Hamel-Smith Forum

The Lawyers Newsletter for Business Professionals – keeping you abreast of new developments in Trinidad and Tobago. Download the latest issue in PDF format today or register to receive the publication regularly by email.

OCTOBER 2023

• No Escaping Death or Taxes-Tell the Grim Reaper “Not Anymore!”

• Tax Incentives in Trinidad & Tobago: A Pre-Budget Consideration

JUNE 2023

• Disclosure Obligations In Civil Litigation:
Lessons From The ‘Wagatha Christie’ Case

• Robots And The Future Of Tax

APRIL 2023

• Dissolving A Company: What does it mean and
how is it done?

• Customs Policies on the Wedge: High Court
Rules Against Customs Order

DECEMBER 2022

• Shipbuilding: Contract Consideration for An Emerging Industry

• Defamation in the Digital Age

AUGUST 2022

• Take-Over Bids

• Maternity Protection in the Workplace

JUNE 2022

• Protecting Your Personal Information On All Fronts: Recent Developments In Cross-Border Data Protection

• Ensuring Business Continuity: the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on T&T

APRIL 2022

• Courting Legal Business Relations

• Guyana’s Local Content Policy: A cause for CARICOM concern?

FEBRUARY 2022

• Can we keep things on the side? A Review of
the Side Letter and its use in Commercial
Leases

• Importing Pharmaceuticals into T&T:
The Regulatory Regime

DECEMBER 2021

• COVID-19 Vaccines in the Workplace: A Second Jab

• Property Tax: What to Know

SEPTEMBER 2021

• The Road To Debt Recovery: Enforcement of a Judgment Debt

• Workplace Health and Safety: The Laws All Employers Should Know

JUNE 2021

• So You’ve Received A Pre-Action Protocol Letter – How To Manage the Litigation Process?

• NFTs: Beyond Cryptocurrency and Regulation

APRIL 2021

• COVID-19 And The Tax Residency Implications Of Running A Business

• Contractual Notice Requirements: It’s In The Details…

MARCH 2021

• COVID-19 Vaccines In The Workplace: CAN EMPLOYERS MAKE MANDATORY?

• Private Hire “PH” Taxis – Regularisation From An Insurance Law Perspective.

AUGUST 2020

• Covid-19 Restrictions and the Impact on Commercial Leases – A plight of frustration

• You Gotta Have (GOOD) Faith, Faith, Faith… Or Do You?

JANUARY 2021

• Working From Home After Covid-19: What Employers Need To Know?

• Debt Collection And The “New Normal”.

APRIL 2020

• Can You Sue Over A Bad Review?

• Hush Yuh Mouth! A Primer On Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

JANUARY 2020

• Social Media And Litigation

• Blockchain-The Death Of A Middleman

• Hear That Tiger Roar – Protecting Brand Reputation

OCTOBER 2019

• Ship Ahoy! Maritime Claims And What It Means To Arrest A Ship

• Bitcoin And Cryptocurrencies

• How Well Do You Know Your Pension Plan?

AUGUST 2019

• Director’s Duties

• Data Is Risky Business – Beware of Rogue Employee

• Testing the Boundaries – Discrimination and the Right to Refuse Service

JUNE 2019

• Rise Of The Drones: Business Opportunities and
Risks

• Can You Own A Meme? Memes And Intellectual
Property

• What’s In A Name? Fenty v Fenty?

APRIL 2019

• What You Need To Understand-About Memorandums of Understanding

• A Company Medical-How Healthy Is Your Company?

NOVEMBER 2018

• The Secret of Confidential Information-A Snapshot of Confidentiality Issues that Can Affect Your Business

• The Essence of Time in Contracts for the Sale of Land

• Stop Holding Me Back! Exposure to Withholding Tax in Cross-Border Contracts

MARCH 2018

• Made in T&T…A Brief Look at the Entrepreneurial Benefits of Geographical Indications

• The Long Awaited Insurance Reform Is On The Horizon

JANUARY 2018

• The Highs and Lows of Marijuana Legislation – What could it mean for business?

• Revisiting Cross Border Secured Financing Part II: The Security Financing Part II: The Security Package

SEPTEMBER 2017

• Revisiting Cross Border Secured Financing

• Whose Employee Is It – Liability Under a “Labour Only” Contract

MARCH 2017

• ‘Unequally Equal’ – Circumventing the Pari Passu Rule

• Navigating Uncharted Territory in Guava Season: Secured Creditors’ Rights on Insolvency

• Fair Competition Coming: The Fair Trading Acty

OCTOBER 2016

• Insolvency: Obligations and Liabilities of Directors – Part II

• A Client’s Guide to Civil Litigation Revisited: The Stages of Civil Litigation – Part II

JULY 2016

• Insolvency: Obligations and Liabilities of Directors

• A Client’s Guide to Civil Litigation Revisited: The Stages of Civil Litigation

MARCH 2016

• Buyer Beware: A Brief Guide to Obtaining a Foreign Investor’s Licence

• The Private Labelling Trend

• Mediating the Civil Dispute in Trinidad & Tobago: “Theoretically Sound, Practically Useless?”

