Financial Ombudsman Service compensation limit increased again – by more than 10%

The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed last month that the limit for compensation that can be awarded by the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) will be raised from £375,000 to £415,000, for complaints made after 1 April 2023 relating to acts or omissions on or after 1 April 2019 – an increase of over 10%.

A lower limit of £190,000 applies to any complaints made from 1 April 2023 relating to events that occurred prior to 1 April 2019 – again an … Read the rest

District of Utah Recognizes Product Liability “Big Three”

When this blogger thinks about the “Big Three” her mind goes to This is Us – Kevin, Kate and Randall.  Admittedly, that’s not the only “Big Three.”  Most people probably go to Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union in World War II.  But that alliance certainly was shorter than the Pearsons.  Now, if you want longevity, ABC, CBS, and NBC are referred to as the Big Three in traditional broadcast television.  Being the Big Three prior … Read the rest

Shameless Plug: Reed Smith team authors product liability chapter for digital health law guide

As our loyal readers know, the blog has been keeping a close eye on plaintiffs’ efforts to apply product liability law to software . This is of course an area of keen interest to medical device, software, and tech companies active or entering the digital health space.

The blog’s own Eric Alexander, with Reed Smith co-authors Gerry Stegmaier, Jamie Lanphear, and Michael Rubayo, has now written a very thorough chapter on this subject for the International Comparative Legal Guides’ fourth … Read the rest

Consumer Expectations Test Cannot Save Design Defect Claim from Preemption

When we see a court dismiss a pharma product liability case on preemption grounds, we simply have to write about it.  Otherwise, we’d be required to turn in our bar card, our defense hack card, and our friendly neighborhood DDL blogger card.  

In Polson v. AstraZeneca Ltd. Partnership,  2023 WL 2770687 (D.Conn. April 4, 2023), the plaintiff had taken medicine to address constipation caused by opioid pain treatments. She alleged that the anti-constipation medicine caused her to suffer life threatening … Read the rest

Dealing with investor’s veto rights for startups

Any sensible investor would want to minimise their downside risks when making an investment especially in a risky asset class portfolio such as when investing in an early stage startup. The common way on how this may be achieved is by inclusion of veto rights over certain major company actions.

With the exceptions to angels, families and friends, most financial investors (i.e. people that spend their full time daily as an investor) such as corporates and venture capitals will want … Read the rest

Our top 6 Planning Law takeaways for 2022 – Part 5: Retained EU Law Repeal Bill

In the fifth of our blogs on recent developments in planning law , we turn our attention to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 introduced by Jacob Rees-Mogg at the height of the Truss premiership in September 2022. 

Described by Professor Michael Zander KC as “one of the worst pieces of legislation I can remember in some 60 years of following the law-making process“, the Bill seeks to deliver on the Brexit promise of taking … Read the rest

On icy ground: Kamila Valieva and the challenge of pleading “no fault or negligence” in anti-doping cases

Introduction

On 21 February 2023, the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”) issued a statement confirming that it was appealing the decision of the disciplinary tribunal of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (“RUSADA”) in the case of Kamila Valieva to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”). Although the full decision has not been published, the RUSADA tribunal found that the teenage figure skater bore ‘no fault or negligence’ (“NFON”) in testing positive for a … Read the rest

Are you surprised to learn that the DOD has had more than 12,000 cyber attacks since 2015

BankInfoSecurity.com reported that in a US Senate hearing that “The Government Accountability Office in November reported the DOD had experienced more than 12,000 cyber incidents since 2015, although the annual rate of detected attacks has been declining.” The March 29, 2023 report entitled “Pentagon Doubles Down on Zero Trust” (https://tinyurl.com/yhne56xc) also included these comments from Department of Defense CIO John B. Sherman in testimony before the Senate Armed Forces Committee’s Cybersecurity Subcommittee:

We’ve committed to implementing zero trust across the … Read the rest