Following an evaluation of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 , the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced earlier this year that it would be introducing a card alert scheme designed to give licensing authorities which choose to adopt it a new...

It is a cardinal rule in court proceedings in the UK that both parties to a disagreement must have a fair chance to state their side of the argument. This is particularly important in family cases, which are often complex and invariably emotionally charged. ...

In a recent case, the courts had to consider the legality of a commercial arrangement undertaken by a bank with a company, the effect of which was to allow the company to ‘stand in its shoes’ with regard to a commercial lease. At issue was...

The Government has announced that victims of thalidomide, a drug that was prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950s and ‘60s, will share a £20 million compensation package to assist with their health needs as they get older. Thalidomide was...

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has handed down a far-reaching judgment in the long-running case of Coleman v Attridge Law , which concerns the interpretation of the EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive and its impact on disability legislation in the...

A man who suffered severe brain damage when he slipped and fell on an uneven public road in North London has received an interim payment of £75,000. Kyle Bullock, 33, was walking with friends down a steep and poorly maintained road when the accident...

Employers are reminded that the Government’s new ‘fit note’ regime is due to replace the current system, whereby doctors issue hand-written sick notes, from 6 April 2010. Under the new system, a doctor will provide a patient who is off...

If you enter into a business contract in good faith and it subsequently transpires that the contract was incorrectly authorised or otherwise invalid from the perspective of the other party’s internal regulations, where do you stand? Two recent cases...

Getting your tax right can sometimes be complex and it is often the case that when HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigate a taxpayer, they find that there are irregularities. When these result in an underpayment of tax, HMRC will normally levy interest...

Under the Children Act 1989 , a court may only make a care order or a supervision order if it is satisfied that the child concerned is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. In a recent case, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of a...

A gardener who developed a deadly asbestos-related disease has won £205,000 in compensation from his former employers. Mr Gaffney, 57, worked for the University of Liverpool during the 1980s looking after the grounds. He used to take his lunch breaks...

With many companies suffering from the effects of the recession, business owners looking for an exit are thick on the ground. One problem those in this situation face is that if their business is in a fairly weak financial position, it is difficult to take a...

Retaining records after a person has died is essential in order to be able to demonstrate the amount of Inheritance Tax (IHT) ‘nil rate band’ that is available on the death of a surviving spouse or civil partner. It might easily be thought that...

Recent allegations of bullying within 10 Downing Street have raised the profile of a subject which receives relatively little coverage outside the employment tribunals, in spite of widespread prevalence in the workplace. Workplace bullying is not only...

The parents of an independent school pupil have lost their appeal against a judge’s decision to dismiss their claim that their son’s expulsion from the school amounted to a breach of contract and warranted injunctive relief and the payment of...

An experienced scaffolder who sustained severe injuries in a 40-foot fall has won a £90,000 compensation settlement. Trevor Cox, 43, had worked as a scaffolder for 20 years and had never had an accident before. He had just started dismantling...

It is common for a contract to be written so that if one party to it becomes insolvent the contract ceases, but when the contract relates to the creation of something of value to both parties and this is jointly owned, the situation can become more...

If a landlord has concealed or misrepresented facts, it can be ordered to pay a departing commercial tenant compensation for any damages or loss sustained by the tenant that arise as a result of having to quit the premises. The legislation bringing this...

Family break-up is always complicated and when there is a property involved, things can get very complex indeed. In principle, when a couple are cohabiting (not married or in a civil partnership) the property belongs as of right to whoever is shown on the...

Owners of properties used for furnished holiday lettings (FHLs) are reminded that the tax regime relating to these is set to change significantly (for the worse) next April. Under the current tax regime, such businesses have advantages for both Income Tax...

A student who was badly injured by a late tackle while playing football has won £25,000 in compensation. Jonny Craig, 29, was studying for a doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Nottingham. He was taking part in a Sunday League...

The Companies Act 2006 is, at 761 pages, the longest Act of Parliament in British history and was only fully implemented in October. However, changes are already afoot! Apparently, the sections of the Act which require disclosure of share capital (the...

The EU Working Time Directive lays down minimum health and safety requirements for the organisation of working time. The purpose of the entitlement to paid annual leave is to enable a worker to rest and to enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure. The...

The Supreme Court has recently ruled to give the grandmother of a child custody over him despite the opposition of the boy’s father, who applied to have custody himself. In the view of the Court, acting in the child’s best interests means that...

A road worker from Tyneside who was knocked down by a driver who was over the limit has won £1.1 million in compensation for his injuries. William Kane, 55, had been sent by his employer to work on a highways contract for the Irish Government. He had...

Traders which supply insurance contracts on products where the policies are underwritten by insurance companies should take note of a little-reported decision of the court. It involved Homeserve, which supplies insurance contracts to householders on behalf...

