Law Faculty News: Owens Leads Legal Workshop for New Bedford Entrepreneurs

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Law Faculty News Professor Owens led a workshop to help local New Bedford entrepreneurs with the legal challenges of starting a business. UMass Law Visiting Professor Lisa Owens led a workshop focused on legal challenges for startups and entrepreneurs who are part of the New Bedford Economic Developmental Council (NBEDC)’s NB100. NBEDC’s mission is to focus on local business growth and competitive advantage, offering entrepreneur support and grants and loan programs to provide assistance to new businesses in the South Coast region. This was the first in a series of workshops led by Professor Owens for the NBEDC.…
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Money, Bills & Who Pays The Mortgage After Separation?

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In Australia, family law dictates some important timelines to be aware of. If you have been in a de facto relationship, you have two years from the date of separation to finalize your financial settlement (also known as a property settlement). If you have been married, you have one year from the date your divorce has been granted (a divorce can only be applied for 1 year after the date of separation). This illustrates how easy the timelines for people to separate financially can expand considerably. This is why reaching an agreement is important. And not just an informal agreement…
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Lawmakers say UK’s planned law to deport Channel migrants breaches rights obligations

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LONDON (AP) — A committee of British lawmakers said Sunday that the UK will break its international human rights commitments if it goes through with government plans to detain and deport people who cross the English Channel in small boats. Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights said the Illegal Migration Bill “breaches a number of the UK’s international human rights obligations and risks breaching others.” Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the law would leave most refugees and victims of modern slavery with no way of seeking asylum in Britain. “By treating victims of modern…
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‘Devastating’: Transgender adults forced to flee Florida as law strips their health care

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The debate surrounding Florida’s new restrictions on gender-affirming care focused largely on transgender children. But a new law that Republican presidential candidate and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last month also made it difficult — even impossible — for many transgender adults to get treatment. Eli and Lucas, trans men who are a couple, followed the discussions in the Legislature, where Democrats warned that trans children would be more prone to suicide under a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and Republicans responded with misplaced tales of mutilated kids. Eli said he and his partner felt “blindsided” when…
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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson tells law students ‘Survivor’ offers helpful lessons

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Jackson, the court’s first Black female justice, is coming to the end of her first term on the court. The justices are done hearing arguments for the term and are expected to issue all their remaining opinions by the end of June before going on summer break. Major decisions on affirmative action and President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have yet to be announced. In her address, Jackson described “Survivor,” in which contestants are deposited in a remote tropical location and undertake challenges in the hopes of ultimately winning $1 million, as “great fun to watch.” But she also…
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Foreign lawyers are restricted from working on national security cases in Hong Kong – National

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Hong Kong’s legislature passed a legal amendment on Wednesday to prevent foreign lawyers working on national security cases, a restriction critics say will undermine fair trials and the right of defendants to choose their lawyers. The amendment enshrines in law a ruling from China’s top lawmaking body last December that Hong Kong courts must get the approval of the city’s leader before admitting a foreign lawyer without Hong Kong qualifications for national security cases. The use of foreign lawyers by both prosecutors and defense has long been part of the rule of law traditions in the former British colony and…
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Highly-awaited bail reform legislation will come by late June: minister – National

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The Liberal government will table legislation that includes reforms to Canada’s bail laws before the House of Commons rises for the summer, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says. Asked by Mercedes Stephenson about a timeline for the proposed reforms during an interview on The West Block that aired Sunday, Mendicino said there would be an announcement “in the not-too-distant future” that would address not just good but other investments to law enforcement. “The short answer is yes,” he said when asked directly if legislation would come before the end of the spring legislative session, which is currently scheduled to end…
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CJEU Paves the way for Red-Soled Heels to Widen the Scope of Liability of E-Commerce Platforms

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A recent preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in the joint case (C-148/21 and C-184/21) between a luxury fashion brand known for its signature red-soled heels Christian Louboutins and an e-commerce giant Amazons might mark a start of an era of increased accountability of marketplaces in relation to listings of third parties they accommodate on their platforms. The ruling, which is a divergence from prior cases and the Advocate General’s opinion in the case, will likely be seen as good news for brand owners, particularly in the luxury space, and how e-commerce platforms respond…
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