The oil and gas industry in the United States is highly dependent upon an intricate set of agreements that allow oil and gas to be gathered from privately owned land. Historically, the dedication language in oil and gas gathering agreements—through which the rights to the oil or gas in specified land are dedicated—was viewed as being a covenant that ran with the land. That view was put to the test during the wave of oil and gas exploration company bankruptcies that began in 2014. A shockwave w...
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A recent case on estoppel by convention in the context of an owner's termination of a construction contract provides a valuable reminder to both legal practitioners and project personnel on the dangers associated with ignoring the contract, even when it may seem safe to do so....By: Bennett Jones LLP
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On October 26, 2020, we provided an overview of the key features of Bill 37, Builders' Lien (Prompt Payment) Amendment Act, 2020, which is intended to amend the Alberta Builders' Lien Act (BLA) and become the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. On October 28, 2020, Bill 37 passed its second reading in the Legislature of Alberta and on November 4, 2020, an amendment to Bill 37 titled Amendment A1 was carried. This amendment made substantial modifications to Bill 37 including......By: Bennet...
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TLS Dubai’s Iustina Alban jumped on a Zoom call with Paula Boast from Charles Russell Speechlys Bahrain. They discussed construction disputes, technology and mountain trails over a virtual coffee. In this Talks with TLS blog post, Iustina interviews Paula about her career and how she became both an expert and inspiring leader in the legal industry....By: TransPerfect Legal Solutions
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What can we expect from the Federal Communications Commission from the incoming administration of President-elect Biden? While we don’t have a crystal ball, we know that the president-elect has pledged to “build back better,” and recent reports suggest he plans to reverse several actions taken during the Trump administration. Following this approach at the FCC, the new agency leadership may seek to revisit some of the more contentious actions by current Chairman Ajit Pai, such as the repeal o...
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Most deals are approved, but new rules covering more types of transactions and requiring mandatory filings in certain cases have changed the landscape - The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is led by the US Department of the Treasury and made up of US national security and economic agencies—including Defense, State, Justice, Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security—conducts national security reviews of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the United States......
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KEY LEGAL AND REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS - Legislative and Regulatory Reform - Permanent reforms in respect of virtual meetings and electronic execution - On 19 October, the Federal Government released for consultation exposure draft legislation that makes permanent changes to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Corporations Act") in relation to virtual meetings and electronic document execution. The reforms make permanent the temporary relief, which allows companies to hold meetings virtually,...
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In a major shift (and with antitrust regulators breathing down its neck), Apple is halving the App Store fee it charges developers (from 30% to 15%) who produce “as much as $1 million in annual revenue from their apps and those who are new to the store.” Apple’s cut of App Store revenue has been a hot topic in recent months, as best exemplified in its ongoing battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games....By: Robins Kaplan LLP
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Maeda Corporation and China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited v Bauer Hong Kong Limited handed down in the Hong Kong Court of Appeal has significantly elevated the fundamental importance of so-called ‘time-bar’ clauses (commonly seen in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) forms of contract (e.g., Clause 20.2.4 of the Second Edition of the FIDIC Silver Book) and many forms of international...By: Aki...
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On October 15, 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a cease and desist order (Order), settling charges against a registrant for controls violations relating to a stock buyback plan implemented during acquisition discussions....By: Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives
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