Expert Analysis

• Emerging Trends From A Busy Climate Litigation Year

  

  Although many environmental cases brought in the U.K. were unsuccessful in 2023, they arguably clarified several relevant issues, such as climate rights, director and trustee obligations, and the extent to which claimants can hold the government accountable, illustrating what 2024 may have in store for climate litigation, say Simon Bishop and Patrick Kenny at Hausfeld.

• Key 2024 Arbitration Trends In A Changing World

  

  As key sectors such as ESG and the global mining and commodities market will continue to generate more arbitration in 2024, procedural developments in arbitral law will both guide future arbitration proceedings and provide helpful lessons on confidentiality, disclosure and professional duty, say Louise Woods and Elena Guillet at V&E.

• 2024 Will Be A Busy Year For Generative AI And IP Issues

  

  In light of increased litigation and policy proposals on balancing intellectual property rights and artificial intelligence innovation, 2024 is shaping up to be full of fast-moving developments that will have significant implications for AI tool developers, users of such tools and rights holders, say lawyers at Mishcon de Reya.

• Regulating Digital Platforms: What's Changing In EU And UK

  

  Lawyers at Mayer Brown assess the status of recently enacted EU and U.K. antitrust regulation governing gatekeeper platforms, noting that the effects are already being felt, and that companies will need to avoid anti-competitive self-preferencing and ensure a higher degree of interoperability than has been required to date.

• Dyson Decision Highlights Post-Brexit Forum Challenges

  

  The High Court's recent decision in Limbu v. Dyson, barring the advancement of group supply chain claims against Dyson subsidiaries in the U.K. and Malaysia, suggests that, following Brexit, claims concerning events abroad may less frequently proceed to trial in England, say lawyers at Debevoise.

• 9 Takeaways From The UPC's First 6 Months In Session

  

  Six months after its opening, the Unified Patent Court has established itself as an appealing jurisdiction, with its far territorial reach, short filing deadlines and extremely quick issuance of preliminary injunctions showing that it is well-prepared to provide for rapid legal clarity, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.

• How Boards Can Mitigate Privacy, Cybersecurity And AI Risks

  

  In 2023, data privacy, cybersecurity and AI persist as prominent C-suite concerns as regulators stepped up enforcement, and organizations must develop a plan for handling these risks, in particular those with a global footprint, say lawyers at Latham.

• The Year In FRAND: What To Know Heading Into 2024

  

  In 2023, there were eight significant developments concerning the fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory patent licensing regime that undergirds technical standardization, say Tom Millikan and Kevin Zeck at Perkins Coie.

• The Outlook For UK Restructuring Plans At Home And Abroad

  

  The U.K. continues to be a center for large-cap, cross-border restructurings, though its competitive edge over the EU in this regard may narrow, while small and medium-sized enterprises are already likely to avoid costly formal processes by reaching out to their secured lenders for restructuring solutions, say Paul Keddie and Timothy Bromley-White at Macfarlanes.

• Foreign Assets Ruling Suggests New Tax Avoidance Approach

  

  The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in His Majesty's Revenue & Customs v. Fisher, which found that the scope of the transfer of foreign assets is narrow, highlights that the days of rampant tax avoidance have been left behind, and that the need for wide-ranging and uncertain tax legislation is lessening, says James Austen at Collyer Bristow.

• Class Action-Style Claims Are On The Horizon In 2024

  

  Following the implementation of an EU directive enabling consumers to bring actions for collective redress, 2024 will likely see the first serious swathe of class action-style cases in Europe, particularly in areas such as cyber exposures, ESG and product liability, says Henning Schaloske at Clyde & Co.

• Cos. Must Monitor Sanctions Regime As Law Remains Unclear

  

  While recent U.K. government guidance and an English High Court's decision in Litasco v. Der Mond Oil, finding that a company is sanctioned when a designated individual is exercising control over it, both address sanctions control issues, disarray in the law remains, highlighting that practitioners should keep reviewing their exposure to the sanctions regime, say lawyers at K&L Gates.

• The Top 7 Global ESG Litigation Trends In 2023

  

  To date, ESG litigation across the world can largely be divided into seven forms, but these patterns will continue developing, including a rise in cases against private and state actors, a more complex regulatory environment affecting multinational companies, and an increase in nongovernmental organization activity, say Sophie Lamb and Aleksandra Dulska at Latham.

• Proposed Amendment Would Transform UK Collective Actions

  

  If the recently proposed amendment to the Digital Markets Bill is enacted, the U.K.'s collective action landscape will undergo a seismic change that will likely have significant consequences for consumer-facing businesses, say lawyers at Linklaters.

• EU GDPR Ruling Reiterates Relative Nature Of 'Personal Data'

  

  The Court of Justice of the European Union recently confirmed in Gesamtverband v. Scania that vehicle identification number data can be processed under the General Data Protection Regulation, illustrating that the same dataset may be considered "personal data" for one party, but not another, which suggests a less expansive definition of the term, say lawyers at Van Bael.