Law360: A legal battle between rival developers of coronavirus (COVID-19) jabs over the technology underlying the vaccine could set the tone for future litigation, as intellectual property lawyers expect a pledge made by Moderna at the height of the pandemic to dominate proceedings.

This Q&A assumes that the third national lockdown that applies from 6 January 2021, applies. For further information, see: • The Cabinet Office guidance: National lockdown: Stay at Home • Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—national lockdown restrictions 6 January to 28 March 2021 [Archived] There are a number of issues for the employer to consider when deciding how to deal with this situation, including: • what level of national or local restriction applies • the nature of the workplace, and whether any restrictions on opening apply • the nature of the employee’s work, including whether there is scope for the employee to work from home or for alternative arrangements to be made • the nature of the employee’s concerns, including whether the employer has met its health and safety duties • the employee’s circumstances, including: ◦ whether they are disabled and therefore entitled to the protection afforded by the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) ◦ whether

As a result of measures to slow down the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), many countries including the UK are in lockdown. For employees, this often means that travel to and from work has been restricted so that only those who cannot work remotely are allowed to travel to work and then only where travelling to work is absolutely necessary—for instance, key workers like healthcare staff. Consequently, many employees are working remotely, whether from their home or from another country in which they find themselves during a lockdown. Some employers chose to require their employees to work from home even before any lockdown was announced. Employees who are perhaps seconded to other countries badly affected by the virus may already have relocated back to their home or may wish to do so, or may have been requested to do so by their employers. These scenarios may give rise to potential tax issues. Where an employee

Law360: A Lloyd's of London syndicate has sued several underwriters and insurance companies for at least US$90m to recover losses it claimed it incurred when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shuttered venues across the US and UK.

Law360: A pub landlord and seven other business owners have failed to prove that a case of coronavirus (COVID-19) occurred at each of their premises and caused its closure, therefore justifying insurance cover, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE has said.

The cirumstances created by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic raise particular challenges for the creation of lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) due to their strict execution requirements, with the donor, their certificate provider(s) and each attorney and replacement attorney being required to sign the LPA form in the presence of a witness. For detailed guidance on LPA execution formalities, see Practice Note: Creating a valid LPA—Execution requirements. The creation of electronic LPAs has been the subject of much discussion and consultation over the years. The 2013 Ministry of Justice consultation Transforming the Services of the Office of the Public Guardian—enabling Digital by Default stated that it was the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG’s) ambition to deliver a fully digital process for making and registering an LPA, where the whole process could be completed online, removing the need for paper forms. However, these proposals received strong criticism from leading professional bodies and the consultation was consequently

In order to minimise the medium- and long-term economic impacts of the efforts taken to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, EU Member States have implemented a broad range of support measures. These measures include, in many instances, some forms of moratorium on payments of credit obligations, with the aim of supporting the short-term operational and liquidity challenges faced by borrowers. In the UK, lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have taken measures to support both consumers and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. The FCA has published temporary guidance designed to enable firms to act quickly to deliver immediate and temporary support to their customers, at unprecedented scale, as the coronavirus and the government’s response to it evolves. This temporary support is designed to help consumers bridge the crisis and get back on their feet. This Practice Note covers the temporary guidance issued by the FCA setting out how it expects firms to support consumer credit, overdraft and mortgage customers who are facing temporary payment difficulties because of the exceptional

The response of the courts to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been patchy and confused. The position changes from day-to-day as to whether hearings should go ahead, whether they should be in person, and whether non-urgent cases should simply be adjourned or conducted remotely. At the time of writing the guidance suggests that where cases can be heard remotely, they will be—see: Coronavirus (COVID-19)-Civil and Family Courts guidance from Lord Chief Justice—LNB News 19/03/2020 93, and Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Guidance on telephone and video hearings updated—LNB News 19/03/2020 18, but the ability of the various court buildings to provide for this is highly questionable. In ongoing litigation there will be circumstances where a hearing is required within a particular time—for example an application to adduce expert evidence will be required

Guidance has not yet been published for insolvency practitioners in relation to physical company voluntary arrangement (CVA) meetings.  However, it is highly unlikely a CVA meeting will be required to be held in person by the insolvency practitioner due to the government’s guidance on social distancing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Therefore, meetings are likely to be held virtually in accordance with the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024, r 15.5. However, if creditors do request a physical meeting, the meeting may be significantly delayed until such time the government relaxes the social distancing rules. Coronavirus is having a significant impact on many businesses and is unfortunately leading to many being at risk of insolvency. There is likely to be a rise in CVAs due to coronavirus. It is therefore essential for CVA meetings to be held so that directors

We have assumed that the clause in question is included in a business to business contract. You may find the following materials useful: • Practice Note: Force majeure—consequences and contract discharge which has been updated to reflect the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The section ‘Force majeure clauses—interpretation’ considers how definitions of force majeure are interpreted by the courts • Q&As:

When addressing this question, it will be relevant to consider: • current public health guidance • the nature of the duty to make reasonable adjustments • what adjustments are required • the question of furlough as a reasonable adjustment Public health guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable individuals to shield during the coronavirus pandemic Under the national lockdown restrictions that apply in England from 5 November–2 December 2020, individuals who have been identified as clinically extremely vulnerable have been strongly advised to shield, ie: • to work from home, and • if they cannot work from home, not to attend work while the lockdown restrictions are in place Those who cannot work from home may, subject to eligibility, be able to claim Statutory

In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the government’s guidance relating to social distancing and staying at home, HMRC has relaxed its rules relating to conditionally exempt property. Heritage property usually open to the public Where the owner of a heritage property was not able to open to the public for a sufficient number of days in 2020, HMRC will not consider that the terms of conditional exemption have been broken, even if it means that some of the period covered by the agreement is missed or the property was not open at all in 2020. HMRC initially indicated that it would expect the property to be open later in 2020 to make up for any lost days, if possible. However, if this was not possible, additional open days in 2021 would not be expected to make up for missed days in 2020. The guidance was updated in December 2020 to confirm that the terms of conditional