It is widely thought that once a conviction is ‘spent’, it is erased from ‘the system’ and simply ceases to exist. Regrettably for those who may have a youthful indiscretion or two on their record, this is not so, as is illustrated by...

There has been confusion about some of the changes in company law brought in by the Companies Act 2006 , which was fully implemented on 1 October 2009. One of the more beneficial changes for companies wishing to reorganise their share capital (perhaps...

The trial of an unqualified will writer took place in Bristol recently when a 45-year-old man was charged with the theft of £800,000 from a succession of elderly clients. The man had duped childless elderly people into inserting a clause into their...

The family of an elderly patient who died of an insulin overdose administered by a hospital nurse has been awarded almost £50,000 in compensation. Doris Ludlam, 80, was one of four elderly patients who were given lethal injections of insulin by nurse...

A recent case illustrates how complex building disputes can become when there are changes ‘on the fly’ to the work being carried out and the related paperwork does not keep pace. In the case in point, a contractor’s contract to fit out a...

When dividing family assets on separation or divorce, judges sometimes make some surprising decisions. Where these are erroneous or unfair, they can be overturned. In a recent case, a judge ruled that in order to achieve a ‘clean break’ between...

The widow of a scientist who died after suffering an allergic reaction to eating eggs has been awarded £415,000 in damages. Kuldip Singh Bhamra, 49, was attending a wedding banquet held at a Sikh temple in Forest Gate, London. Mr Bhamra knew of his...

New guidance giving practical advice to businesses and employees on preventing workplace harassment and violence has been published following European level agreement between employer and trade union organisations on the necessity of raising awareness of...

The ‘Doorstep Selling’ regulations ( The Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 ) came into effect on 1 October 2008 and bring new rights to consumers who make contracts with traders in...

Insurers often try to give themselves ‘wiggle room’ to contest claims, which is one reason why they put so many questions in proposal forms. Over the years, the courts have established that where such a question is ambiguous, the legal...

A boy who was left with severe brain damage after he was injured in a fall at a children’s nursery has been awarded a sizeable settlement in compensation. The accident happened when James Pitcher was just nine months old. He fell off a changing table...

Many people think that making use of images from the Internet is allowed and that such images are free for anyone to use. However, unless the owner of an image has specifically granted a public right of use, it is copyright and the owner may sue for breach...

Lending for residential property purchases has increased significantly in recent months – the July figure of £16 billion showing a 26 per cent rise over June. August and September have both shown gross mortgage lending of about £12.5...

The Government has accepted in full the recommendations of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) for a revised shortage occupation list for Tier 2 of the points-based system of immigration. The new list applies to all certificates of sponsorship assigned on...

A former employee of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been awarded £65,000 in damages after he developed asbestosis. Alan Cox, 85, worked in dockyards and on ships where he was repeatedly exposed to asbestos. This first occurred when he worked for...

Most businesses that fail do not fail because they are not profitable. They fail because they have negative cash-flow. Cash is king. The ‘upswing’ phase when the economy is recovering is the most dangerous time of all for most businesses. ...

The Office of the Public Guardian has responded to criticisms of its overly complex forms for creating a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) by issuing new and simplified forms. An LPA allows a person to give a friend, relative or trusted advisor the power to...

Small items of high value have always represented a major problem for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), since they are the favoured means by which criminals commit a simple VAT fraud. In essence, the fraud works by producing evidence that goods have been...

An electrical engineer who had his leg amputated below the knee after an accident at work has won £450,000 in compensation. Keith Waring was working up a 13-foot ladder removing external cabling from the side of a house when the accident happened. The...

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced that it has levied fines totalling more than £39 million on recruitment agencies operating in the construction sector for breaches of the Competition Act 1998 . The agencies involved agreed to boycott...

The publicity surrounding the imposition of a fine of £5,000 on Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, for a breach of immigration law is a reminder to employers of the need to have systems in place to demonstrate compliance with the laws preventing...

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recently won a significant victory in a tax case when the court ruled that tax advice given by an accounting firm to its client is not privileged. In other words, HMRC can force accountants to divulge advice given to their...

A woman who owed a credit card company more than £8,000 has been excused from repaying her debt after a court ruled that the ‘secret’ commission paid to the credit card company by the company providing the payment protection insurance...

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA), a tenant normally has the right to renewal of a lease on commercial premises unless the landlord requires occupation of the premises for its own purposes, which may include the purpose of redeveloping the site....

A woman who was off work for several months after she tripped in the street has been awarded £12,000 in compensation for her injuries. The unnamed woman was on her way home from the town centre when she tripped over a kerb stone that had fallen below...

The Advocate General has recently given his opinion that the use of a competitor’s trade mark as a ‘key word’, in order to trigger the appearance of one’s own advertisement when an Internet search is carried out, is not an...

