The UK government is grappling with the most appropriate way to deal with corporate criminal liability in the context of serious fraud and corruption. Civil recovery orders can sometimes appear too lenient, but a full-blown criminal conviction (whether on the back of a negotiated plea agreement or otherwise) can lead to the complete demise of what might otherwise have been a strong, successful business. Could deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) be the answer? Richard Alderman, the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) certainly seems convinced. Continue reading “Deferred prosecution agreements: the way forward?”
Whistleblower or bounty hunter? The Dodd-Frank Act and its potential impact on the UK whistleblowing regime
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 (Dodd-Frank) passed through US Congress and became law on 21 July 2010. It has been a controversial piece of legislation. In particular, it has significantly enhanced the whistleblower protections afforded by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley). These changes to the whistleblower regime will affect not just publicly traded US companies, but their non-publicly traded subsidiaries and affiliates as well. Continue reading “Whistleblower or bounty hunter? The Dodd-Frank Act and its potential impact on the UK whistleblowing regime”
Where next for renewable energy projects?
The promotion of renewable energy has increasingly been the focus of the government’s environmental policy in recent years, largely due to the UK’s ambitious carbon emission reduction targets and its underlying objective to source 15% of UK energy consumption from renewable resources by 2020, thus reducing our reliance on imported oil and gas supplies. This promotion of renewable energy has primarily been made through the introduction of various government incentive schemes, which have achieved some degree of success. Indeed Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) statistics published in September 2011 indicated a 50% rise in renewable energy generation between April and June 2011 when compared to the same period in the previous year. Continue reading “Where next for renewable energy projects?”
The new ICC 2012 Rules of Arbitration
On 12 September 2011 the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) published the revised version of its Rules of Arbitration, updating the 1998 Rules. The new Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (the 2012 Rules)1 will come into force on 1 January 2012 and will be applicable to all ICC arbitrations (with some limited exceptions) which will be started after that date. Continue reading “The new ICC 2012 Rules of Arbitration”
Court of Appeal denies rescission of transfer of land for breach of contract
The Court of Appeal was recently given the opportunity to consider the remedy of rescission in Howard-Jones v Tate [2011] and in doing so, stressed a distinction between the remedies that are available to an innocent party where there has been a repudiatory breach of contract, and those situations where rescission ab initio will be awarded. Continue reading “Court of Appeal denies rescission of transfer of land for breach of contract”
AXA ruling raises as many questions as it answers
The judgment of the UK Supreme Court in the case of AXA General Insurance Ltd & ors v The Lord Advocate & ors [2011], issued on 12 October 2011, marks the end of a long and winding litigation in which all manner of questions of Scottish public and administrative law have been examined. These include the powers of the Scottish Parliament, its relationship with Westminster and the other devolved jurisdictions, the human rights of insurance companies and the extent of ‘standing’ in Scots law to bring applications for judicial review. The case is likely to be the subject of academic and other commentary for months to come – as well as having a significant practical impact on those who raise and defend judicial reviews in Scotland. Continue reading “AXA ruling raises as many questions as it answers”
Cutting the deficit: the legal hurdles
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, challengers in these cases take every conceivable point but there are three areas of challenge that are more likely to be successful (or looking at it from the public body’s perspective, more likely to be problematic). Those areas are: legitimate expectation; adequacy of consultation; and compliance with equality duties. Continue reading “Cutting the deficit: the legal hurdles”
E-discovery obligations in US product liability litigation
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. Continue reading “E-discovery obligations in US product liability litigation”
How to deal with online conspirators: a sticky problem
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, companies have fought tooth and nail, using weird and wonderful optimisation techniques, to get their company website to the top of search rankings when a prospective customer types in the name of their business sector. A whole industry was created around this art, which became a marketers buzz-term known as search engine optimisation (SEO). Continue reading “How to deal with online conspirators: a sticky problem ”
The law of conspiracy: dirty tricks, corporate rivals and brand attacks
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 target’s business. Continue reading “The law of conspiracy: dirty tricks, corporate rivals and brand attacks”
Factors to be taken into account when considering an application for an expedited trial
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 are first issued). In large disputes, where the trial is estimated to last several weeks, the process is likely to take much longer. Continue reading “Factors to be taken into account when considering an application for an expedited trial”
Domain name complaints
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 tips for both would-be complainants and respondents to complaints. Continue reading “Domain name complaints”