Expert Analysis

• ECJ Beneficial Owners Ruling Leaves Uncertainty In Its Wake

  

  The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in the WM and Sovim cases, holding that making information on a register of beneficial owners publicly available interferes with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, has been criticized as a step backward in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism, and its impact is not yet clear, say Michael Marschall and Verena Krikler at Schoenherr.

• What Slovak Labor Code Changes Will Mean For Employers

  

  With newly effective amendments to the Slovak Labor Code strengthening employees’ rights in a number of ways, the default mindset of the employee being the weaker party may no longer be the right approach, says Katarina Pfeffer at Bird & Bird.

• An ICO Reminder On Managing Subject Access Requests

  

  Although the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office’s recent seven reprimands regarding mismanagement of data subject access requests are unusual, it is worth organizations considering what resources and training may be available to ensure these are properly managed in the future, says Ross McKenzie at Addleshaw Goddard.

• Opinion

  Increasing Law Firm Polarization Will Degrade Rule Of Law

  

  As evidenced in recent instances of law firms separating from attorneys who represented certain industries or espoused certain views, firms and the legal practice itself have grown troublingly polarized and intolerant of dissent, says Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School.

• The FTX Fallout So Far And What May Come Next

  

  While the downfall of FTX is likely to cause substantial losses and lead to extensive litigation, it will hopefully precipitate a renewed focus on regulating the crypto market in a responsible way that gives more protection to consumers, says Dan Wyatt at RPC.

• Hard Insurance Market Will Influence Legal Industry, Economy

  

  As the cost of claims starts to outstrip the value of premiums, insurers are denying more claims and considering scaling back coverage, leading to an influx of legal work and potential holes in the market, says Bruce Hepburn at Mactavish.

• Digital Nomads: Key Considerations For Global Businesses

  

  As employers and employees embrace remote, location-independent work arrangements enabled by technology, they must be mindful of the employment law and tax consequences such arrangements may trigger, say Hannah Wilkins and Audrey Elliott at Eversheds Sutherland.

• New License Eases Sanctioned Clients' Legal Fee Payments

  

  The general license recently issued by the U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation permitting the payment of legal fees owed by a sanctioned company or individual will potentially reduce the agency's backlog and is welcome news for both lawyers and OFSI staff, say Zulfi Meerza and Syed Rahman at Rahman Ravelli.

• Preparation Is Key To Businesses Minimizing Cyber Breaches

  

  A recently published report by the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on organizational experiences of cybersecurity breaches highlights the importance of having breach response policies in place and being able to demonstrate that reasonable preventive and risk management steps were taken, says Lawson Caisley at White & Case.

• UK Policyholders Can Expect Better COVID Claims Handling

  

  The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority recently outlined some best practices for COVID-19 business interruption claims handling, which, along with recent High Court of Justice decisions, will likely lead to faster claims handling and clearer insurer communication, say Gurpreet Sanghera and Charlie Edwards at Simkins.

• A Recovery Option For Lenders With Planes Stuck In Russia

  

  For aircraft lessors considering insurance coverage litigation to recover for losses of equipment leased to Russian airlines, negotiating an assignment of rights may provide a faster pathway to recovery, say David Klein and Jose Lua-Valencia at Pillsbury.

• Series

  My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Argue Open-Mindedly

  

  Queens College President Frank Wu reflects on how Yale Kamisar’s teaching and guidance at the University of Michigan Law School emphasized a capacity to engage with alternative worldviews and the importance of the ability to argue for both sides of a debate.

• 4 Key Skills For An Effective Attorney Coaching Conversation

  

  As BigLaw firms are increasingly offering internal coaching as one of many talent strategies to stem ongoing lawyer attrition, Stacey Schwartz at Katten discusses how coaches can help attorneys achieve their goals.

• New Clarity On Directors' Creditor Duty In Insolvency Context

  

  The recent case of BTI 2014 v. Sequana, the first to consider the creditor duty at U.K. Supreme Court level, provides directors and insolvency practitioners with significant guidance on how close to insolvency the company needs to be for the creditor duty to be engaged, say attorneys at Shearman.

• FCA Pension Scheme Case Highlights Issues Ripe For Reform

  

  The Financial Conduct Authority's response to the British Steel Pension Scheme case exposed wider issues within its regulatory approach and could demonstrate the need for industrywide reforms to minimize the risks with transferring out of a pension scheme, say Oliver Reece and Larisa Gordan at PwC.