Charity begins at home

Legal Briefing

George Wilkinson, secretary to the Ashfords Foundation, outlines the positive benefits to law firms of getting serious about their charity work I am frequently asked why Ashfords established a charitable foundation. Having explained the why and the how, almost invariably the next remark is: ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’

Luxembourg SIFs: the investment vehicle of choice to structure third-party funding activities

Legal Briefing

Basic principles of third-party funding Over the past 30 years, third-party dispute funding has experienced an exponential growth in civil and common law jurisdictions. As the common law doctrines of maintenance and champerty were softened or even abolished (most often in the context of international arbitration proceedings), third-party funding became a viable option for companies …

Enforcement of court judgments and arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia

Legal Briefing

Court judgments and arbitral awards are enforced in Saudi Arabia in accordance with the new Enforcement Law issued by Royal Decree No. M/53, dated 13 Shaban 1433H (corresponding to 3 July 2012) (the Enforcement Law); and the Implementing Regulations for the Enforcement Law issued by Ministerial Resolution No. 9892 dated 17 Rabi Thani 1434H (corresponding …

28 USC §1782: a powerful tool for obtaining US discovery in aid of foreign proceedings

Legal Briefing

A key distinction between US and non-US litigation is the liberal discovery available to parties in the United States. However, non-US litigants have a powerful tool that can provide the benefit of US discovery rules to obtain broad discovery for use in proceedings abroad. United States Statute 28 USC §1782 empowers a district court to …

Securities litigation gathers momentum in the UK

Legal Briefing

Clifford Chance’s Ian Moulding, Chris Yates, Jason Epstein and Ryan Byrne consider the rising tide of US-style ‘stock drop’ shareholder class actions in the UK, and offer practical tips for in-house counsel on managing the risk of shareholder litigation Shareholders can bring claims against listed companies to recover losses suffered as a result of a drop …

Enforcing foreign arbitral awards in Turkey – not so easy and not so cheap

Legal Briefing

Turkey markets itself as an arbitration friendly country and, as parliamentary reports indicate, this is premised on its goal to foster foreign trade. However, its courts do not always practise what the state preaches and it may become quite burdensome and costly to try to enforce foreign arbitral awards.

Landmark law to permit up to 100% foreign ownership in onshore UAE

Legal Briefing

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to introduce measures, including key legislative changes, intended to further diversify the UAE’s economy away from its historic dependence on oil revenues. One key focus has been upon the introduction of measures that increase the UAE’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). In …

Civil court delays: assessing new remedies to speed up Romanian disputes

Legal Briefing

As referred to in its case law, the European Court of Human Rights has imposed an obligation on states to provide a mechanism to prevent or remedy excessive length of judicial proceedings. Also, in several resolutions, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has stated that ‘excessive delays in the administration of justice constitute an …