Legal News

On September 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit addressed the perennially thorny issue of whether the courts or arbitrators retain the authority to resolve questions involving the enforceability of arbitration agreements. In MZM Construction Company, Inc. v. New Jersey Building Laborers Statewide Benefits Funds, the Third Circuit held that the courts must decide questions of arbitrability in cases where a party challenges the validity of the underlying contract that contains the...

The Situation: On June 21, 2020, the Saudi Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, announced the creation of a Tourism Development Fund ("Fund") with an initial capital of SAR 15 billion (approximately US$4 billion). The Goal: The National Transformation Program ("NTP") aims at, among other things, marketing Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination regionally and globally....By: Jones Day

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico recently rejected a defendant’s arguments that a clause in a Private Purchase and Sale Agreement of Shares and Other Matters was invalid under Supreme Court case law but nevertheless agreed with the defendant’s interpretation of the clause and therefore dismissed the claim against it....By: Carlton Fields

Yesterday, Governor Newsom signed AB 1561 (Garcia/Greyson) extending most residential entitlements for 18 months. During periods of economic downturn, a blanket extension of tentative tract maps has not been uncommon, but the extension provisions of this bill go far beyond tentative maps. More specifically, any applicable time frame for expiration of any “housing entitlement” as defined, is extended by 18 months. This extension applies to any such entitlement issued prior to and effective on....

Long before I was an attorney, I heard this tale that if you endorsed a check that had the words “PAID IN FULL” written on the check, then you were accepting the check as full payment of whatever was owed. But I have never really thought about that legal principle because, “People don’t really do that, do they?”...By: Burr & Forman

2018 saw the enactment of important changes to CASPA, a Pennsylvania law that helps contractors and subcontractors enforce their contractual payment terms. In this Mechanical & Service Contractors Association of Eastern PA webinar, Matt Gioffre and Dan Fierstein will review CASPA basics and highlight key aspects of the 2018 changes. They will explain how contractors can take advantage of the new provisions, such as the right for contractors and subcontractors to suspend work for nonpayment under...

Just as quickly as the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the parameters of prohibitions on transactions involving TikTok and WeChat, pursuant to Executive Orders 13942 and 13943, respectively, actions were taken to delay implementation of those prohibitions.  The Executive Orders, issued simultaneously on August 6, 2020, broadly indicated that “transactions” involving TikTok (and its parent company ByteDance) or WeChat would be prohibited as of September 20, 2020....By: Bryan Cave Leighto...

On May 1, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an intelligence bulletin warning, reported on in late July by several members of the media, concerning the use by threat actors of the “private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms, to launder money, circumventing traditional anti-money laundering (AML)…...By: K2 Intelligence Investigations · Compliance

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange continues to pursue and implement a number of rule changes aimed at making the listing process more efficient while strengthening and broadening its role overseeing listed companies and the tools at its disposal for penalizing directors and officers. The Securities and Futures Commission also continues to actively investigate and prosecute cases of market misconduct. This update discusses a number of recent developments in each of these areas, as well as additional.....

A majority of dealmakers say their companies are focused on defense or survival, but about a quarter are actively pursuing growth. According to Mergermarket, the value of US M&A in the second quarter of 2020 was lower than any other quarter since it began tracking deals in 2006. Compared to Q2 2019, value was down 87 percent. Volume plunged as well, though not as much. But things began to change in the third quarter. In fact, the value of M&A in August was more than two times that of January.....