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Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Jacques Gershoni, and Adv. Yatir Madar from the Litigation Department succeeded in canceling an arbitration ruling in the Tel Aviv District Court, a cancellation which was then upheld by the Supreme Court. The parties had appointed an arbitrator to hear and rule on a specific dispute between them. After the arbitrator had issued an arbitration award which had been fully carried out by both parties, the arbitrator joined forces with one of the parties, while attempting to ignore the arbitration award, which had already been carried out, with the aim of unilaterally issuing a new arbitration ruling. In fact, the new arbitration ruling overturned the original award, which, as noted, had been fully carried out by the parties. The party with whom the arbitrator had cooperated (the “other party’’), relying on the new arbitration ruling, filed a dual application to the Tel Aviv District Court - one for the approval of the new arbitration award and the second for the temporary imposition of liens on the property of Barnea’s client. Barnea's litigation team succeeded in obtaining an order for cancellation of the new arbitration award. The Court clarified that the new arbitration award was given without authority, because it exceeded the limits of the authorization defined by the parties and because it contradicted a previous ruling of the arbitrator. The other party did not accept the ruling of the District Court and chose to submit a motion for leave to appeal the ruling of the Tel Aviv District Court to the Supreme Court, as well as a request for temporary remedies in the appeal. Barnea filed a firm response to the other party’s request for temporary relief, in which it was made clear that the need to impose temporary liens was never examined on its merits in the District Court, and elaborated on the fact that the request for leave to appeal the judgment of the District Court lacked any basis both in law and in fact. The Supreme Court denied the motion for leave to appeal and instructed the other party to pay Barnea's client's legal fees and expenses. "It is known that the annulment of an arbitration award is a rare occurrence, and that it does not happen routinely," commented Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department. "This rejection by the Supreme Court actually means the upholding of the District Court’s  ruling,  the cancellation of the new arbitration award and, accordingly, the cancellation of the temporary remedies imposed on the assets of our client”.

Adv . Zohar Lande, the head of our Litigation Department, was interviewed by Globes on the Antitrust Authority's decision to impose an unprecedented monetary sanction on the Central Bottling Company Group (Coca Cola Israel). Zohar commented that it is not enough to set the monetary sanctions, submitting that the Antitrust Authority must make use of all the tools at its disposal, including civilian tools.

The Tel Aviv District Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Nespresso and global food company Nestlé against Israeli company Espresso Club. Nespresso alleged that Espresso Club’s advertisement featuring a George Clooney look-alike infringed its intellectual property rights and constituted unfair competition. The court rejected Nespresso’s claims and ordered it to pay Espresso Club ILS 110,070 in legal costs. Espresso Club was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Itay Hatam, and Adv. Gili Cohen-Arazi.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gilli Cohen-Arazi published an article for Chambers and Partners examining recent trends in Israeli case law that may signal a shift in the courts’ approach to judicial intervention in corporate boards’ business decisions.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Moran Bickel of our Litigation Department represented the CEO of Kitov Pharmaceuticals at a hearing before the Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court concerning his release from detention subject to restrictive conditions.

Our Litigation Department was interviewed by Maariv's "The Weekend" following Eliezer Fishman's declaration of bankruptcy. We noted there are ways to prevent the loss of all family assets, even in the event of bankruptcy, and to avoid involving the family assets with business assets.

Doing business in Israel? A QA guide to doing business in Israel written by Barnea was published by Practical Law. The guide provides an overview of the legal system, foreign investment, regulation, and other issues pertaining to Israel.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits of Barnea’s Litigation Department are representing real estate agent Roni Mana and his agency in a lawsuit filed with the Tel Aviv District Court against Arena Star Group Ltd., controlled by Marcus Weber, and its CEO, Michael Fuchs. The lawsuit concerns unpaid brokerage fees totaling ILS 5.88 million.

Barnea is representing GBI Racing, a British company that provides betting services to Toto, the Israel Sports Betting Board. Adv. Zohar Lande participated in a meeting of the Knesset’s Reform Committee to discuss the proposed revocation of Toto’s permit under the Economic Arrangements Law.

