FLORIDA LAWMAKERS TO REVIEW LAW TARGETING INJURED UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS

The second-highest ranking member of the Florida Senate pledged a legislative review of a state law that has allowed injured undocumented workers to be arrested and potentially deported rather than paid workers' compensation benefits. "Legitimate injuries shouldn't be denied just because the person was an undocumented immigrant," said Republican Sen. Anitere Flores, the president pro tempore of the state Senate and chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee. "One needs to balance the going after fraudulent claims," she said,"with not overcompensating and then denying claims to those individuals who have

'CORPORATE MERCENARIES': TRUMP-ALLIED FIRM SLAMMED FOR $1 BILLION SUIT AGAINST WATER PROTECTORS

In what environmental justice groups are characterizing as legal harassment by "corporate mercenaries," the company that owns the contested Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace, Earth First!, BankTrack, and individuals who oppposed and protested the pipeline, claiming over $300 million in damages. Greenpeace general counsel Tom Wetterer said the "meritless lawsuit" is "not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation." DAPL developer Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) in a 187-page complaint (pdf), claims the groups "employ patterns of

CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA ISSUES GUIDANCE NOTE ON CYBERSECURITY

On August 18, 2017, the Central Bank of Kenya (“CBK”) used its authority under Section 33(4) of the Banking Act to publish a Guidance Note on identifying and mitigating cyber risk. The Guidance Note directs institutions licensed under the Banking Act (Cap. 488) (“Institutions”) to develop and implement a comprehensive set of program requirements to mitigate cybersecurity risk. According to a 2016 report by Serianu, a Kenya-based IT services and business consulting firm, Kenya lost approximately $175 million to cybercrime

LAWYERS CALL FOR SCALING UP OF FREE LEGAL SERVICES IN RWANDA

There’s need to create a pool of professional lawyers who offer free legal service to the poor so as to create a path toward a community of equitable justice. This was observed Tuesday at the closure of a two-day workshop, dubbed ‘Legal Training on Strengthening Access to Justice and Rule of Law’. The training, in Kigali, was organised by the Rwanda Bridges to Justice (RBJ) in partnership with International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) and Rwanda Bar Association. “For access to justice to be truly universal, everyone, especially the poorest of the poor, must have legal protection. Training sessions such as this that empowers the next

IBM TO PAY INDIANA STATE $99M IN DAMAGES

IBM owes the US state of Indiana $US78 million ($A99 million) in damages stemming from the company's failed effort to automate much of the state's welfare services, a judge has ruled. Marion Superior Court Judge Heather Welch issued the ruling dated Friday nearly six months after she heard arguments from attorneys for the state and IBM Corp. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled last year that IBM had breached its contract and it directed the trial court to calculate the damages. New York-based IBM said on Monday it will appeal the decision. Indiana and IBM sued each other in 2010 after then-governor Mitch Daniels

APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS INVALIDATION OF “PODCASTING PATENT”

A federal appeals court has upheld a legal process that invalidated the so-called “podcasting patent.” That process was held by a company called Personal Audio, which had threatened numerous podcasts with lawsuits in recent years. On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the April 2015 inter partes review (IPR) ruling—a process that allows anyone to challenge a patent’s validity at the US Patent and Trademark Office. “We’re glad that the IPR process worked here, that we were allowed to go in and defend the public interest,” Vera Ranieri, an EFF attorney who worked on the case, told Ars. (She told Ars that

GAMES WORKSHOP BEING SUED FOR $62.5 MILLION

The latest chapter in the house of Games Workshops’ legal troubles is here, as they are being sued for $62.5 million dollars amid 6 criminal complaints. Game store owner, and legal counsel David Moore has filed a criminal complaint in the US Federal Court of Southern Florida alleging six criminal violations of US law and is seeking $62.5 million in equitable relief from Games Workshop. Moore alleges violations of the U.S. Law and RICO under 18 & 15 U.S. CODE, including but not limited to Fraud, Price Fixing, Tortious Interference,