Legal
Americas
Supreme Court Narrows Availability of United States Discovery for International Arbitration
A unanimous Supreme Court on June 13 determined that 28 U.S.C. §1782 (“Section 1782”) does not permit United States courts to order discovery for foreign or international “private adjudicatory bodies”. ZF Auto. US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., No. 21-401, 2022 WL 2111355, *3 (2022)(“ZF Automotive Decision”). Rather, the Supreme...
In brief: Meet the 4 Asian startups selected for VISA’s accelerator programme
Brankas, Curlec among the 4 Asian startups selected for VISA programme The story: Visa has picked four Asian startups which, over the next four to six months, will focus on creating defined commercial opportunities to collaborate on new payment solutions with Visa and its extensive network of bank and merchant partners The startups are: Brankas (Singapore)...
Play Ventures closes US$135M fund targeting gaming startups
Play Ventures, a Singapore-based VC firm focused on funding gaming startups, has announced it has hit the final close of its second fund at US$135 million. This brings the firm’s total assets under management (AuM) to US$175 million. Launched in 2018, Play Ventures portfolio consists of 24 early-stage gaming startups across over 10 different countries....
Hyperganic brings 3D printing software to Singapore after US$7.8M funding
Hyperganic, a German company developing software that generates 3D printings, is expanding into Singapore. This comes off the back of its US$7.8 million funding round co-led by German funds HV Capital and VSquared Ventures. As per a press note, Hyperganic will use Singapore as a key pillar of its development strategy. The company shared this […] The...
SEED Ventures’s new fund can pay interest-free loan of up to US$38K to startups ‘within 5 days’
Singapore-based VC fund management company SEED Ventures has announced the launch of a new sector-agnostic venture debt fund. Christened ‘Venture Debt Fund 1’ (VDF1), it plans to provide an interest-free loan of US$15,000-US$37,500 to 30 seed-stage ASEAN startups by the end of 2021. What makes the fund unique is that it is able to dispense...
Asia Pacific
Europe
Council forks out almost £5,000 for “offensive comments”
An employer – Rotherham Council – has been ordered to pay almost £5,000 in compensation after “offensive” comments were made to a disabled member of staff by his line manager. Gareth Matthews, Head of Employment, considers the implications of this case in more detail, particularly in light of the fact that the comments were made following a...
Independent European Firms Bounce Back in H1 League Tables
Independent law firms made a comeback in European M&A in the first half of 2022. Nine of the top 20 legal advisers on U.K. and Europe deals in the six months to the end of June were local Continental European firms, according data from Refinitiv. German firm Hengeler Mueller came second in the rankings, while Italian firms Legance Avvocati Associati,...
International
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Read More
England: “Nightingale Courts” Aim to Relieve Pandemic Backlog of Court Cases
(Mar. 29, 2021) England’s court administration agency, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), has introduced additional venues to be used as temporary courts to ease pressure on the courts and clear a backlog of cases. The backlog was caused in part by the closure of half the courts across England in March 2020 in […]Read...
International: New ICSID Caseload Statistics Reveal Trends in Arbitral Appointments and Case Distribution
(Feb. 22, 2021) On January 28, 2021, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published its caseload statistics for the first six months of 2020 (FY2020). Some had predicted that disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic would have a significant impact on the number and type of investment disputes brought to ICSID […]Read...
Beware: The Report Expressly Prepared for Trial Counsel May Not Be Privileged After All
In this article for the Consumer Privacy World Blog, John Burlingame and Kristin Bryan discuss a recent federal district court decision which calls into question the application of attorney work-product privilege to work-product prepared by consultants in anticipation of litigation.… Continue Reading The post Beware: The Report Expressly Prepared...
Israel: Supreme Court Voids Law Legalizing Settlements Built on Unauthorized and Privately Owned Land in West Bank
(July 14, 2020) On June 9, 2020, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice, ruled 8–1 to accept a petition against the constitutionality of the Law on the Regulation of Settlement in Judea and Samaria, 5777-2017 (Feb. 13, 2017). The majority opinion was rendered by Court President Justice Esther Hayut, […]Read More