Assessing recovery of loss in tort claims during an economic downturn | Eversheds Sutherland

Legal Briefing

In this article, we review case law from South Australia Asset Management Company Ltd v York Montague Ltd [1997] to Rubenstein v HSBC Bank Plc [2011] to examine the current approach to assessing loss in economically volatile times. Assessing recoverable loss in tort claims is sometimes a knotty problem. Breach of a duty of care can …

UCITS funds get a facelift in the Czech Republic | Wolf Theiss

Legal Briefing

Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS), are open-ended, regulated investment funds. Since their inception in 1985, UCITS have been regulated by Directive 85/611/EEC, known as UCITS I. UCITS I has been substantially amended several times, most importantly by Directive 2001/107/EC and Directive 2001/108/EC, these amendments generally being known as UCITS III.


Interpreting commercial contracts: a plane task? | Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP

Legal Briefing

Where two large businesses contract, there is an assumption that they appreciate the consequences of the contractual wording adopted. In such circumstances courts tend to give effect to the literal meaning of those terms in a contract. In Gesner Investments Ltd v Bombardier Inc [2011] the Court of Appeal was asked to interpret the terms …

Cutting the deficit: the legal hurdles | Kingsley Napley LLP

Legal Briefing

The UK Coalition’s programme for government set out that deficit reduction, and continuing to ensure economic recovery were the most urgent issues facing Britain. 
It then started on a programme to cut public spending. One of the results has 
been a plethora of legal challenges, directed both against central government and against local government. Typically, …

E-discovery obligations in US product liability litigation | Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Legal Briefing

In-house lawyers handling complex product liability litigation in the US are likely to have to deal with extensive discovery exercises. The plethora of electronic devices used by businesses these days means that costs of electronic discovery (e-discovery) can be significant and substantial resources are required to manage the process.


How to deal with online conspirators: a sticky problem
 | Schillings

Legal Briefing

Ever wondered why that obviously fake, self-righteous review of your company’s service, sits stubbornly underneath your carefully manicured LinkedIn page? Or why that obscure blog attacking your CEO sits firmly on page one of your company’s Google search? Welcome to the murky world of online reputation warfare. Since the dawn of the online search engine, …

The law of conspiracy: dirty tricks, corporate rivals and brand attacks | Schillings

Legal Briefing

While we’re all accustomed to accusations of ‘smear campaigns’ and underhand tactics being bandied about in the political arena, we are seeing more examples of both companies and private individuals becoming the victims of such campaigns. They are often well-organised, well-funded, multi-jurisdictional in reach and with the express aim of causing maximum damage to the …

Factors to be taken into account when considering an application for an expedited trial | Macfarlanes

Legal Briefing

In comparison with some other countries, the English court system operates relatively quickly. However, litigation in this jurisdiction still takes time. As a very rough guideline, and depending on the division where proceedings are issued, a commercial dispute of any complexity is likely to take 12-18 months to reach trial (from the date when proceedings …

Domain name complaints | Rouse

Legal Briefing

Ever since the 1980s, when the Domain name system was introduced, opportunistic entrepreneurs have conducted a profitable trade in domain names – a domain name being the alpha-numeric string that follows the ‘@’ in an email address and the ‘www’ in a web address. This article provides an update on domain name complaints and valuable …