Mondaq Business Briefing back issues from July 2007:
Are Principal Contractors And Occupiers Of Premises Liable For Injuries To Independent Contractors?(J Blackwood & Son Steel v Nichols)
Jul 01, 2007 ... Introduction The question of the responsibility on a non-employer for the safety of a contractor performing work on their premises was again recently considered by the NSW Supreme Court and then the Court of Appeal in J Blackwood & Son Steel v Nichols (2007) NSWCA 157. ...
Commissioner Signals Interest in Innovation Issues.
Jul 02, 2007 ... Sheridan Scott, the Commissioner of Competition, has recently stated that, together with Industry Canada and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, the Competition Bureau has commissioned a review paper of several major issues arising at the interface between competition law and ...
New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Application of Blight Designation in Ongoing National Debate over Eminent Domain.
Jul 02, 2007 ... Not Fully Productive Use" Alone Is Not Sufficient Basis for Condemnation Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, A-51-2006 (New Jersey Supreme Court, June 13, 2007) In a potential blow to municipalities seeking to redevelop "underutilized" ...
Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing.
Jul 02, 2007 ... Originally published in 2007 Lexpert[R] Directory PRACTICE AREA DEFINITION Asset/equipment finance and leasing is the financing of equipment, vehicles and related assets by way of specific asset-based priority financing, primarily through leases, but also through ...
Certain Risk - Uncertain Reward: New OIG Opinion On Sales Of Interests In ASCs.(United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Inspector General)(ambulatory surgery center)
Jul 02, 2007 ... A recent advisory opinion (No. 07-05) issued by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) questions the legality of the sale of a minority ownership interest in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) to a hospital by a portion of the physician owners ...
A Mine Of Information - An Analysis Of Sustainable Development Reporting In The Mining Industry.
Jul 02, 2007 ... When metals and mining companies first started to report on environmental performance, there may have been a feeling that a long journey was just beginning. Now the broader context of sustainable development ("SD") is well established, albeit evolving and with significant challenges. ...
SEC Proposes New Rules For Registered Public Offerings By Smaller Companies.
Jul 02, 2007 ... By John R. Brantley, Thomas W. Adkins, Bruce A. Cheatham and Mark E. Palmer As we described in a prior Update, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced in May 2007 that it intends to propose new rules to make it easier for smaller companies to raise capital. The new ...
Bracewell Wins Key Ruling Defining Scope of Bankruptcy Disclosure Requirements-Ruling Protects Investors' Privacy Rights.(Bracewell and Giuliani LLP)
Jul 02, 2007; ... By Evan D. Flaschen, David C. Albalah, Kurt A. Mayr, Renee M. Dailey, Adam Mozel, Marcy E. Kurtz, Samuel M. Stricklin and Henry J. Kaim Bankruptcy procedural rulings typically go unnoticed. However, in 2007 two bankruptcy court rulings regarding procedural disclosure ...
OIG Provides Guidance on Hospital Investments in Physician-Owned Ambulatory Surgery Centers.
Jul 02, 2007 ... On June 19, 2007, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (the "OIG") released an advisory opinion (the "Opinion") that provides guidance regarding whether the purchase by a hospital of an ownership interest in a physician-owned ambulatory surgery ...
U.S. Supreme Court Strictly Construes Statute Of Limitations For Title VII Discrimination Cases.
Jul 02, 2007 ... On May 29, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court strictly construed the statute of limitations for filing EEOC charges under Title VII, and in doing so limited employees' abilities to bring discrimination complaints against their employers. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear, the Court held that an employee ...
Mixed Macro-Demographic Drivers For Healthcare Sector.(Brief article)
Jul 02, 2007; ... The macro-economic drivers for the Healthcare sector as a whole are mixed. Demographics remain supportive. However patent expiration risk and increasing pressure from generic competition are a concern for Large-Cap pharmaceuticals in particular and the sector as a whole has been impacted ...
Statutory Disciplinary And Grievance Procedures - An Update.
Jul 02, 2007 ... With the Department of Trade & Industry launching a period of consultation as to whether the Statutory Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures should be abolished, employers are faced with the potential upheaval of more significant changes in this important area of everyday HR practice. In ...
