Heineken: The Great Champions League Swindle

Heineken don’t make the best lager in the World but they probably make the best viral marketing campaigns. Just for the record there’s no way I would’ve attended if it was Newscastle United versus Real Madrid.

Getting a case admitted to Dublin’s Commercial Court can mean a much quicker legal process

Guest post by solicitor Anthony Joyce of Dublin legal firm Anthony Joyce & Co.

Question: I have heard that having a case admitted to the Commercial Court can be a much faster method of obtaining a resolution – is this true? And what are the conditions that must be met to have a case admitted?

Answer: Yes it is true, if you are currently involved in a commercial dispute, having your case admitted to the Commercial Court (also known as the High Court Commercial List) can allow you to resolve a dispute more quickly and effectively than through the normal High Court procedures. The Commercial Court is effectively a fast track of the High Court reserved for commercial cases.

Cases which are admitted to the Commercial Court start and finish in a short time frame, on average, within twenty one weeks of the transfer of proceedings.

An application to have a case admitted to the Commercial Court can be made at any time, but the rules of the Court provide for a stay to be put on proceedings for a period of 28 days to allow mediation, conciliation or arbitration to take place.

In order to gain entry to the Commercial Court the dispute must fall into one of the following categories:

1. Current financial disputes where the claim, or counterclaim, is not less than €1,000,000 can be admitted to the Commercial Court. However, there has been some speculation that the minimum entry level of may be increased to €2,500,000.
2. Any application or proceedings under the Arbitration Acts where the value of any claim or counterclaim is not less than €1,000,000.
3. Any legal dispute relating to a patents, a trade mark, copyright, industrial design or a case relating to ‘passing off’, for example where a competitor has tried to ‘pass off’ your product as their own.
4. Any appeal or application for a judicial review of a previous decision or determination that judge considers it suitable for admission to the Commercial Court.

There is also a catch all condition that can allow any case to heard where the Judge considers it appropriate for entry into the Commercial Court. But, whilst it does have a broad discretion to admit cases, it must be remembered that it is at the discretion of the High Court and even if your case falls into one of the above categories this does not automatically entitle you to entry.

Once your case has been admitted the it runs quickly because of the rules which provide for what is termed ‘detailed case management’, this ensures a strict timetable for any cases has to be met by all parties involved and they are fined if these deadlines are not met – this is why the Commercial Court moves so much faster than the High Court

The Commercial Court in Dublin has been a great success. It has garnered an international reputation as a Court that is simple to access and where disputes can be settled in a swift and cost effective manner compared to Courts abroad.

The success of the Commercial Court has promoted Ireland as a country where any commercial disputes arising can be resolved quickly and effectively. An efficient legal system and settling of disputes in this manner is vitally important in order to be able to attract international business. The Commercial Court is something that Ireland should be very proud off.

by Anthony Joyce, Principal, Anthony Joyce & Co, Dublin – www.anthonyjoyce.ie

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Cut business costs intelligently

One of the first costs businesses often look to cut is staff, this is normally because it is the easiest and quickest option to do. However, it is also one of the least intelligent options because staff are a company’s greatest assets (not costs) and are critical to the long term success of the company.

Openplain, Ireland’s only supplier of workplace analytics software, have put together this video on how businesses can cut costs intelligently. This includes significant savings on electricity via changes to IT habits and simply not paying for software that isn’t used or is duplicated.

Following these steps could make a real difference to your business and save you considerable costs.

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Embargoes II (The Exclusive)

I got a great reaction for using the embargoes video below. Well here is a follow up ‘Embargoes II; continuing along the same theme and talking the mickey out of PRs. They are made by Steve O’Hear using the Xtranormal.com website. Steve is a is a journalist with TechCrunch so he has to deal with a lot of technology PRs and fight his way through a lot of jargon. He can be followed on Twitter here http://twitter.com/sohear and more details are here http://eu.techcrunch.com/2009/11/16/welcome-steve-ohear-our-new-contributing-editor/

Enjoy the video.

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Jobs at Cork’s newest private hospital

Interested in a jobs at the Sheehan Medical’s new private hospital the Cork Medical Centre?  Then become a fan on the new Facebook page to receive further details.

The Cork Medical Centre, at City Gate in Mahon, Cork, is continuing its fit out and due to open in the summer. It is going to be operated by Sheehan Medical and will be Ireland’s most technological advanced hospital ever. We’ll be posting more details and photos here soon.

Since the launch of the hospital, last June, we’ve been receiving a huge amount of CVs, all of which Sheehan Medical have on file and they will reply to each one when the recruitment process starts.

In the meantime we’ve set up a Facebook page for the hospital as a convenient way to updated people about job opportunities in Cork. So if you’re interested in working at the Cork Medical Centre, and want to be notified when positions are being advertised, please become a fan of our page and we’ll update you nearer the time. Here’s the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CorkMedicalCentre/345303049764ref=search&sid=675632260.3533238519..1

Good luck with your application.

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