Expert Analysis

• 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.

• Employment Law Changes May Increase Litigation In 2024

  

  As we enter 2024, significant employment law updates include changes to holiday pay, gender equality and flexible working, but the sector must deal with the unintended consequences of some of these changes, likely leading to increased litigation in the coming year, says Louise Taft at Jurit.

• How 'Copyleft' Licenses May Affect Generative AI Output

  

  Open-source software and the copyleft licenses that support it, whereby derivative works must be made available for others to use and modify, have been a boon to the development of artificial intelligence, but could lead to issues for coders who use AI to help write code and may find their resulting work exposed, says William Dearn at HLK.

• UK Compulsory Mediation Ruling Still Leaves Courts Leeway

  

  An English Court of Appeal recently issued a landmark decision in Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil County, stating that courts can compel parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution, but the decision does not dictate how courts should exercise this power, which litigants will likely welcome, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.

• Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach

  

  An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.

• EU Rejection Of Booking.com Deal Veers From Past Practice

  

  The European Commission's recent prohibition of Booking's purchase of Etraveli based on ecosystem theories of harm reveals a lower bar for prohibiting nonhorizontal mergers, and may mean increased merger scrutiny for companies with entrenched market positions in digital markets, say lawyers at Linklaters.

• PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms

  

  The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.

• UPC Decision Highlights Key Security Costs Questions

  

  While the Unified Patent Court recently ordered NanoString to pay €300,000 as security for Harvard's legal costs in a revocation action dispute, the decision highlights that the outcome of a security for costs application will be highly fact-dependent and that respondents should prepare to set out their financial position in detail, says Tom Brazier at EIP.

• Extradition Ruling Hints At Ways Around High Burden Of Proof

  

  The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Popoviciu v. Curtea De Apel Bucharest confirmed that, in a conviction extradition case, the requested person must establish a flagrant violation of their right to a fair trial, but the court's reasoning reveals creative opportunities to test this boundary in the U.K. and Strasbourg alike, says Rebecca Hughes at Corker Binning.

• IP Ruling Could Pave Way For AI Patents In UK

  

  If implemented by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, the High Court's recent ruling in Emotional Perception AI v. Comptroller-General of Patents, holding that artificial neural networks can be patented, could be a first step to welcoming AI patents in the U.K., say Arnie Francis and Alexandra Brodie at Gowling.