Unemployment, inflation, interest rates, individual debt loads, polarizing wealth gaps, and political unrest. Any of these topics can be destabilizing to our society. Together, they create a perfect storm for massive...more
As the U.K. faces what the Bank of England recently described as “very challenging” times, with the possibility of the U.K.’s “longest recession since records began,” issuers listed on the London Stock Exchange should pay...more
The First Department’s recent decision in Zhang Chang v. Phillips Auctioneers LLC seems to have ended the long, turbulent dispute over Gerhard Richter’s 1963 painting of a fighter jet, Düsenjäger. The decision affirmed the...more
This month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed course and held that the arbitration agreement signed by a H-2A temporary farm worker was valid and enforceable. This decision is instructive for California employers on...more
A west coast federal appeals court just opened the door for H-2A employers to enforce arbitration agreements in employment disputes even outside the context of a collective bargaining agreement. The Ninth Circuit Court of...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit explains the requirements for administrative summonses compelling testimony, and addresses whether a farm laborer was subjected to economic duress and undue influence when signing an arbitration...more
Even though economic ‘lawful act’ duress exists in English law, its scope in contractual negotiations is “extremely limited”. To set aside a contract under lawful act duress, the defendant must have applied illegitimate...more
Fifth Circuit Concludes That Forced Change of Control Was Not The Product of Duress - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s rejection of a guarantor’s duress defense in the face of a $58...more
A bank had threatened, during negotiations to restructure a loan, that it would appoint a receiver if no agreement was reached. That threat did not amount to intimidation or economic duress on the facts of the case. A vital...more
An employee sued her former employer and coworkers in the Eastern District of Michigan for sexual harassment, defamation, and for subjecting her to a hostile work environment. The employer argued that the employee’s claims...more
On May 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an updated Frequently Asked Questions fact sheet (FAQ), which provides interpretative guidance on the Paycheck...more
As the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to grow, many businesses are faced with unprecedented challenges. As businesses struggle economically, they may face pressure from their contractual counterparties...more
During an interview with Bloomberg TV on March 6th, Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, observed: “Economic time has stopped but financial time has not stopped.” An incisive summary as any of the current...more
In the wake of government-ordered moratoriums on commercial tenant evictions, how does a California commercial tenant’s security deposit come into play as an available landlord remedy for a lease default? Commercial lease...more
This is a round-up of the most interesting finance litigation and contractual developments in 2019. The selection is necessarily subjective and draws from a wide range of cases and developments that are of direct relevance to...more
The plaintiff, an agricultural laborer, brought suit against his employer who, in turn, moved to compel arbitration based on the arbitration agreement in the parties’ employment contract. The plaintiff opposed, successfully...more
It is clear that English law permits a party to avoid a contract on the grounds of economic duress but there is some uncertainty as to the circumstance in which a contract may be avoided for economic duress. Requiring...more
In This Issue – Economic duress: will English law assist a party who enters into a contract as a result of a lawful threat of causing economic harm? A Bird on the Ground is Worth One in the Sky: Lessons from ALC v. Far...more
The Court of Appeal has held that there is no economic duress in commercial situations where a party uses lawful pressure or threats to achieve a result to which it genuinely believes itself to be entitled, even if is not...more