In Brief - Following reforms to the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime on 9 November 2023, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are...more
Notice of adjudication – how important is that? Included in a number of jurisdictional challenges to an adjudication award was a claim that the notice of adjudication was defective, in not complying with the...more
The High Court has held a limitation clause in a research agreement would be effective to limit liability for dishonesty, though not fraudulent misrepresentation. Research paper errors give rise to dispute - Innovate...more
In Brief - The High Court of Australia (the Court) has provided important guidance on the application of Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime to global standard form contracts, the validity of class action waiver...more
In Short - The Situation: In 2020, a cruise ship in Australian waters, the Ruby Princess, experienced a COVID‑19 outbreak that resulted in an Australian class action. Part of the class were passengers subject to...more
Although the general principles of English contractual law did not see a dramatic overhaul in 2023, parties to commercial contracts should still be aware of a number of cases in 2023 that tweaked, clarified or confirmed areas...more
IN BRIEF - Following a year's 'grace' to allow businesses to be prepared, changes to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act), which commenced on 9...more
The High Court has granted summary judgment on the basis that a claim for breach of various general contractual obligations were subject to an effective exclusion clause. The clause was also not subject to the...more
If you cancel a service before your contract is up and you paid ahead of time, you probably expect a refund. For example, if you paid $600 for a year's worth of a service and cancelled nine months into the contract, you...more
Introduction - The Trading Standards (Fair Trading) (Guernsey) Ordinance, 2023 (the "Trading Standards Ordinance") is due to come into force on 2 October 2023. From this date, businesses in Guernsey will be subject to...more
On June 13, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra provided the CFPB’s semiannual report to Congress, which included concerns about predatory house-flipping practices by companies like HomeVestors....more
The decision of the High Court of England and Wales in Parker-Grennan v. Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is a helpful case study in how to host a consumer-facing website. It is surprising, given how much care and attention is...more
Many Australian businesses have determined the upcoming changes to the unfair contracts regime to be a low risk on the basis that they do not deal directly with consumers or that the businesses they deal with are not...more
In the recent decision of the UK Patents Court in Oxford University Innovation v Oxford Nanoimaging Limited [2022] EWHC 3200 (Pat), the Court was asked to consider whether UK legislation protecting consumers from unfair...more
A recent case (Last Bus Ltd (trading as Dublin Coach) v Dawsongroup Bus and Coach Ltd [2022]) has provided a useful reminder of the circumstances in which commercial parties may exclude statutory implied terms, as well as...more
Australia has significantly increased penalties for competition and consumer law breaches and also expanded the scope of the law that prohibits unfair contract terms ("UCT")....more
This briefing is the second in a series of briefings by Walkers’ on the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022 (the “LCFL”), and provides an overview of the licensing regime applicable to consumer...more
Welcome to Banking Bites! This is our short summary flagging key developments in the UK that we hope will inform your activities in your market....more
FTC Chair Lina Khan submitted a comment letter in support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposed rule on transparency in poultry grower contracting and tournaments, which would require poultry corporations to...more
IN BRIEF - The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft legislation and Explanatory Materials for an anticipated suite of reforms to unfair contract terms (UCT) laws found in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” Notably, the order encourages the FTC to promulgate rules to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and...more
Businesses are reminded to review their customer terms and conditions ahead of the impending changes to the Australian Consumer Law and unfair contract term regime, and ensure all internal policies are up to date....more
On 1 December 2020, the prohibition of unfair terms in B2B contracts imposed by the law of 21 March 2019, will enter into force. From now on, any contractual terms creating a manifest imbalance between the rights and...more
A gasoline franchisee defeated a motion to dismiss brought by its franchisor, seeking to avoid a claim under the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA). In 2018, Global Companies (Global) sent the franchisee a...more