DTI Consults On Changes To The Decommissioning Regime For Oil And Gas Offshore Renewables.(Department of Trade and Industry, Petroleum Act 1998)
Jul 02, 2007; ... The offshore energy industry is in a period of rapid change. In oil and gas, the arrival of many smaller players on the UKCS, while offering opportunities for extending the life of the basin, also raises financial viability issues, as demonstrated by the Ardmore partners' collapse ....
Branded Generics Included In PPRS Calculation.(Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme)
Jul 02, 2007; ... In a recent case concerning the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) the Court has upheld Glaxosmithkline's (GSK) contention that it was not prohibited from including volumes of sales from branded products sold to fulfil generic prescriptions in its calculation of the list price ...
Brokers PI: Administration Of Run Off Business.
Jul 02, 2007; ... A recent case provides useful guidance on brokers' obligations to clients in run off. Equitas brought proceedings to establish sums due under reinsurance protections that the brokers had placed for Lloyd's syndicates for the 1992 and earlier years of account. The court commented ...
Sea Containers - The Regulator Reveals Its Reasoning.
Jul 02, 2007; ... Background Last week we reported that the Pensions Regulator had issued determination notices in relation to two pension schemes of the Sea Containers group (see previous Law-Now). The notices stated the Regulator's intention to issue its first financial support directions ...
Rule 10b5-1 Plans Under Scrutiny: The Next Executive Stock-Timing Story.
Jul 02, 2007; ... A recent academic study suggests that returns on trades by public-company executives under so-called "10b5-1" prearranged trading plans beat the market by significantly more than executive trades made outside of such plans. Although the academic study's findings may be attributable to a ...
Failure To Update Examiner Of Status Of Related Applications May Result In Inequitable Conduct.(McKesson Information Solutions, Inc. v. Bridge Medical, Inc. )
Jul 02, 2007 ... Article by Astrid R. Spain and Demetria A. Buncum Affirming a district court ruling which had taken the relatively rare step of holding an asserted patent unenforceable due to inequitable conduct, the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit emphasized several categories of ...
IMU Special Edition - Phase II Of IFRS For Insurance Contracts - IASB Discussion Paper.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Welcome to this special edition of the Insurance Market Update On 3 May 2007, the International Accounting Standards Board ("the Board") released for comment a Discussion Paper on accounting for insurance and reinsurance contracts entitled 'Preliminary Views on Insurance Contracts' ("the ...
Case Note - Hayek v Trujillo [2007] NSWCA 139.
Jul 03, 2007; ... 18 June 2007 Mason P, Ipp and McColl JJA In Brief An Insurer loses the right to challenge a claim on the basis of delay where it fails to request an explanation for delay within 2 months of receiving the claim. A Special Assessment Certificate, ...
Cross-Border Liquidity For US Issuers.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Originally published in Legal Business. Since mid-2001, the Canadian equity new-issue market has been dominated by income fund issuers and their like. For anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the Canadian capital market, this is an obvious observation; however, it may ...
Developments In Liability And Professional Indemnity Claims.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Article by Scott Kennedy & Clive Curwood1 Introduction Since 2002 in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland legislation has been enacted to compel the greatest change to public liability in decades (the Reform Acts).2 The ultimate impact of the Reform Acts is ...
California Court Orders Preservation of RAM Data.
Jul 03, 2007 ... In early June, the federal court for the Central District of California, in Columbia Pictures Indus. v. Bunnell, Case No. CV 06-1093, issued a ruling requiring a company to store its random access memory ("RAM") data. The ruling came during ongoing litigation stemming from a lawsuit filed ...
Draft Of Redesigned Form 990 Released By The IRS.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Comment Period Ends September 14, 2007 On June 14, 2007, the IRS released to the public for comments its long-awaited wholesale revision of the Form 990 information return. The IRS announced that the redesign of Form 990, the required annual information return for most ...
New SAFE Circular Imposes Significant Regulatory Burden For Stock Options Granted To PRC Citizens.(State Administration of Foreign Exchange)
Jul 03, 2007 ... Participation by PRC citizens in stock option and other equity compensation plans offered by offshore companies have always presented particular regulatory hurdles in the PRC. These included the need to avoid such participation becoming a "public offering" under the PRC Securities Law, and ...
