The question sometimes arises in a divorce as to whether one or both parties have mental capacity to litigate. If a party lacks that mental capacity, they will need someone to make decisions for them during the divorce process. This person is called a ‘litigation friend’ ...
The death of a loved one is a difficult time and situations in which a Will is contested can be an additional burden. Challenging or contesting a Will in Scotland is slightly different from the rest of the UK and this guide is designed to set out the main grounds of challenge to a Will on both sides of the border. Disputes can arise because of a poorly drafted Will, where there is a disappointed beneficiary or where a loved one appears to have been “disinherited” ...
The holder of intellectual property (IP) rights is entitled to a variety of remedies for infringement of those rights. These include, an order for delivery (or destruction) of the offending goods, interdict (injunction) to restrain any further infringement, and damages or an account of profits. This article focuses on the level of financial compensation available to holders of IP rights once they have established their rights have been infringed ...
Key Points In Save Lafayette Trees v. East Bay Regional Park District, two of the parties to the lawsuit entered into an agreement in an attempt to extend the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA;” Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) deadline to file a lawsuit ...
Class Action 30633-05-18 Smuelitz v. Korean Air Co., Ltd Our firm successfully represented Korean Air in a motion to certify a class action suit alleging a failure to refund airport taxes on unused flight tickets. As part of its motion, the plaintiffs requested that Korean Air automatically reimburse airport taxes for unused flight tickets, and pay substantial monetary compensation, for failure to reimburse ...
A group of 50 striking employees confront their manager in his office. An altercation ensues, which culminates in the manager being violently assaulted. Only five of the striking employees are caught “red-handed”, having been identified as the perpetrators of the violent assault. The rest are only identified as having been there when the assault took place ...
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (“EIOPA”) is entrusted with 1 issuing guidelines and recommendations to Member States’ supervisory authorities on how insurance and reinsurance undertakings should apply the Solvency II Directive 2 in order to (i) establish consistent, efficient and effective supervisory practices and (ii) ensure the common, uniform and consistent application of Union law ...
Since March 2020, the United States and Canada have agreed upon mutually reciprocal COVID-19 related travel restrictions. U.S. and Canadian officials mutually determined that “non-essential” travel between the U.S. and Canada “poses additional risk of transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID-19 and places the populace of both nations at increased risk of contracting the virus associated with COVID-19 ...
The Scottish Government has published its route map out of lockdown, legislating five levels, each imposing increasingly tougher restrictions. As at 19 July, the whole of Scotland moved to Level 0, with cautious optimism that most legal restrictions might be removed entirely in August. However, in the meantime, the move to Level 0 does not mean that everything returns to how it was pre-pandemic – there will remain a level of restrictions and compliance points that must be met ...
The HKIAC recently published its “Average Costs and Duration Report”, which reveals some interesting statistics about the average cost and duration of arbitrations administered by the HKIAC under the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (Rules). The statistics are derived from cases in which a final award was issued between 1 November 2013 and 31 May 2021 (Relevant Period) ...
In JML-Craft Pty Ltd v China Ping An Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Ltd, HCCT 27/2021, the subcontractor (P) applied for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the main contractor (D2) from making any further demand under a surety bond (Advance Payment Bond) and receiving any payment under it pending disposal of the action, on the grounds that the demand was made fraudulently and/or in bad faith, knowing that it was not entitled to make the demand under the Advance Payment Agreement and/
In Septo Trading Inc v Tintrade Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 718, the issue before England’s Court of Appeal was whether a quality certificate issued by an independent inspector at the load port was intended to be conclusive evidence of the quality of a consignment of fuel oil supplied under an international sale contract ...
In Secretariat Consulting Pte Ltd v A Company [2021] EWCA Civ 6, England’s Court of Appeal held that, depending on the terms of the retainer, the relationship between a provider of litigation support services/expert and his or her client, may have one of the characteristics of a fiduciary relationship, namely a duty of loyalty or, to put it another way, a duty to avoid conflicts of interest ...
In Secretariat Consulting Pte Ltd v A Company [2021] EWCA Civ 6, England’s Court of Appeal held that, depending on the terms of the retainer, the relationship between a provider of litigation support services/expert and his or her client, may have one of the characteristics of a fiduciary relationship, namely a duty of loyalty or, to put it another way, a duty to avoid conflicts of interest ...
Whether remote hearings are desirable for civil proofs is controversial, but this account of a substantial proof in the Commercial Court suggests it was a positive experience The purpose of this article is to report on a recent proof before answer hearing that was conducted fully remotely, and to set out some tentative thoughts on the future of remote hearings based on that experience. This is not intended to suggest that what was done should be followed in all hearings ...
BOT M8 LLC v. Sony Corporation, Appeal No. 2020-2218 (Fed. Cir. July 13, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit addressed the stringency of pleading requirements alleging patent infringement. At issue in the case was Bot M8 LLC’s lawsuit against Sony Corporation of America, alleging infringement of six patents relating to gaming machines ...
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a wide-ranging executive order entitled “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” One key element of the executive order is to address noncompete covenants that the White House characterized as stifling competition between companies. Section 5(g) encouraged the FTC to draft rules which seek to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility ...
Health care practitioners are seemingly subject to a constantly growing laundry list of regulatory requirements. However, the Ohio General Assembly has reduced the administrative burden on certain professionals seeking licensure in multiple states through the enactment of interstate license compact legislation ...
In 2013, the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, which at the time only held limited secondary patents related to certain antidepressants, was fined EUR 93.7 million by the European Commission for having entered into settlement agreements in 2002 whereby Lundbeck paid generic manufacturers for not challenging its patents. The payments corresponded to the profits that the generic manufacturers could have made if they had successfully entered the market ...
The question of insurers’ duty to defend is back in the spotlight. On March 18, 2021, the Superior Court once again considered the issue in its application of the law to facts relevant to the dispute.1 Facts In April 2016, Cégerco Inc. (“Cégerco”), a general contractor, retained the services of Construction Placo Inc ...
COVID-19 came upon us all like a tsunami, leveling life as we knew it and causing an entirely new paradigm of behavior to be necessary. No segment of the population was hit harder than seniors, both in our communities and in senior care facilities. Long-term care facilities were on the frontlines of the battle, being one of the first industries to be required to wholly alter traditional behaviors to try to stop the inevitable spread of this deadly virus ...
Until now, hospital licensure was absent from Ohio’s regulatory scheme. However, Ohio’s final budget bill, which became effective on July 1, 2021, introduced a new hospital licensure system.[1] Under the final bill, Ohio hospitals have three years to become licensed by the Ohio Department of Health (the Department) ...
The High Court has considered emergency response measures affecting the aviation sector. In two recent cases, aircraft lessors tried to enforce their lessees’ payment obligations, but were met with arguments that the leases had been frustrated. A contract is frustrated when an event arises after its formation and renders performance impossible, illegal or radically different from that which the parties had contemplated ...