UABA News Blog - In English

In this issue:
1. On amendments to the Ukrainian law “On joint stock companies” with regard to improving the operation mechanism of joint stock companies.
2. On amendments to the Regulation on the procedure for granting licenses to nonbank financial institutions and the national postal service operator to perform currency operations.
3. On amendments to the Regulation on the functioning of stock exchanges.
4. On the use of CIS member countries’ national currencies as settlement currencies.
Salans Law Firm, Kyiv
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The very large Wal-Mart class action lawsuit is going to the US Supreme Court for review this week.  See CBS news report. The class involves 500,000 to 1.6 million potential plaintiffs. The suit alleges discrimination against women. The suit was initially filed ten years ago in California.  It was most recently the subject of an appeal at the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California.  Wal-Mart claims the class involves too many women in too many different positions at Wal-Mart.  If the members of the class are too different, then the class action fails.  The case is said to be the largest employment discrimination case ever.   Betty Dukes, Et Al v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Read More at San Antonio Employment  Law Blog 

According to recent industry surveys, media coverage, and law firm reports, in response to client demands for greater predictability and the need to manage legal costs more effectively, law firms are displaying significantly increased enthusiasm for and use of alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) in both litigation and transactional matters. For an Analysis of various legal fee strategies, see article by ZG Alert.

The Internet age has changed the way that people look for lawyers, as fewer would-be clients rely on the Yellow Pages and more indicate an interest in innovative websites. Research in the late 1980s and 1990 indicated that between 13 percent and 34 percent of adults relied on print directories to find lawyers, according to a report (PDF) by the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. Now only 8 percent of adults polled say they would use the Yellow Pages and other directories as the primary way to find a lawyer.  Read Full article at ABA Law Journal

On 4 November 2010, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a restatement (the "Restatement") of the Enforcement Procedure Law (the "Law") that became effective on 9 March 2011. The Restatement aims at improvement of enforcement of court decisions and cures inconsistencies in the Law.
The Restatement is expected to establish a more efficient and less time-consuming collection procedure as well as limiting the evasive strategies of debtors.
Background
The economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 sharply increased the amount of delinquent debt to be collected by the state enforcement authorities. This exacerbated existing problems in the legislation governing enforcement procedure.
Such legislation, adopted in the late 1990s, had become outdated. There were a number of inconsistencies giving the chance for debtors to misuse their rights, and delay or avoid payment completely. The Law contained inaccurate wording that delayed effective collection. Also, certain provisions of the Law did not comport with other applicable legislation.
Due to rather nominal liability for enforcement evasion, debt collection extensively relied on response of the debtor and his cooperation in collecting information about his assets. At the same time, the debtor could trigger a lengthy procedure of challenging actions of a state enforcer.
Innovations
1. The Restatement limits the right to contest actions of the state enforcer. Under the Restatement, the debtor cannot challenge enforcement actions within the State Enforcement Service itself. If the debtor intends to challenge an enforcement action, he must bring a court action.
2. The Restatement explicitly allows enforcers to attach funds in bank accounts opened during enforcement procedures, thus, limiting concealment of the debtor's assets. In addition, the Restatement allows attachment of bank accounts in foreign currencies if the debt should be paid in a foreign currency. Unlike before, upon collecting funds from such foreign currency accounts, the state enforcer will be able to wire them to the creditor's bank account without conversion of the funds into Ukrainian currency.
3. It is expected that searching for the debtor's assets will take significantly less time. State enforcers will be authorized to have direct access to the state electronic registries containing information about the debtor's assets. According to the Restatement, state enforcers will be able to request confidential data about the debtor.
4. The Restatement provides for inspection of the debtor's financial status if the enforcement is suspended, that may help control the debtor's assets.
5. The Restatement improves procedure for pre-sale pricing of the debtor's assets and engages creditors and debtors into the valuation process.
6. The Restatement extends powers of the state enforcer and increases administrative and criminal liability of debtors for failure to comply with court orders. Consequently, the Restatement comported the enforcement procedure to civil, criminal, commercial and administrative proceedings as well as amended the Banking Law and the Payment Systems Law.

Asters Law Firm , Kyiv

For further information please contact
Vadym Samoilenko  Partner  vadym.samoilenko@asterslaw.com
Oleksandr Mozheiko  Associate  oleksandr.mozheiko@asterslaw.com

 

 

Jobless law grads may have some misgivings about their career choice, but it’s still a good gig for women who want to earn big bucks, according to a magazine’s analysis of Labor Department statistics.
     Forbes magazine ranked the 10 best-paying jobs for women based on 2009 statistics on full-time, salaried employees. Salaried women lawyers earned an annual median of $75,500 in 2009undefineda paycheck that nonetheless amounted to only 75 percent of the earnings of male lawyers.
Read More ABA Law Journal

Applications to start law school in the United States in the fall of 2011 have dropped 11.5 percent since last year and are on target to hit the lowest level in a decade, according to data provided by the Law School Admission Council Inc.
Read More ABA Law Journal

On 2 March 2011, the Law of Ukraine on improving the regulation of joint stock companies, dated 3 February 2011 No.2994-VI (the "New Law") was officially published and became effective (except for certain provisions which shall enter into force as of 1 January 2012). It makes significant amendments to the Law of Ukraine on joint stock companies (the "JSC Law") and is ultimately aimed at further developing existing legislative provisions on joint stock companies, enhancing protection of rights and interests of shareholders, creating new impediments to raider attacks, and solving problems and curing irregularities arising in the corporate governance area upon implementation of the JSC Law.
Read More at Asters Law Firm, Kyiv

Chairman of the Supreme Court Vasyl Onopenko remains at his post. The decision was taken by voting on confidence in Onopenko at a plenary meeting of the Supreme Court.
Ukrainian Radio Read More
Ukrainian TV Station TCH View Press Conference