Perspective: The Risk Of Ignoring E-Discovery Obligations.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Reprinted with permission from CNet.com. The failure to produce required electronic discovery can have serious consequences. This was borne out by a $1.25 million sanction just issued by a New York federal judge against two law firms and the insurer they represented. ...
Nevada Joins National Trend in Responding To Kelo Decision On Eminent Domain.
Jul 03, 2007; ... On May 23, 2007, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons signed into law Assembly Bill No. 102 ("AB102"), a reform measure seeking to curb perceived abuses of the power of eminent domain in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision. The measure comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court ...
The Reinsurance Directive - Creating A Level Playing Field?
Jul 03, 2007; ... Originally published in BLG's Reinsurance and International Risk team Notes, Summer 2007 Historically, there has been no common regulation of reinsurance in the European Union (the "EU"), and Member States applied their own rules in relation to the conduct of reinsurance ...
Solvency II And Group Regulation.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Originally published in BLG's Reinsurance and International Risk team Notes, Summer 2007 The major developments that have emerged in insurance regulation over recent years are capital adequacy and corporate governance. It is anticipated that Solvency II will incorporate these ...
Enforcing Dispute Resolution Clauses.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Originally published in BLG's Reinsurance and International Risk team Notes, Summer 2007 The traditional English approach is to hold the parties to their bargain, and grant an injunction in favour of the agreed jurisdiction or arbitration provision. This has ...
Collingwood Hotel Pty Limited v O'Reilly; Night Knowledge Security Pty Limited v O'Reilly.(Australia. Liquor Act)(Case overview)
Jul 03, 2007; ... [2007] NSW CA 155 27 June 2007 Tobias JA; Basten JA; Handley AJA In Brief The duty of an occupier of licensed premises to take reasonable care for the safety of patrons depends on proof that they knew or ought to have known facts requiring ...
Applications for Permanent Residence May Be "Cut Off" Early.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Also, USCIS Announces Suspension of Premium Processing of Form I-140 There is a possibility that the visa numbers for Applications for Permanent Residence may run out before the end of July. We previously advised, based on information provided by the State ...
Recent Canadian Tax Court Case Rules Free Parking Space Provided By Employer Is A Taxable Benefit To The Employee.
Jul 03, 2007; ... In Adler, D.A. et al. v. The Queen (TCC)1, the Tax Court of Canada recently ruled that parking passes provided by Telus Communications Inc. ("Telus") to certain senior employees was a taxable benefit to those employees. The Minister of National Revenue (the "Minister") had assessed sixteen ...
New Rules For Access To Register Of Members.(Companies Act 2006)
Jul 03, 2007; ... A company's statutory books include a register of members which contains details of a company's members and, for company's limited by shares, their shareholdings. Historically this is a public register open to inspection by any member without charge. In addition, currently any person ...
Supreme Court Changes The Rules On Vertical Price Fixing.
Jul 03, 2007 ... By Penelope M. Lister, Andrew Edison, Jacqueline R. Java, Kristin K. Berkland and J. Clifford Gunter III The Supreme Court has issued what may be its most significant antitrust opinion of the summer: it relaxed the century old prohibition against vertical minimum resale price ...
The SEC's Continuing Struggle With Stale Claims.
Jul 03, 2007 ... On Feb. 26, 2007, Southern District of New York Judge Richard Conway Casey dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission's action seeking civil monetary penalties and an injunction against former Citigroup Asset Management (CAM) executives Thomas W. Jones and Lewis E. Daidone. Casey ...
Going Dutch - Shell's USD 450m Class Action Settlement.
Jul 03, 2007 ... On April 11th 2007, Royal Dutch Shell plc ("Shell") and a group of 51 European investors from 9 European countries with total shareholdings in Shell of over 1 billion shares, agreed to a settlement of approximately $450 million ([pounds sterling]229 million) following claims by the ...
Employment Update - Proposed Amendments To The Workplace Relations Act 1996.
Jul 03, 2007 ... A new Fairness Test for workplace agreements The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, has introduced into the House of Representatives the Workplace Relations Amendment (A Stronger Safety Net) Bill 2007. This Bill, likely to be enacted before the end of ...
The Fifth Circuit Raises The Bar For Certifying A Class In Securities Suits.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Two recent decisions issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals have made it more difficult for plaintiffs in securities class actions to pass the hurdle of class certification, at one time a requirement that was relatively easy to meet in such cases. In a class action arising out of the ...
