When business owners contemplate the sale of their businesses, initial questions of where to start, what types of activities are required, and how to negotiate the sale process are commonplace ...
In order to prevent disruption to public services, parties looking to challenge decisions by public authorities (local councils, government departments, etc) have an obligation to bring their claims – including any claims that rely on EU law – within a reasonable time ...
Can the parties to an individual employment contract include a clause stipulating that the employee must reimburse his training costs to the employer if he resigns?Upon hiring and throughout the course of employment, employers often require employees to receive training. There are various reasons why employers want their employees to undergo training sessions, such as for safety purposes, special functions, technological changes, requirements of a supplier, etc ...
The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill: New Reporting and Regulatory Requirements Imposed on Public Companies, New Investor Protection Elements, and New Responsibilities and Powers Given to the SEC On July 21, 2010, President Obama officially signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), which represents the most sweeping regulatory overhaul of the financial markets since the Great Depression ...
Tax Rates are Rising! This alert highlights the imminent changes to the tax laws in 2011 (e.g., the sunset of the Bush era tax cuts) and the changes that will arise in later tax years (e.g., tax provisions contained in certain parts of the recently enacted health care legislation) that may affect a decision to sell your business this year ...
As Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis informed a convention of safety engineers last year, “Make no mistake about it: The Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business.” In 2010, current OSHA enforcement statistics confirm this promise and reveal unprecedented levels of enforcement ...
Despite entering into arbitration agreements with their employees, employers all too often find themselves in court adverse to the very employees who have signed an arbitration agreement. The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued three arbitration decisions that have important implications for employers seeking to avoid the inside of a courtroom. First, in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp ...
Small organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status for failure to file annual returns for 2007-2009 (including the Form 990-N or “e-Postcard,” required for organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less) can maintain their tax-exempt status by filing returns by October 15, 2010. The IRS website (www.irs ...
On July 21, 2010, President Obama officially signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), which represents the most sweeping regulatory overhaul of the financial markets since the Great Depression ...
UK Bribery Act 2010 – the international dimensionThe Bribery Act 2010, which is due to come into force later this year, has international business and activities firmly in its sights. Practitioners who are used to the wide geographical scope of US legislation such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act may be surprised by the extent to which, under the Act, the UK courts will seize jurisdiction over offences committed abroad ...
Dear Sirs, On June 1, 2010 the Government of the Russian Federation adopted amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on Establishing Value of Assets of Credit Organizations for the Purposes of Antimonopoly Control No.335 dated May 30, 2007 (hereinafter “Decree on Establishing Value of Assets of Credit Organizations”) ...
The use of hydraulic fracturing has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons from reservoirs which previously would have been uneconomical to develop. Now, an extraordinary oil and gas boom is afoot in America, and onshore natural gas production is advancing at an extraordinary pace. For some states, this production is without historical precedent ...
On March 18, 2010, administrative judge Richard Hudon, of the Comission des lésions professionnelles (hereinafter, the “Comission”), rendered a very interesting decision in the case of Côté et Traverse Rivière‑du‑Loup St‑Siméon (2010 QCC LP 2074) by ruling that section 56 of the Act respecting Industrial accidents and occupational diseases (hereinafter, the “ARIA OD”) is discriminatory within the meaning of the Charter of human rights and freed
On June 30, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) formally adopted Rule 206(4)-5 (the “Pay-to-Play Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”). The Pay-to-Play Rule is primarily designed to prohibit investment advisers from making political contributions to influence their selection as investment advisers for government investment accounts such as public pension plans ...
Insolvency Law can hardly reconcile business preservation and creditors satisfaction, so it usually sacrifices one or the other principle being therefore qualified as more or less debtor friendly. The question is whether preservation of business should take place in a prior stage, that of the pre- insolvency, leaving liquidation for the terminal insolvency situations ...
Technology, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the U.S. Supreme Court. Its current mission: to explore strange new electronic communication devices; to boldly go where no court has gone before ...
The U.S. Supreme Court today (June 28, 2010) handed down its highly-anticipated opinion in the case of Bilski v. Kappos, Case No. 08-964. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and held that the subject matter of Mr. Bilski’s patent application was not patentable subject matter. However, in ruling against Mr ...
In an opinion issued last week, Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., 559 U.S. __ (2010), the Supreme Court held that foreign plaintiffs cannot use the U.S. Securities laws to sue foreign issuers based on foreign stock purchases: a ruling that sounds the death knell for these so-called “foreign cubed” cases. Rejecting decades of lower-court case law on the extraterritorial reach of the U.S ...
* SMEs are not Immune from Class-Actions Suits in Competition Law * SMEs and Trade-Marks * Dividing up Corporate Shares in the Event of Divorce, Separation from bed and Board, or Dissolution of a Civil Union. SMEs ARE NOT IMMUNE FROM CLASS -ACTION SUITS IN COMPETITION LAW ...
A new campaign finance bill, introduced on April 29 in the House, April 30 in the Senate, and sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen, would impose new spending restrictions and disclosure requirements. The bill is the Democrats’ first response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down certain restrictions on corporate and union political expenditures encompassed in the McCain-Feingold Act ...
A new feature of the civil justice reform system came into effect on 1 January 2010, nine months into the revamp. Steven Yip and James Yeung report that the introduction of mediation, as prescribed by Practice Direction 31 ('PD 31'), is expected to have a profound impact on the way parties conduct cases ...
The recent volcanic cloud and flight bans in Europe remind us of the damaging impact that mother nature can have on businesses. Even after the ash has cleared and flights are fully operational again, the extent of the disruption caused by the ash clouds may linger for many years in the form of contractual disputes ...
In a decision of first impression, a federal district court has held that the “clawback” provision of Sarbanes-Oxley permits the SEC to seek reimbursement of incentive-based compensation from CEOs and CFOs of companies that restate their financial statements as a result of misconduct, even if the CEO and CFO had no personal involvement in such misconduct ...
Government contractors and subcontractors now have a new, unsavory obligation. On January 30, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13496 – which requires government contractors and subcontractors to post a notice informing employees of their right to engage in concerted, collective activity. On May 20, 2010, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its Final Rule to implement Executive Order 13496 ...
Dear Sirs, The Government of the Russian Federation approved the draft bill on amendments to Code on administrative offences of the Russian Federation and Federal Law “On legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation”. According to this draft bill the liability for a foreign citizen will be imposed on the host party ...
