April 11, 2020, is to help Canadians keep their jobs during the crisis and help companies maintain an employment relationship with their employees in order to recover more quickly when the economy returns to normal ...
The Limited Partnership Fund Bill which provides for registration of eligible funds as limited partnership funds (LPFs) in Hong Kong passed the third reading at the Legislative Council on 9 July 2020. The Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance (LPFO) will come into operation on 31 August 2020 ...
In this unprecedented COVID-19 world, employers may need to consider layoffs, furloughs, or even closures to get through to the other side (whenever that comes). If you have done all you can to weather the government-mandated shutdowns and now have to consider letting people go, you are not alone ...
Peter de Boisblanc, HUB International, also contributed to this article. The economic downturn engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic likely will lead to a significant increase in acquisitions of distressed targets. Representation and warranty (“R&W”) insurance policies as well as related insurance products can facilitate these transactions ...
This 16th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, discusses claims ranging from insurance coverage disputes to prisoners’ rights. The top story this week, however, is undoubtedly a Michigan ruling that dismissed business interruption claims on the merits—a major early victory for insurers. Even so, it seems doubtful that this one ruling will slow down the flood of coverage disputes ...
So, you want to start a hemp company. You have your big idea and a business plan ready. At some point, though, you begin to wonder whether you should be thinking about any legal issues as you get your company off the ground. That’s where we come in. Bradley’s Cannabis Industry team has a deep understanding of the many unique legal and business issues that impact hemp companies ...
On July 17, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that due to a rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases in the last month, and because San Francisco was listed on the State’s County Monitoring List (the “Monitoring List”) for three consecutive days, San Francisco was halting all reopening procedures indefinitely beginning on Monday, July 20 ...
A focus for Chinese trademark law and practice in recent years has been strengthening the fight against malicious trademarks ...
In the Loop: With the Hanson Bridgett Government Group COVID-19 has changed the way California public agencies conduct their Brown Act meetings, creating new challenges and opportunities. Utilizing their experience serving as general counsel to a number of public agencies, Hanson Bridgett attorneys Claire Collins and Allison Schutte created their Top 10 list of recommendations on how to conduct virtual "Brown Act" Board Meetings to guide any public agency. 1 ...
In a landmark victory for Federally-qualified health centers, a California Court of Appeal confirmed last October that federal and state law requires the State of California to pay FQHCs “100 percent” of their costs of furnishing core and other ambulatory services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. (Tulare Pediatric Health Care Center v. State Department of Health Care Services (2nd Dist. 2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 163 ...
Yesterday, Virginia approved temporary emergency workplace safety standards related to COVID-19, making it the first state in the nation to do so. While final language has yet to be approved, the standards are expected to go into effect in late July and will remain in effect for six months unless extended pursuant to state law. A current draft of the regulations is available here ...
Introduction In the recent Industrial Court Award between Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd and Suhaimi bin Mohammad Haniff [Industrial Court Award 895 of 2020], the Industrial Court had underlined the significance of a well-executed Domestic Inquiry where the evidence of a witness during a domestic inquiry was given sufficient weight in adjudicating the matter. Brief material facts In the present matter, the Claimant was dismissed for assisting his colleague, Ms ...