The New Innovative Information System Minimizes Real Estate Transaction Risks.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Based on the order from the Estonian Chamber of Notaries, the Centre of Registers and Information Systems of the Ministry of Justice has tailor-made a new info system "e-notary", which was taken into use on June 1st 2007 and has brought about numerous positive impacts. After ...
A Password Shared Is A Password Lost.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Mobile phone company Orange recently admitted to breaching the Data Protection Act 1998 (the DPA) by failing to keep customers' personal details secure. An employee blew the whistle on Orange by revealing that new employees were permitted to share log in details (usernames and passwords) ...
Supreme Court Ends The Per Se Rule Of Illegality For Vertical Minimum Price Agreements.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. On June 28, 2007, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, overturned the nearly century-old precedent of Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. 373 (1911) and held that the Rule of Reason, not the per se rule ...
The New PRC Labor Contract Law.
Jul 03, 2007; ... For more than a year now, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("SCNPC") has been reviewing the draft Labor Contract Law. On June 29, 2007, the SCNPC passed the PRC Labor Contract, which will take effect on January 1, 2008. Although existing labor contracts ...
Over Three Dissents, Federal Circuit Denies Rehearing In Norvasc[R] Decision.
Jul 03, 2007 ... With three judges filing dissenting opinions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Pfizer's petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc of its April 2007 decision finding a new salt form of a composition obvious in view of the prior art and holding that a motivation to ...
Case Law Medley: U.S. Supreme Court And Pay Discrimination, Sufficient Notice For Medical Leave, Wrongful Termination Based On Reporting Potential Violence In The Workplace, And An Unconscionable Arbitration Agreement.
Jul 03, 2007 ... The month of May brought an array of California state and federal decisions that emphasize the need for all employers to properly train managers and supervisors regarding employment policies and the importance of implementing preventive employment practices in the workplace. ...
Foreign Architecture Firms Doing Design Activities in China.
Jul 03, 2007; ... The architecture design opportunities in China seem endless. The increased building in preparation for the Beijing Olympics has called on international designers to support China's efforts to put an international and yet Chinese face to the world for the 2008 Games. In Shanghai, the ...
"Public Use" Means Use For Invention's Intended Purpose.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Article by Paul Devinsky and Thomas George Addressing whether a "public use" resulted when an ergonomic keyboard not connected to any device (e.g., a computer) was publicly displayed more than one year prior to the application filing date, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ...
Intellectual Property Administrative Enforcement in China.(Product Quality Law, Trademark Law)
Jul 03, 2007 ... Article by Aaron R. Wininger and Xiao Luo Intellectual property (IP) infringement is a grave concern of multinational companies operating in China. Piracy is rife, and the loss of one's investment in developing IP can seriously hurt a company. As such, there are several methods ...
No Lost Profits From Sales Prior To Patentee's Market Entry.(Wechsler v. Macke International Trade Inc.)
Jul 03, 2007; ... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the jury's award of lost profit damages and the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that the defendant was personally liable for inducing patent infringement. Wechsler v. Macke Int'l Trade, Inc., Case Nos ....
SEC Releases Proposed Rules That Provide For Significant Capital Raising And Reporting Reforms For Smaller Public Companies.(Securities and Exchange Commission)
Jul 03, 2007 ... On May 23, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") voted to propose several modifications to its existing rules governing capital formation and reporting requirements for smaller public companies. Last week, the SEC published the full text of these much-anticipated ...
Increase In Statutory Holiday Entitlement What's New?
Jul 03, 2007; ... Further to our article in January, the Government has now published its response to the further consultation on increasing the current statutory minimum paid holiday entitlement and Regulations have been laid before Parliament. The DTI has indicated that it hopes the Regulations, now ...
Licensees And Intellectual Property Owners Affected By Supreme Court Abandoning Century-Old Per Se Rule Against Resale Price Maintenance.
Jul 03, 2007; ... "[I]t is a flawed antitrust doctrine that serves the interests of lawyers - by creating legal distinctions that operate as traps for the unwary - more than the interests of consumers - by requiring manufacturers to choose second-best options to achieve sound business objectives." Leegin ...
FTC Staff Takes Positive Second Look at MedSouth's Clinical Integration.
