Expert Analysis

• Recent Trends In European ESG-Related Shareholder Activism

  

  New ESG reporting standards in the European Union, as well as recent climate change, board diversity and human rights cases, illustrate how shareholder activism may become more prominent in years to come as regulation and investor engagement continues to strengthen, say lawyers at Debevoise.

• Employer Due Diligence Lessons From Share Scheme Case

  

  The Scottish Court of Session recently confirmed in Ponticelli v. Gallagher that the right to participate in a share incentive plan transfers to the transferee, highlighting the importance for transferee employers to conduct comprehensive due diligence when acquiring workforce, including on arrangements outside the employment contract's scope, say lawyers at McDermott.

• Construction Ruling Clarifies Key Payment Mechanism Issue

  

  The English Technology and Construction Court's recent decision in Lidl v. Closed Circuit Cooling, clarifying when construction contracts' payment mechanisms must be fixed as a set period of time, should encourage both paying parties and payees to ensure that their contracts' payment deadlines are unambiguous, say Rebecca Williams and Jack Moulder at Watson Farley.

• Key Findings From Law Commission Review Of Arbitration Act

  

  The U.K. law reform body's recent arbitration standards recommendations to the government include a clarification of governing law, leave many areas unchanged, and include a surprise on discrimination, say Poonam Melwani and Claire Stockford at Quadrant Chambers.

• Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law

  

  An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.

• Accountability Is Key To Preventing Miscarriages Of Justice

  

  The wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson and other recent cases show that in order to avoid future miscarriages of justice, there needs to be a fundamental reevaluation of how investigators, prosecutors and the Criminal Cases Review Commission operate, prioritizing stronger penalties and increased funding, say Thomas Walford at Expert Evidence International and policy analyst Gerald Frost.

• UN Code Likely To Promote Good Arbitration Practices

  

  The arbitrator code of conduct recently adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law should help reinforce standards of good practice and improve public perception of investor-state dispute settlement, though its effectiveness may be limited by the code's voluntary nature, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

• 6 Key Factors For Successful Cross-Border Dispute Mediation

  

  The European landscape of cross-border disputes diverges markedly from the U.S. experience and presents unique challenges, including the amalgamation of diverse cultures and legal systems, but there are several practical steps that practitioners can take to effectively navigate the process, says Peter Kamminga at JAMS.

• EU Ruling Highlights Strategic Benefits Of Patent Appeals

  

  The European Patent Office board of appeal recently reversed the examining board's ruling in an application by LG Electronics, highlighting how applicants struggling to escape conflicting objection traps at the examination level can improve their chances of a positive outcome with an appeal, says Andrew Rudhall at Haseltine Lake.

• UK Tech Cases Warn Of Liability Clause Drafting Pitfalls

  

  The recent U.K. High Court cases Drax Energy Solutions v. Wipro and EE v. Virgin Mobile Telecoms indicate a more literal judicial approach to construing limitations of liability, even when this significantly limits a claimant's recoverable damages, highlighting the importance of carefully drafted liability provisions, say Helen Armstrong and Tania Williams at RPC.

• Series

  In A 'Barbie' World: Boosting IP Value With Publicity Machines

  

  Mattel's history of intellectual property monitoring, including its recent challenge against Burberry over the "BRBY" trademark ahead of the "Barbie" film, shows how IP enforcement strategies can be used as publicity to increase brand value and inform potential collaborations, says Carly Duckett at Shepherd and Wedderburn.

• EU Directive Implementation Facilitates Class Action Shift

  

  Lawyers at Faegre Drinker discuss the increase in class and consumer action filings leading up to the implementation of the EU's Collective Redress Directive, and predict that certain aspects of the directive will result in a pro-claimant landscape that may mirror that of the U.S. and other common law countries.

• Swiss Privacy Law Reforms Present Divergences From GDPR

  

  The differences between Switzerland’s recently reformed Federal Act on Data Protection and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, particularly around data breach reporting and the liability of company officers, will need to be carefully managed by multinationals that may have competing obligations under different laws, say Kim Roberts and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.

• EU Antitrust Rules Set To Pose Challenges To US Businesses

  

  With stark differences between U.S. and European Union antitrust regimes, and potential for the forthcoming EU guidelines to turbocharge the commission's appetite for intervention, it is important that U.S. businesses with activities in the region take note of the reforms, say Andrea Pomana and Sarah Wilks at Mayer Brown.

• Navigating The Rising Threat Of Greenwashing Enforcement

  

  Recent high-profile cases before the Danish Consumer Ombudsman are a signal that authorities are ready to take robust action against greenwashing, and with a likely increase in the stringency of laws and severity of penalties, it is vital that businesses promoting their sustainable credentials do so in a compliant manner, says Lars Karnøe at Potter Clarkson.