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Foreign Legal Opinion
A foreign legal opinion (or foreign law opinion) is an opinion of a law firm issued in cross-border commercial transactions certifying the effectiveness of the transaction under the applicable foreign law. Foreign legal opinions have become highly standardised over time, and most foreign legal opinions follow a fairly regimented format. The issuance of such opinions has become something of a sub-legal specialisation in itself, and books and articles are written on the subject of foreign legal opinions. A number of organisations issue template format opinions to indicate issues which are intended to be covered by such opinions, or standard form checklists for contents. Purpose The original purpose of foreign legal opinion is grounded in the historical doctrine of ''ultra vires''. The concern was that when doing business with a corporation formed in a foreign country, proper due diligence required that a legal opinion be sought to ensure that the relevant foreign company had the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought. Arrangements Law firms are organized in a variety of ways, depending on the jurisdiction in which the firm practices. Common arrangements include: * Sole proprietorship, in which the attorney ''is'' the law firm and is responsible for all profit, loss and liability; * General partnership, in which all the attorneys who are members of the firm share ownership, profits and liabilities; * Professional corporations, which issue stock to the attorneys in a fashion similar to that of a business corporation; * Limited liability company, in which the attorney-owners are called "members" but are not direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovereign Immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. A similar, stronger rule as regards foreign courts is named state immunity. History Sovereign immunity is the original forebear of state immunity based on the classical concept of sovereignty in the sense that a sovereign could not be subjected without his or her approval to the jurisdiction of another. In constitutional monarchies, the sovereign is the historical origin of the authority which creates the courts. Thus the courts had no power to compel the sovereign to be bound by them as they were created by the sovereign for the protection of his or her subjects. This rule was commonly expressed by the popular legal maxim ''rex non potest peccare'', meaning "the king can do no wrong". Forms There are two forms of sovereign immunity: * immunity from suit ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Opinion
In law, a legal opinion is in certain jurisdictions a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling. Opinions are in those jurisdictions usually published at the direction of the court, and to the extent, they contain pronouncements about what the law is and how it should be interpreted, they reinforce, change, establish, or overturn legal precedent. If a court decides that an opinion should be published, the opinion may be included in a volume from a series of books called law reports ('reporters' in the United States). Published opinions of courts are also collectively referred to as case law, and constitute in the common law legal systems one of the major sources of law. Memorandum opinion Not every case decided by a higher court results in the publication of an opinion; in fact many cases do not, since an opinion is often published only when the law is being int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lex Causae
In conflict of laws, the term ''lex loci'' (Latin for "the law of the place") is a shorthand version of the choice of law rules that determine the ''lex causae'' (the laws chosen to decide a case).''Black's Law Dictionary'' abridged Sixth Edition (1991), p. 630. General principles When a case comes before a court, if the main features of the case (particularly the parties and the causes of action) are local, the court will then apply the ''lex fori'', the prevailing municipal law, to decide the case. However, if there are "foreign" elements to the case, the court may then be obliged, under conflict of laws, to consider whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case (see forum shopping). The court must then characterise the issues to allocate the factual basis of the case to its relevant legal classes. The court may then be required to apply the choice of law rules to decide the ''lex causae'', the law to be applied to each cause of action. Relevant rules include the following. ''Lex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conflict Of Laws
Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad topics: ''jurisdiction'', rules regarding when it is appropriate for a court to hear such a case; ''foreign judgments'', dealing with the rules by which a court in one jurisdiction mandates compliance with a ruling of a court in another jurisdiction; and ''choice of law'', which addresses the question of which substantive laws will be applied in such a case. These issues can arise in any private-law context, but they are especially prevalent in contract law and tort law. Scope and terminology The term ''conflict of laws'' is primarily used in the United States and Canada, though it has also come into use in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the term ''private international law'' is commonly used. Some scholars from countries that use ''con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limitation Period
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In most jurisdictions, such periods exist for both criminal law and civil law such as contract law and property law, though often under different names and with varying details. When the time which is specified in a statute of limitations runs out, a claim might no longer be filed or, if it is filed, it may be subject to dismissal if the defense against that claim is raised that the claim is time-barred as having been filed after the statutory limitations period. When a statute of limitations expires in a criminal case, the courts no longer have jurisdiction. Most common crimes that have statutes of limitations are distinguished from particularly serious crimes because the latter claims may be brought at any time. In civil law systems, su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public policy can be considered to be the sum of government direct and indirect activities and has been conceptualized in a variety of ways. They are created and/or enacted on behalf of the public typically by a government. Sometimes they are made by nonprofit organisations or are made in co-production with communities or citizens, which can include potential experts, scientists, engineers and stakeholders or scientific data, or sometimes use some of their results. They are typically made by policy-makers affiliated with (in democratic polities) currently elected politicians. Therefore, the "policy process is a complex political process in which there are many actors: elected politicians, political party leaders, pressure groups, civil servants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurisdiction Clause
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jurisdiction draws its substance from international law, conflict of laws, constitutional law, and the powers of the executive and legislative branches of government to allocate resources to best serve the needs of society. International dimension Generally, international laws and treaties provide agreements which nations agree to be bound to. Such agreements are not always established or maintained. The exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction by three principles outlined in the UN charter. These are equality of states, territorial sovereignty and non-intervention. This raises the question of when can many states prescribe or enforce jurisdiction. The ''Lotus'' case establishes two key rules to the prescription and enforcement o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Choice Of Law Clause
A choice of law clause or proper law clause is a term of a contract in which the parties specify that any dispute arising under the contract shall be determined in accordance with the law of a particular jurisdiction. An example is "This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of the State of New York." A choice of law clause may be combined with a forum selection clause. The combined clause would include the choice of law that is to govern any dispute arising under the agreement, and the choice of forum where disputes will be heard. Once implemented, a choice of law clause will generally be upheld by the court, so long as it is bona fide, legal, and not contrary to public policy. Explanation Choice of law clauses provide certainty about the law to be applied should a contractual dispute arise. As business transactions and contractual obligations may cross jurisdictional borders within a nation, as well as international borders, both physically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arbitral Award
An arbitration award (or arbitral award) is a determination on the merits by an arbitration tribunal in an arbitration, and is analogous to a judgment in a court of law. It is referred to as an 'award' even where all of the claimant's claims fail (and thus no money needs to be paid by either party), or the award is of a non-monetary nature. Damages and other remedies Although arbitration awards are characteristically an award of damages against a party, tribunals usually have a range of remedies that can form a part of the award. #the tribunal may order the payment of a sum of money (conventional damages) #the tribunal may make a "declaration" as to any matter to be determined in the proceedings #in most jurisdictions, the tribunal has the same power as a court to: ##order a party to do or refrain from doing something ("injunctive relief") ##to order specific performance of a contract ##to order the rectification, setting aside or cancellation of a deed or other document. Enfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company Seal
A company seal (sometimes referred to as the corporate seal or common seal) is an official seal used by a company. Company seals were predominantly used by companies in common law jurisdictions, although in modern times, most countries have done away with the use of seals. In the UK, a company may have a company seal under the provisions of Companies Act 2006 section 45. It may have further seals for other territories and for issuing securities. These seals have the additional legend of the territory or the word SECURITIES. A company may wish still to seal documents as a means of protection against forgery. Traditionally, the seal was of some legal significance because the affixing of the seal signified that the document was the act and deed of the company, whereas when a document was merely signed by a director, then that was deemed to be an act carried out on behalf of the company by its agents, which was subject to applicable restrictions and limitations under the ordinary law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
