Publications and News

ALFA International is pleased to share that active ALFAI member, Nora Loftus, is a recipient of the 2020 Women of Professional Excellence Award from the YMCA Greater Cleveland. This award represents exceptional character, professional performance and commitment to the community. Congratulations to Nora and the other distinguished women in northeast Ohio.

ALFA International member firm, Dean, Mead, Egerton, Bloodworth, Capouano & Bozarth, P.A., announced the appointment of Brad Gould, a shareholder in the firm’s Stuart and Fort Pierce offices, as chair of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) S Corporations Committee for 2020-2022, effective today.

Raheel Kohli, Partner, at ALFA International member firm, Kochhar & Co.'s Delhi office is speaking at the upcoming annual conference on “Solar Power in India” being organized by Renewable Watch, to be held on July 2-3, 2020. The conference will be conducted on a virtual platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish Raheel the best of luck, as he will be making a presentation on “Contract Sanctity: Legal And Institutional Challenges."

In view of the crisis that COVID-19 has generated, during the term of the state of alarm in Spain, regulations have been enacted to ensure that companies can comply reasonably and on time with their formal and transparency obligations. This exceptional regime is maintained after lifting the state of alarm. In this summary, Buigas will review the main aspects affecting non-listed companies, considering that some of them are interpretations of the regulations, such as some institutions have made.

As the COVID-19 threat lingers and businesses look for ways to protect their employees, there has been a lot of talk about contact tracing in the workplace. As the name suggests, contact tracing is a process of determining who an infected individual has had contact with and possibly exposed to a disease. This is not a new process and in the past has been done by interviewing people to create lists of exposed individuals who could be warned or isolated. With modern technology, there are a lot more options, some of which employers are considering using in the workplace. KMK Law's article discusses the issues to consider if tracking technologies are utilized in the workplace.

The development of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to create unprecedented contractual and other legal challenges. In response, Şengüler & Şengüler has created a newsletter to advise on the issues businesses are facing in Turkey.

Retail businesses and restaurants have been devastated by stay-at-home orders intended to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. As restrictions begin to loosen, businesses have more freedom to open their doors, but in doing so, face the risk of lawsuits brought by employees or customers who allege that they were exposed to COVID-19. Public nuisance has struggled to gain a foothold as a cause of action in other contexts and will face significant hurdles here as well, especially for businesses taking reasonable steps to protect employee and customer safety. Nilan Johnson Lewis discusses how these claims could pose a serious threat as businesses seek to navigate the “new normal.”

Business owners are facing decisions most never anticipated. Legal directives are not the only factor holding back the economy. Everyone is eager to see workplaces return to normal operations. At the same time, no business wants to put its workers and customers in danger. Though rarely contemplated in the past, potential legal liability for spreading disease should be in the forefront of a merchant’s decision to reopen. Major players such as Amazon and McDonald’s have already been the target of lawsuits alleging that they were a vector for illness. Nilan Johnson Lewis' article discusses what a plaintiff would have to prove in order to win a take-home case.

KMK Law provides an overview of the IRS' issued Notice 2020-50, which provides guidance for plan sponsors and participants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”).The CARES Act contains provisions allowing plan participants who are “qualified individuals” to take coronavirus related distributions and loans.

Kochhar & Co. attorneys wrote an article that was published in the Indian Business Law Journal that discusses how the spread of COVID-19 has raised multiple questions with respect to performance of commercial contracts, across the globe. While some contracts have witnessed the erosion of their foundation, others have been rendered difficult, even possible, to be performed. The article deals and will provide an insight to the Japanese corporations on the Indian law on force majeure and doctrine of frustration of contracts, including how, and in what circumstances, can parties invoke either of them. The article discusses the mitigation measures that parties may adopt as a preventive strategy. It concludes with recommendations with respect to the procedural requirements and best practices to be implemented at the stage of invocation of either force majeure or the doctrine of frustration of contract.

ALFA International member firm DSM Avocats à la Cour announced the promotions of three attorneys and one staff member on June 1, 2020. We wish them luck in their new roles.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are various implications for the immigration world, including for those already in Canada, as well as those looking to travel to, or return to Canada, from abroad. In particular, there are travel restrictions in place for land and air travel, which will particularly impact foreign nationals that may wish to enter Canada for work or similar purposes. Stewart McKelvey provides an overview of current travel restrictions and other related immigration issues. Last updated on June 24, 2020.