Insights & News

Our firm represented Hadad Brothers, Worldwide Judaica Artists, in a claim by a service provider with an independent business, that after 17 years of engagement argued for a recognition of an employee-employer relationship and filed a claim for various social benefits in the sum of 1.5 Million NIS.  After 2.5 years of legal proceedings, the court this week denied the claim in full.

Barnea is hosting today a seminar for students from the IDC Legal Clinic for Start-Ups on various issues including founding agreement, labor law and tax issues, privacy policy, entrepreneurship and more. The cooperation is part of the firm's pro bono activities.

Barnea, hosted today a delegation of 50 community and entrepreneurial organizations from Barcelona and mayors from the region of Catalonia, which were invited to Israel by Startau, Tel Aviv University Entrepreneurship Center. The event was held as part of a series of meetings of the delegation with leaders of the technological and entrepreneurial environment in Israel.

Adv. Ariel Nadler, Partner and Head of the Real Estate Department at Barnea was interviewed by Ynet and commented that opening the market to foreign companies is a positive move. He also addressed the question of problems that may arise for the consumer who is required to deal with a foreign company. Ariel commented that he is convinced that the Ministries of Finance and Construction will ensure adequate securities to address the issue of deficiencies and quality construction.

Adv. Ariel Nadler, Partner and Head of the Real Estate Department at Barnea was interviewed by The Marker regarding the Ministries of Finance and Construction decision to grant foreign companies permits to perform construction work in Israel. Ariel commented that with Israeli on-site construction firms in a state of collapse, opening the market for foreign companies is a positive move.

The new HIP Boost program is a direct continuation of the HIP program with which our firm was associated in the past. During HIP Boost, graduates of the HIP will undergo a comprehensive process to accelerate their early stage startups into growing and sustainable businesses. 

Next week a panel presentation event will be held with leading mentors giving insights to the entrepreneurs. Adv. Yuval Lazi was chosen to be the legal advisor for the HIP Boost program.

Barnea is pleased to co-operate with the IDC Legal Clinic for Start-Ups in mentoring the law students participating in the clinic and entrepreneurs from underprivileged communities engaged in social business ventures.  

As previously published, Geller had filed a lawsuit alleging fraud in the amount of nearly NIS 70 million. Even though the main claim for fraud was dismissed, the District Court obliged Omer to pay millions of NIS to Geller deciding that they were granted to Omer as a loan.

Geller and Omer both appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied Geller's appeal entirely, accepted Omer's appeal and returned the case to the District Court.

This week, the District Court dismissed the action entirely and accepted Omer's argument that the funds were transferred to him as part of a share purchase transaction. The Court ruled that under these circumstances, Omer does not need to reimburse the funds or to transfer any shares.

Adv. Asaf Shalev will serve as a mentor and participate at the Herzliya sustainable urban mobility Hackathon, which takes place on October 27^th , in cooperation with the European Union.

Dr. Zvi Gabbay, Partner and Head of the Capital Markets & Financial Regulation Department at Barnea was interviewed by the Times of Israel regarding the growing interest of Israeli companies to list on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Zvi commented that the Australian financial laws have earned a reputation as a creative and advanced regulatory regime that strikes a good balance between investor protection and a pro-business approach that understands the risk of over-regulation.

Adv. Yuval Lazi, Partner at Barnea  was interviewed by the Times of Israel regarding a new policy the Israeli army is mulling that would regulate the technologies and the expertise soldiers can use once they leave. Yuval commented that the rights to any intellectual property that a soldier has developed or produced during his time in the army — patents, lines of code or even photos — belong to the army and not to the individual.

Corporate Live Wire held a Cross border Mergers and Acquisitions roundtable featured experts from around the world, including Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss. The chosen experts discussed regulatory changes, legislative precedent, challenges and opportunities as well as key trends and latest developments.

Barnea represented Israel Growth Partners (IGP)  in an agreement to buy 300,000 Jacada shares, 7% of the company's share capital, from Robert (Bob) Ashton's investment firm Kinetic Catalyst Partners.

Barnea represented Rafi Bar-Lev, former Salesman at the Israeli investment company Utrade of Aviv Talmor, whose operation was frozen by the Israel Securities Authority, at a hearing in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation department at Barnea is representing GBI Racing, a British company which provides betting services to Toto (the Israel Sports Betting Board). The company applied to the Minister of Finance, Moshe Kahlon, to reconsider the decision to ban horse racing wagering, which was approved by a government committee chaired by treasury Director General, Shai Babad.  The company contends that it was never given the opportunity to present other data to the committee on its behalf.

Corporate Live Wire held a Capital Markets Roundtable featured experts from around the world, including Dr. Zvi Gabbay. The chosen experts discussed the latest regulatory changes, global economic risks, cyber security challenges and capital flow trends.

We were interviewed by Ynet following the collapsed parking structure in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv. We commented that the function of the project manager is not defined in the Planning and Building Law. There are many responsibilities and it is not clear who is responsible for what.

Adv. Marie Tzion, Partner and Head of the Employment department, published an opinion article in Walla Business, following the recently passed amendment, which granted fathers the right to paternity leave at the expense of already existing leave entitlements.

Harel Perlmutter was interviewed yesterday by leading newspapers regarding the EU Commission’s order against Apple to pay 13 billion Euros ($14.5 billion) to Ireland in respect of unpaid taxes. According to Perlmutter, Apple could be hit with billions of dollars in assessments for back taxes after this landmark decision.

Adv. Harel Perlmutter, Head of the Tax Department at Barnea, was interviewed by several media following the European Union's ruling that Apple was given illegal tax benefits over two decades, therefore will need to pay 13 billion Euros in back taxes in Ireland.