Jul 03, 2007; ... Article by Mintz Levin's Antitrust Group An important and often vexing issue for health care provider joint ventures is determining when the venture is sufficiently clinically integrated so that if it contracts collectively with providers, its activities will be tested under the ...
CMS Proposes Mandatory Disclosure Of Financial Relationships Between Hospitals And Physicians.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services )(Survey)
Jul 03, 2007 ... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a notice of proposed information collection regarding a new form called the Disclosure of Financial Relationships Report (DFRR) and is accepting comments on the form until July 17, 2007.1 Hospitals, physicians, and other ...
U.S. Supreme Court To Rule On Constitutionality Of State Tax Statutes Favoring In-State Municipal Bonds.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Article by Mintz Levin's Public Finance Group On May 21, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the closely-watched case of Davis v. Kentucky Dep't Of Revenue of The Finance and Admin. Cabinet, 97 S.W.3d 557 (2006). In granting Kentucky's certiorari petition, the Court ...
Further Growth For Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw's Securitisation Team In London With Partner Appointment.(Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw L.L.P.)
Jul 03, 2007 ... 2 July 2007 - Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is pleased to announce that Elana Hahn, a structured finance and capital markets lawyer specialising in securitisation, has joined the firm as a partner in its London Finance Group. She joined the team from the London office of Milbank, Tweed, ...
Indiana's Military Family Leave Act Takes Effect July 1.
Jul 03, 2007 ... Governor Daniels recently signed the Indiana Military Family Leave Act, which will take effect July 1, 2007. The Act permits certain relatives of military personnel to take an unpaid leave of absence of up to 10 working days if a relative is ordered to active duty. The Act requires ...
Construction Update - Can Security Of Payment Legislation Operate Down The Contractual Chain?
Jul 03, 2007; ... A question that is frequently asked is whether the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (the Act) or the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) can operate down the contractual chain. Can parties who receive the benefit of ...
Securities: Right Of Silence Before The Insider Dealing Tribunal.
Jul 03, 2007 ... A recent Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Koon Wing Yee and Chan Kin Shing Sonny vs Insider Dealing Tribunal in which our firm acts for the 2nd Appellant, has ruled that the Hong Kong Insider Dealing Tribunal's power to summon or require an implicated person to give evidence as ...
Gibraltar Reduces Corporate Taxes.
Jul 04, 2007; ... Reflecting Gibraltar's strong and continuing economic growth, this year's Budget, presented to Parliament by the Government at the end of June, provides a time-table for the long-awaited introduction of a low corporate tax regime. And while an immediate 2 per cent reduction in the tax paid ...
The TIC Workout.(tenant-in-common)
Jul 04, 2007 ... Article by Stephen I. Burr and Elizabeth L. Corey Since the promulgation of Revenue Procedure 2002-22 the tenant-in-common (TIC) offering industry has grown to approximately $5 billion in annual equity raised. Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, perhaps as much as ...
D&O Liability For Pollution - Is There A Case For Increased Coverage?
Jul 04, 2007; ... Standard D&O policies may cover the insured for the costs of defending criminal, regulatory and even civil proceedings arising out of a pollution incident. These policies are likely though to fall short of providing coverage for remediation or compensation costs arising from the same ...
Reinsurance And International Risk Recent Legal Developments.
Jul 04, 2007; ... Originally published in BLG's Reinsurance and International Risk team Notes, Summer 2007 Although the last few months have seen fewer reinsurance disputes reaching the courts, there have been some important developments. Follow the settlements In Wasa v ...
Merger Control In Russia.
Jul 04, 2007 ... Article by Anton Sitnikov and Matvey Kaploukhiy Originally published in The Moscow Times, 13.03.07 On Oct. 26, 2006 a new antimonopoly law - Federal Law No. 135-FZ of 26 July 2006 "On Protection of Competition" - came into force in Russia. The law that it replaces was ...
Director's Liability, Leaky Homes And The Tortious Duty Of Councils.
Jul 04, 2007; ... By Associate Belinda Barclay, and solicitor Grant Slevin, of the Christchurch Lawlink firm of Wynn Williams & Co. In the recent "Leaky Homes" case of Dicks v Hobson Swan Construction Limted & Ors, Baragwanath J, HC Auckland, CIV 2004-404-1065, 22 December 2006, the High Court ...