NOVEMBER 2015

 • Too Much Information?  The Risks of Using Social Media to Screen Recruits

• Brand Protection: Guarding Against Online Infringement

• Virtual Piracy: How to Protect Your Domain Name

AUGUST 2015

• When is a Shareholder a Shareholder, Or Not?  The Importance of Side Notes in Statutory Interpretation

• “Not Broken, Just Bent” – Facilitating Financial Rehabilitation via the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act

MAY 2015

• “Not Broken, Just Bent” – Facilitating Financial Rehabilitation via the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act

• Proving Passing Off

NOVEMBER 2014

• Tackling Trademark Infringement

• The Securities (Amendment) Act, 2014: A Step Forward

• Of Critical Importance: The Role of the Corporate Secretary in Corporate Governance

• Employment Law Update: The Proposed Minimum Wages Order 2014

APRIL 2014

• Stay Ahead of the Game: How to Manage the impact of the World Cup on your Workplace

• Passing the Baton: Nicole Ferreira-Aaron appointed Managing Partner of Hamel-Smith

• The Long(er) Arm of the Law – Stretching the Four Corners of a Written Act

• Not Your Employee? You May Still Be Liable for his Injury

• Penalty Clauses – When Are They Justified?

JANUARY 2014

• Is Your Company Up to Code? A Review of the New Corporate Governance Code

• A Face That (Could) Launch A Thousand Suits

• The U.K. Bribery Act: Across the Pond to Our Shores

• ‘Use It or Face Losing It’! Protecting Trademarks Through Use

OCTOBER 2013

• Access to the Foreign Market – The Securities Act, 2012!

• Trinidad & Tobago 2014 Budget Measures

• Legal Advice Privilege – Reserved to Advice Given by Lawyers!

• Winning the Shell Game: How the Oppression Remedy Can Be Used to Recover Unpaid Judgments!

MARCH 2013

• Issues and Investors Beware: The Securities Act 2012 is Here!

• Related Party Transactions and Transfer Pricing: A Brief Introduction – Part II

• Shades of Grey… Navigating the parallel import market!

DECEMBER 2012

• Related Party Transactions and Transfer Pricing: A Brief Introduction

• Get Those Goods Moving out of T&T: The Ins and Outs of Regional Trade

NOVEMBER 2012

• Distribution Agreements: Written Agreements Talk and Oral Assertions Walk

• Our Right to Privacy: A Review of the Data Protection Act

JUNE 2012

• Emerging Discrimination Claims Under the Equal Opportunity Act: What Employers Need to Know

• Taking a New Stab at Piercing ‘the Corporate Veil’.

• Electronic Transactions: Sign Here?

• The Value of Trademark Registration

MARCH 2012

• Registering Your Slogan as a Trademark

• Cash is King – Are You Judgment Rich and Money Poor?

• Electronic Transactions: Forming the Electronic Contract

• Proposed Legislative Reforms to the Public Procurement Regime: A Review

OCTOBER 2011

• Negligent Valuations… You Stand To Lose • Forging Ahead with Electronic Transactions • The Information Freeway: Is Your Company Exposed?

MAY 2011

• Still Paying for Crime Not to Pay

• Workplace Injuries – Employers’ Duty and Liability

NOVEMBER 2010

• Endeavour Obligations: When doing your best is not the best you can do

• Court Annexexed Mediation Comes to Trinidad and Tobago

• Paying Again for Crime Not to Pay

JUNE 2010

• Are You Lurking in the Shadows?

• Senatorial Appointment – Timothy Hamel-Smith

• Insider Trading

• Paying for Crime Not to Pay

APRIL 2010

• A Client’s Guide to Litigation

• Mediation: A Better Way to Solve Disputes?

NOVEMBER 2009

• Celebrating our Centenary

• Enduring for 100 Years and Beyond

• Celebrating our Centenary

• Enduring for 100 Years and Beyond

JANUARY 2009

• To sell or not to sell: A receiver’s dilemma?

• Due diligence – Before you seal the deal?

• Cross-border transactions managing the risks

JUNE 2008

• To sell or not to sell: A receiver’s dilemma?

• Do Patients Have a Right to their Medical Records?

FEBRUARY 2008

• Be Careful What You Say: Representations and Non-Reliance Clauses • Twice The Commission for One Sale? The Risk of Double Estate Agent Commission

AUGUST 2007

• The Trinidad & Tobago Investment Policy 2007-2012: Investors Paradise?

• Foreign Mutual Funds

• A Guide to the Water Pollution Rules

APRIL 2007

• New Proposed Trade Mark Legislation in Trinidad & Tobago

• Raising Capital Through Trade Marks

• Consumer Protection and the Law

• Mala Fides and the Constitution: A Moot Point?

DECEMBER 2006

• Consumer Protection and the Law

• Risks And Duties Of Arrangers

• The Environmental Management Authority and Natural Justice

SEPTEMBER 2006

• Understanding Trinidad and Tobago’s New Maritime Boundaries

• Residential Developments: Questions Frequently Asked by Purchasers

MAY 2006

• Cross Border Financing: The Challenges of Withholding Tax

• Appellate Mooting Competition

• Pre-Action Protocols – Crisis or Opportunity?

JANUARY 2006

• Transition Planning for the Not-So-Golden Years

• Reducing the Risks of E-mail

SEPTEMBER 2005

• Banks left Floating

• The importance of making and updating my will

MAY 2005

• Corporate Governance in Trinidad and Tobago

• Appellate Mooting Lessons