Several recent developments suggest that the European Union (EU) and some of its individual Member States are preparing to embrace the idea of collective redress mechanisms for consumer claims. Although an effective European collective redress mechanism has yet to materialize, the process toward crafting one is certainly underway.
Emergence from bankruptcy presents a series of challenges for debtor companies, their creditors and counsel for all interested parties. One of the most significant challenges is financial reporting.
To the surprise of many, when General Growth Properties Inc. ("GGP") commenced a Chapter 11 proceeding in April 2009, it caused 166 solvent bankruptcy remote entities that were current on all their indebtedness (the "General Growth SPEs") that each owned a single mall property to also file Chapter 11 petitions.
Over the past year, market dynamics have aligned, creating an opportunity to transform services provided by law firms in order to better meet or exceed client demands.
Opportunities exist in the back office for law firms to reduce administrative expenses, improve cash management, and increase staff performance to optimize and deliver exceptional customer service. Trends suggest that by focusing on the billing and collections function, a firm may find success in achieving these objectives.
Law firms, because of caseload analysis and the project-oriented nature of their work, are notoriously hard to value, even more so than accounting firms and other professional service industries where there is an established schedule of work for at least a 12-month period.
At the same time steps are being instituted to curtail COLI, there is an ever-increasing need to fund for employee medical care and post-retirement medical expenses. The use of COLI and the new Health Savings Accounts ("HSA") can provide a robust funding vehicle.
According to the author: "While a good system and good decisions require that origination be recognized and rewarded, it has not been my experience that a change in compensation system will make rainmakers out of service partners."
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?
On Nov. 10, 2023, Abry Partners, a leading North American middle market private equity firm, announced that it had acquired Chambers & Partners for $449 million from Inflexion, the UK private equity firm that purchased Chambers in 2018. What will this mean?
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
