Our legal experts will keep you up to date on all relevant and current developments.
The business interruption test case in the NSW Court of Appeal has resulted in a decision favouring policyholders, rather than insurers.
This test case has awakened insurers to the importance of obtaining regular legal advice in order to stay up to date with all relevant (and potentially problematic) legislative changes.
In the latest episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy is joined by Holman Webb Workplace Relations Partner Alicia Mataere and General Insurance Partner Lucy Rooney to discuss recent changes to the Work, Health and Safety Act and what those changes mean both for corporates and individuals.
In a decision of the NSW Supreme Court given on 26 November 2020, the Court has found that AFCA has no jurisdiction to determine a dispute against an AFSL holder where the complaint arises from the conduct of its representative allegedly acting outside their authority.
The matter of Danbol Pty Ltd v Swiss Re International Se [2020] VSC 23 was originally heard before the Victorian Supreme Court in February 2020. The matter was subsequently appealed and dismissed in November 2020.
The decisions emphasise the importance of a clear and unequivocal acceptance of an offer before an insurance contract will be considered binding.
Virtual meeting platforms have seen user numbers increase substantially since the end of 2019. Services such as Microsoft Teams, Skype and Zoom have become an increasingly utilised tool as a large number of businesses have directed employees to work from home during the various COVID-19 lockdowns.
When utilising services such as Skype or Zoom, businesses need to be aware of their terms and conditions, particularly what they say about intellectual property relating to content being presented through the platforms.
On 24 April 2020, the NSW Government enacted the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2020 to implement the Lease Code of Conduct.
The Regulation applied for a period of six-months, ending on 24 October 2020 - on which date the NSW Government extended the protections for eligible tenants to 31 December 2020.
Congratulations to four Partners and one Special Counsel, who have each been included in recently published Doyle's Guide 2020 lists, including:
In addition, Holman Webb is the only firm listed in the Doyle's Guide 'First Tier' category, on the recently published Leading Dust Diseases Law Firms (Defendant) – Queensland list. Similarly, Holman Webb is listed in the 'Leading' category for Leading Dust Diseases Law Firms (Defendant) – South Australia.
Over the years, rights holders have tried several different creative ways to identify and prosecute copyright infringers using the internet. One way of doing that is to compel the potential infringer's internet service provider to produce relevant information through preliminary discovery.
The recent decision of Siemens Industry Software Inc v Telstra Corp Ltd is an example of how copyright owners, especially those whose rights are valuable on a "per copy" basis, can use preliminary discovery to find the missing puzzle piece from ISPs.
HealthEngine, an online booking engine and review platform for medical practises has been hit with a $2.9M fine for sharing the non-clinical personal information of 135,000 patients.
Revenge of the Zombies is a 1943 horror film in which zombies exact revenge on their mad scientist creator.
Although there are not many mad scientists on the scene in 2020, there are many zombie companies which, if subject to liquidation, are likely to create an influx of preference claims being brought by liquidators and which will cause grief to credit managers in the coming months and years.