Rarely, if ever, has a British government engaged in such an assault on justice than the present coalition. The brunt of the assault applies to England and Wales since justice matters are mostly devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Guest post: What can IP offer Africa – and what can Africa offer IP?
A handsome book recently arrived on my crowded desk, demanding attention: it’s Innovation & Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa, edited by scholars Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobia Schonwetter. Published by the UCT Press in association with the IP Unit of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town (that’s what ‘UCT’ stands for) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), it’s one of those lovely books that you don’t have to buy since you can read it online or download it in its entirety – all 431 pages of it – by accessing its website here.
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The new Swiss perspective on international arbitration
Gentium Law’s Matthew Parish discusses a quiet revolution.
Switzerland is distinctive as a centre of international arbitration. It packs a punch well above its size. Although statistics about arbitration are by their nature confidential, anecdotal evidence indicates the diminutive country of a mere 7.5 million people is host to several hundreds of arbitrations per year. This is a remarkable figure.
The London Court of International Arbitration has perhaps only 150 cases per annum, while the International Chamber of Commerce hosts roughly double that number. In petite Geneva – a mere 185,000 people – arbitration lawyers may be the largest group of legal specialists in the city. Continue reading “The new Swiss perspective on international arbitration”
Important decision of Swiss Federal Supreme Court on intra-group financing arrangements
Bär & Karrer’s Till Spillmann and Luca Jagmetti discuss its practical consequences.
The Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled in a recent decision that up-stream and cross-stream loans granted by Swiss companies must be entered into on arm’s-length terms. If not at arm’s length, the decision seems to suggest that such loans constitute de facto distributions and may only be granted for an amount not exceeding the lender’s freely distributable reserves. If already granted, it reduces the lender’s ability for future dividend distributions by the amount corresponding to the nominal value of the loan. The court also imposed stringent requirements on satisfying the arm’s length test.
Further, the court raised the question of whether Swiss companies are allowed to participate in zero-balancing cash pools at all.
Guest post: Can Big Firms Innovate – and if so how?
‘Innovation’ seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. Among other things, the problems are: many people, lawyers in particular, are stumped when it comes to describing what ‘innovation’ actually is and business history proves to a fare-thee-well that it’s extremely challenging for successful incumbents to actually follow through with anything innovative.
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Guest post: Meaning in your career – or how to keep lawyers satisfied
Here at Adam Smith, Esq, we cover the array of law firm management issues from strategy and finance to compensation and cultural issues – ‘an inquiry into the economics of law firms,’ to coin a phrase. But there’s much more to life.
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PwC Legal’s Stewart Room: ‘New year, new privacy and security strategy’
New year is traditionally the time to change our ways. As we reflect back on the year just gone, perhaps we see that an inch has gone on to the waistline, or we’re more out of breath as we run for the train, or the savings have diminished even further. All good prompts to change our ways and come up with new life strategies?
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What if ‘best practice’ is wrong?
Baker Tilly’s George Bull warns of possible flaws
There was once a poster at Watford Junction railway station, just outside London. Advertising the local shopping centre, it read: ‘Little blue dress, little blue dress, my life would be complete if only I could have that little blue dress.’ So it is with best practice: people within a firm readily incline to the view that, if they are adopting best practice, then professional life will be complete. What can possibly go wrong for the firm? Continue reading “What if ‘best practice’ is wrong?”
London conference will highlight Jersey’s pivotal role as funds jurisdiction
Geoff Cook of Jersey Finance highlights the effects of the AIFMD on Jersey
Recent figures for Jersey’s funds sector show that business has reached its highest level in five years, with a strong upward trend in the alternative funds sector.
From a fund servicing point of view, as regulatory pressures ramp up the volume and complexity of reporting requirements, there is also expected to be a significant opportunity for Jersey’s specialist service providers to support lawyers and fund promoters onshore by meeting the demand for outsourced administration and governance requirements. Continue reading “London conference will highlight Jersey’s pivotal role as funds jurisdiction”
Guest post: Dentons/Dacheng – A theory and rationale
I wasn’t going to write about Dacheng/Dentons until I was. When I first heard about the mega tie-up creating the largest law firm in the world – records are made to be broken, as any number of athletes will happily confide in you – I had only two thoughts: First, this will get everyone’s attention; and second, there is no way any rational person can forecast whether it will succeed or fail or muddle through.
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