Barnea represents iTrader, an online forex trading company under investigation by the Israel Securities Authority (ISA). Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Moran Bickel of our Litigation Department told TheMarker that they hope the investigation will conclude soon. The investigation concerns the company’s activities during the period in which it was authorized to operate as a trading platform.

As previously reported, Geller filed a lawsuit alleging fraud involving nearly ILS 70 million. Although the District Court dismissed the principal fraud claim, it ordered Omer to pay Geller several million shekels, finding that the funds had been advanced as a loan. Both parties appealed to the Supreme Court, which dismissed Geller’s appeal in full, allowed Omer’s appeal and referred the case back to the District Court. This week, after nine years of litigation, the District Court dismissed the action in its entirety, accepting Omer’s argument that the funds had been transferred as part of a share purchase transaction. The Court ruled that, in these circumstances, Omer was required neither to repay the funds nor to transfer any shares.

Barnea represented Rafi Bar-Lev, a former salesperson at Utrade, Aviv Talmor’s Israeli investment company, at a hearing before the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court. Utrade’s operations had been suspended by the Israel Securities Authority.

Adv. Zohar Lande, head of our Litigation Department, represents GBI Racing, a British company that provides betting services to Toto (the Israel Sports Betting Board). The company has asked Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to reconsider the decision to ban betting on horse races, which was approved by a government committee chaired by Finance Ministry Director General Shai Babad. GBI Racing contends that it was not given an opportunity to present alternative data to the committee.

Barnea represents the publicly traded Hanan Mor Group and other companies within the group in a lawsuit brought by a contractor concerning several real estate projects. The contractor sought damages and an order preventing the bank guarantees from being called. The court rejected the contractor’s request for an order, fully accepting Barnea’s arguments. It also criticized the contractor’s conduct, noting that its account “raises questions,” and awarded Hanan Mor Group ILS 12,000 in legal fees and costs. Hanan Mor Group is represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Itay Wigoda, and Adv. Shachar Parnes of our Litigation Department.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Yaacov Gershoni of our Litigation Department represent Maurice Haliwa, a shareholder in Manor A.D. Construction Investments Ltd., in an ILS 18 million lawsuit against Jacky Ben-Zaken and Avraam Nanikashvili.

Our Litigation Department represented Pharma Cosmetics Laboratories Ltd., formerly HL Cosmetics Laboratories, in an intellectual property claim against a beautician and her partner. The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court recently awarded Pharma compensation and rejected the defendants’ argument that the Copyright Act did not apply to the images and text they had copied from Pharma’s website.

Barnea represented East and West Stores Ltd., a leading importer of food products from the Far East into Israel, in a dispute over the use of the “East and West” trade name and its trademarks. Following an appeal filed by our Litigation Department, the Supreme Court overturned the District Court’s ruling prohibiting the company from using the trade name in certain markets. Our firm was not involved in the District Court proceedings. The Supreme Court also overturned the contempt of court ruling against the company. East and West Stores Ltd. was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Itay Wigoda, with Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld assisting on the commercial aspects of the dispute.

In an op-ed published in Calcalist, Adv. Zohar Lande, the head of our Litigation Department, discussed recent changes to the recruitment of legal interns. Zohar argued that, despite the shortcomings of these changes, regulatory intervention is necessary.

Barnea represents Espresso Club Ltd., an Israeli provider of capsule-based home espresso machines, in a lawsuit brought by Nespresso Israel and the international Nestlé and Nespresso corporations. The plaintiffs allege that an Espresso Club television commercial featuring a George Clooney lookalike mocks Nespresso’s brand image and damages its reputation. For the full Fox news article, click here.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits represented the Har-Gil family in an ILS 13 million lawsuit brought by real estate company Malibu. The dispute concerned payments allegedly owed by the family in connection with a plot of land they owned and Malibu developed. The Tel Aviv District Court dismissed the claim with prejudice.