Legal News

While litigation against special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) has been historically rare, the increase in SPAC offerings and transactions portends increased litigation, particularly with respect to a SPAC’s acquisition of a target company (i.e., the “de-SPACing” transaction)......By: Vinson & Elkins LLP

This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between July and October 2020. Class Certification - Cryptocurrency – Definition of a Security - Derivative Litigation – Demand Futility - Fiduciary Duties - Insider Trading Claims - Investment Company Act - Loss Causation - PSLRA – Safe Harbor Provision - SEC Enforcement Actions......By: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

On December 1, 2020, the Court of Appeals of Texas (1st District) reversed a lower court decision and held that where a party fails to show that a public university defendant has expressly breached a contractual provision, Texas sovereign immunity law shields the public university from a lawsuit See Texas Southern University v. Pepper Lawson Horizon International Group, LLC, No. 01-19-00395, 2020 WL 703584 (Court of Appeals (Tx. 1st District) December 1, 2020)....By: Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr L...

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has failed – at least for now – in its efforts to derail a merger between Thomas Jefferson University Health System and Albert Einstein Health System, two Philadelphia-area health systems....By: Akerman LLP - Health Law Rx

In September 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality enacted new regulations that set forth procedures federal agencies are to utilize when implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Numerous commentaries published on the subject have either adopted a Chicken Little approach (i.e., sky is falling) to describing the changes, or an overly optimistic assessment of their likely implications for proponents of federal actions subjected to environmental review. On December 10, 2020,...

Following a historic 2020 election, with record voter turnout and multiple controversies amid a global pandemic, Nossaman Government Relations & Regulation (GRR) Chair Fred Dombo spoke from Washington, DC with Nossaman GRR Partner Amber Maltbie in Los Angeles about the likely policy consequences of the new Congress and the new Administration. Their conversation covers the potential for introduction of a large infrastructure package, as well as trends that they noted in the election outcome and.....

The long-awaited Facebook antitrust bomb dropped on Wednesday, with the FTC and attorneys general from more than 40 states accusing Zuck & Co. of “buying up its rivals to illegally squash competition” in D.C. federal district court suits that “underscore the growing bipartisan and international tsunami against Big Tech.” The regulators are calling for those deals (think Instagram and WhatsApp, especially) to be unwound....By: Robins Kaplan LLP

In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the screening powers of the Italian government were significantly expanded - The Italian government, which is led by the President of the Chamber of Ministries, together with any relevant ministry (such as the Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Communications), reviews any transaction relating to Italian companies that carry out "strategic activities" in the defense and national security sector or hold "assets with strategic.....

Executive summary - This is the first time that the Supreme Court has had to decide an appeal relating to section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (section 84). This is the piece of legislation that gives the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (Upper Tribunal) discretion to discharge or modify restrictive covenants to enable development of burdened land....By: K&L Gates LLP

Egypt is getting closer to adopting a new merger control regime that would transform the system from a post-closing to a pre-closing filing regime. The Egyptian Council of Ministers has approved a draft proposal to amend Egypt's antitrust legislation accordingly. If enacted, the amendments would likely have significant implications for transactions involving parties with business in Egypt....By: White & Case LLP