Legal News

The recent appeal decision in Hillside Parks Limited v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2020]1 has led some to question whether the established rules around ‘drop-in’ permissions have been curtailed; some authors query whether they have been lost altogether.  Rest assured – the option is alive and well.  This blog examines the foundation for any concerns and highlights the importance of a carefully constructed initial planning permission which should have an eye on the real possibility of.....

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.....

Market Trends: What You Need to Know - “Sandbagging” concepts are often the subject of intense negotiation in M&A transactions. Inclusion of pro-sandbagging clauses within M&A purchase agreements has been on the decline, and more often, the parties are deciding instead to be silent on the issue of sandbagging. Originally Published in Bloomberg Law - December 2020....By: Goulston & Storrs PC

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

Connecticut’s trend of liberal, policyholder-oriented insurance coverage decisions continued apace with the recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision, Nash Street, LLC v. Main Street America Assurance Company et al.  Confronting an issue of first impression, the Court held that, when there is no Connecticut appellate authority interpreting a particular policy provision......By: Pullman & Comley, LLC

On November 30, 2020, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision addressing contractual issues related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sale of a collection of luxury hotels. The case, AB Stable VIII LLC v. MAPS Hotels and Resorts One LLC, was one of many busted deal lawsuits filed in the Court of Chancery implicating COVID-19's impact on M&A, with the opinion being the first to formally address these issues. The 242-page opinion...

On November 17, 2020, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) posted new FAQs providing that an acquisition of the stock or assets of a company that has received a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) generally will not cause the acquirer and members of its aggregated employer group (as defined below) to jeopardize their employee retention tax credits (“ERTCs”). While the FAQs expressly provide that they cannot be relied upon by taxpayers, and could be withdrawn at any...

A federal court on Tuesday denied the FTC’s request to enjoin the merger of Thomas Jefferson University and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, two hospital systems in the Philadelphia area. After a six-day hearing that included twenty witnesses and what the court called “voluminous documentary evidence,” the court found that the FTC had not carried its burden of proof and denied the requested injunction. The court’s decision seemingly places a priority on evidence of actual commercial.....

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.....