April 2013

Privilege revisited: privilege issues in internal investigations
 | WilmerHale

Following the recent Supreme Court decision in R (on the application of Prudential plc) [2013], confirming that legal advice privilege does not attach to accountants or anyone else outside the legal profession, this seems an appropriate time to revisit the application of the principles of privilege within the context of internal investigations. We examine in …

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Benefits and costs of co-operating under the European Commission’s Leniency Notice | Arnold & Porter (UK) LLP

Companies that have been involved in an illegal cartel affecting trade in the EU may significantly reduce their exposure to sanctions if they decide to co-operate with the European Commission (the Commission) under its Leniency Notice.1 The first company to co-operate and to satisfy the formal requirements is granted total immunity from fines, while companies …

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Climate change: 
the top five trends 
to watch | Burges Salmon

While countries are struggling to reach an agreement on appropriate emissions reduction targets, from a corporate risk and compliance perspective the issues businesses face related to climate change are substantial. The impacts of increased sea levels, extreme weather events like heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts and wildfires reach companies in all corners of the world, impacting …

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the top five trends 
to watch”

New security for sub-licensees?
 | Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP

The conventional view in the UK has been that a sub-licensee has no greater rights than their sub-licensor and so a 
sub-licence ends when the sub-licensor’s rights terminate, in accordance with the principle of nemo dat quod non habet (no one gives what he doesn’t have). This was questioned by the recent case of VLM …

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Intellectual property and Scotland’s constitutional future | Brodies

Intellectual property (IP) is of huge and ever-increasing value to all businesses. It is often the most valuable asset that a company owns. By way of example, in 2010, patents held by US companies were estimated to be worth $2 trillion. Recently, Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, …

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Unsafe products: 
identifying serious risks and notifying the relevant authorities | Shook, Hardy & Bacon

In the event that a safety problem is identified with one of your products, you will need to undertake a risk assessment to comply with the General Product Safety Directive.

Supreme Court provides guidance 
on forum conveniens and piercing the corporate veil
 | Macfarlanes

This article considers the Supreme Court decision in VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corp & ors [2013]. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the case is that it casts doubt on the notion that the Court has the power to pierce the corporate veil. The Supreme Court also held that, even if the power …

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on forum conveniens and piercing the corporate veil
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The allure of ‘cool’ brands: reflections on branding in the 
fashion industry | Rouse

It’s six in the morning and the Mysore ‘self practice’ yoga class at Triyoga in London’s fashionable King’s Road is filling up. I am already in place, concentrating on my sun salutations. Well, that’s what I should be concentrating on. In fact, I’m concentrating on the fact that nearly everyone entering the room is wearing …

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fashion industry”

Inroads into party autonomy: arbitration clauses in agreements with telecom service providers | Amarchand Mangaldas

Arbitration, because of its nearly unfettered right of party autonomy, has become the agreed mode of dispute resolution between parties involved in commercial transactions. In India, arbitration laws underwent a marked change with the enactment of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) that strove to bring speed, efficacy, informality and party autonomy …

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Government immigration announcements 
not as they appear? | Magrath Sheldrick LLP

Last week, the government excitedly announced that ‘net migration had fallen by 36% in the year up to June 2012’. The claim was repeated on the BBC’s Question Time by Claire Perry MP, on the day of the Eastleigh by-election, in what was clearly a stage-managed announcement to try to snatch some last-minute votes from …

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not as they appear?”