Annual Review of English Construction Law Developments May 2017 An international perspective CMS_LawTax_CMYK_28-100.eps Contents 3 Introduction 5 The interpretation of exclusion and limitation clauses: clarity restored 9 Good faith in the exercise of termination rights 13 Concurrent delay: recent developments and continued uncertainty 19 Contractual warranties and representations: telling the difference 23 On demand securities: the fraud exception in cases of legal uncertainty 31 On-demand securities: compliance with formalities and the doctrine of strict performance 37 Indirect and consequ

Last year we reported on a decision of the Scottish Court of Session which suggested that greater leniency may apply to the interpretation of performance bonds in Scotland than in England (see our earlier Law-Now here). A further decision from the Court of Session issued last month would appear to support this trend.

Fife Council v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc

Reduced Liquidity—How Will Oil Companies Feel the Pinch?

The mainstream media have been trying to predict, on almost a daily basis, the causes of, and the winners and losers (mostly focused on the latter category) resulting from, the current volatility in oil and gas prices.

Bankruptcy

At the risk of stating the obvious, the collapse of oil and gas prices in the last several quarters has had a profound impact on the industry. Some E & P companies have been able to weather this storm, but other have not been so fortunate. In the time between 2014 and September 14, 2016, 102 oil and gas producers with cumulative debts of over $67 billion, 13 midstream companies with cumulative debts of over $17 billion and 132 oilfield service companies with cumulative debts of over $14 billion have filed bankruptcy petitions.

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) submitted by the Senate and President Trump just signed the bill. The bill provides for $2.2 trillion in emergency aid to ease the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

This post provides a quick primer on the administrative expense claims. These claims are entitled to priority for actual and necessary goods and services supplied to a debtor in bankruptcy. For a claim to qualify for administrative expense status, a debtor must request that the claimant provide goods and services post-petition or induce the claimant to do so. The goods or services must result in a benefit to the bankruptcy estate. And the claimant bears the burden of proof that a claim qualifies for priority treatment under 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(1)(A).

On January 14, 2019, facing “billions of dollars in liability claims from two years of deadly wildfires,”[i] PG&E Corporation and its regulated utility subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, reported that they expect to file petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California on or about January 29, 2019.

Perhaps this is one of the first articles you’re reading about the debt crisis in Venezuela. It won’t be the last. The situation there is bad and will get worse.

The Bottom Line