Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Courts Are Getting It Right On Litigation Funding Discovery

  

  Earlier this month, a California federal court denied discovery into the identification of third-party funders with a financial interest in the outcome of an underlying patent infringement action. This decision in MLC v. Micron follows a long line of well-reasoned precedent across U.S. federal courts, say Matthew Harrison and Sarah Jacobson of Bentham IMF.

• Worldwide Freezing Orders Can Backfire Without Proper Care

  

  Worldwide freezing orders, which preserve a respondent's assets until the outcome of the substantive case, are an important weapon in the arsenal of a commercial litigant. However, as FSDEA v. Dos Santos demonstrates, courts lay heavy obligations upon WFO applicants, says Nicola McKinney of Grosvenor Law Ltd.

• UK Litigation And Guidance Highlight Cybersecurity Risk

  

  Recent developments in the United Kingdom emphasize the importance of companies implementing cybersecurity measures proactively both to prevent incidents and to argue in mitigation when, not if, the company does suffer a data breach, say Guillermo Christensen of Ice Miller LLP and Anupreet Amole of Brown Rudnick LLP.

• 2 BVI Cases Explore Scope Of Proper Purpose Test

  

  Two recent cases in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal have presented British Virgin Island courts an opportunity to develop a local jurisprudence regarding the BVI Business Companies Act and provide guidance on how the proper purpose test is to be applied, says Rosalind Nicholson of Walkers Global.

• Last-Minute Brexit Preparations For EU Financial Firms

  

  As the deadline for a hard Brexit draws ever closer, financial firms operating in the United Kingdom or European Union must consider how possible outcomes will impact transactions and contractual relationships, and take steps to mitigate business interruptions, say Gilles Kolifrath and Linda Sharkey of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

• What To Expect From Serious Fraud Office In 2019

  

  The coming year looks to be an interesting one for the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. With new Director Lisa Osofsky firmly in post, expectations are high that she will shake things up in the next few months, say Anna Gaudoin and Alison Geary of WilmerHale.

• UK Privacy Rules That Can Catch You Off Guard

  

  The recent data breach scandal involving the Leave.EU campaign shows that the U.K. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations is often overlooked by businesses, says Alexander Edwards of Rosling King LLP.

• Autonomous Vehicles And UK Product Liability Law: Part 2

  

  With autonomous vehicles expected to hit the streets of the United Kingdom soon, manufacturers, insurers and their legal counsel face the challenge of determining how the U.K.'s product liability laws will be applied to questions of negligence, evidence and contracts raised by self-driving vehicles, says Michaela Herron of Bristows LLP.

• Autonomous Vehicles And UK Product Liability Law: Part 1

  

  Autonomous vehicles present a number of challenges to the United Kingdom's product liability legal framework, especially with regard to the vehicles' heavy reliance on software, consumers' expectations of safety and the need for compliance with varying local traffic rules, says Michaela Herron of Bristows LLP.

• A Victory For Legal Privilege In Cross-Border Investigations

  

  The U.K. Court of Appeal's recent decision in Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources is a substantial step toward confirming the application of legal privilege in internal investigations, and has significantly reduced the divergence in U.K. and U.S. privilege law, say attorneys with Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP.

• UK And EU Crawl Toward Virtual Currency Regulation

  

  The lack of a harmonized approach to regulation of initial coin offerings in the EU is leading to a piecemeal approach across member states that will hamper blockchain developments, say Jacqui Hatfield and Rebecca Kellner of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

• Is Equifax Data Breach Penalty A Sign Of Fines To Come?

  

  Recently, the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office fined Equifax £500,000 for falling victim to a cyberattack — the highest penalty available. Some speculate that this decision is a sign that the ICO is already assuming a tougher stance following the commencement of the General Data Protection Regulation, say James Castro-Edwards and Eaven Prenter of Wedlake Bell LLP.

• Ensure That Dispute Resolution Mechanisms Are Brexit-Proof

  

  With only five months remaining for the U.K. to make a deal with the EU and the possibility of a "no-deal" Brexit looking increasingly plausible, now is the time to take proactive steps to protect your clients’ positions and to make sure that their contracts are effective and enforceable, say Claire Stockford and Caitlin McLean of Shepherd & Wedderburn LLP.

• 5 Cyber Insurance Pitfalls To Avoid In The UK

  

  Faced with the opportunity to purchase cyber risk insurance to mitigate the damage caused by cyber events, prospective policyholder companies need all the help they can get in order to navigate this increasingly complex part of the U.K. insurance market, says Richard Mattick of Covington & Burling LLP.

• UK Unexplained Wealth Orders: More Bark Than Bite So Far

  

  This month, the U.K. National Crime Agency successfully resisted a challenge to its first unexplained wealth orders. This is a victory, but the agency has some way to go to show that UWOs will be a meaningful tool in the U.K.'s anti-money laundering arsenal, says Fred Saugman of WilmerHale.