A serious breach of an implied contractual term or the ‘final straw’ in a series of less serious actions which cumulatively undermine an employee’s trust and confidence in his or her employer will amount to a repudiatory breach of the...

The case of a healthcare worker who had to abandon her career because of a potentially fatal allergy to latex has finally been settled. Fiona Moore, 37, worked in the dermatology department at York Hospital. She developed an allergy to latex protein as a...

After a bruising legal battle, which has cost more than £1.3 million in fees, a Yorkshire doctor has won the right to inherit her late parents’ farm, which is valued at £2.3 million. In 1993, Dr Christine Gill’s parents made wills...

Even though property prices have fallen considerably in recent years, getting ‘on the property ladder’ has never been harder as lending criteria have been tightened considerably since the ‘boom’ days of 125 per cent mortgages. Young...

Licensees will be happy to note that the Pubwatch scheme, which allows publicans to ban troublemakers from participating pubs, survived a legal challenge recently. Builder Francis Boyle had challenged a ban on him by members of the Haverhill Pubwatch...

A cyclist hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing has won compensation for his injuries. The unnamed 35-year-old was using a pedestrian crossing while the green man signal was showing. A car travelling towards the crossing failed to stop at the red light and...

A recent case shows how important the wording of a planning consent is. It concerned a quarrying company which was engaged in the extraction of limestone from a quarry in the Peak District. There was opposition to the quarrying which led to a review of the...

A recent report indicates that fraudulent loan applications have increased by more than 4 per cent as a result of the credit crunch. Now, an average of nearly 1 in 500 applications for car finance, credit cards, insurance, loans and mortgages is fraudulent....

Since the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 came into force on 25 November 2008, a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO) has been issued in 86 cases. This compares with a predicted total for the first year of 50. FMPOs were introduced to help...

Pushchair manufacturer Maclaren is being sued by a group of 15 families who claim their children have been injured by faulty products. The families allege that their children were injured when the tips of their fingers became trapped in the umbrella hinges...

The Prudential is to appeal against a decision of the High Court that tax advice given to it by its accountants is not covered by the doctrine of legal professional privilege. The decision followed an application by HM Revenue and Customs to have advice...

In a recent case, a man who was banned from entering the village in which he had previously lived, after successive acts of anti-social behaviour, has lost his appeal against the imposition of an anti-social behaviour injunction (ASBI). Michael Redpath had...

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recently won a significant victory in a tax case when the court ruled that tax advice given by an accounting firm to its client is not privileged. In other words, HMRC can force accountants to divulge advice given to their...

  With bitter weather, grey skies and credit card bills tumbling in, it is no real wonder that the New Year sees an upsurge in enquiries about obtaining a divorce.   Unfortunately for those seeking divorces, agreeing the financial settlement can...

The Employment Rights (Revision of Limits) Order 2009 , which details the annual inflation-linked changes in limits on the compensation amounts which can be awarded by employment tribunals, was made on 10 December 2009 and applies where the appropriate date...

After fighting their case all the way to the House of Lords and losing, Powys couple Andrew and Gail Wallbank have been forced to sell their farm in order to pay for repairs to the chancel of their local church and their legal costs in fighting their case. ...

A British holidaymaker who was badly injured in a crash while on a bus tour in Malaysia has been awarded £90,000 in compensation at the High Court. Gail Griffin, 46, and her husband were on an adventure holiday, travelling from Tanjung Gemok in...

Dubious business practice will always exist but normally becomes more prevalent and is more often uncovered in times when business is tough. A director who discovers dubious business practices within his company can find himself in a difficult situation....

With the winter holiday season sales in full swing, now is a good time for consumers to remember that UK consumer protection legislation is robust, giving them substantial rights and imposing significant obligations on traders. Indeed, in some cases the...

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) 2006 introduced the concept of a transfer of undertakings by way of a service provision change. This was intended to deal with practical difficulties created, in a wide variety of...

A recent case serves as a stark reminder to haulage firms that do not take the health and safety risks posed by hazardous weather conditions seriously. An HGV driver suffered serious injuries when his lorry was blown over in high winds and, as a result, has...

The division of the estate of a man who had a ‘senior moment’ when providing information for his will had to be sorted out in court recently. When Leslie Fawdon drafted his will, he left half of his estate to his nephew, described as ‘Mark...

With times being tough, unexpected traps in agreements are coming to light with greater regularity. A recent landlord and tenant case shows the sort of thing that can happen if insufficient attention is paid in negotiation to clauses that might seem...

A student who suffered horrific brain injuries after falling 20 feet onto a concrete surface has won the right to compensation. Jonathan Harvey was a student at Southampton University when the accident happened. He had been out drinking with friends and had...

A tax case involving a husband and wife who paid themselves millions of pounds in dividends from 42 insolvent companies without making the necessary provisions for corporation tax has recently been heard by the Court of Appeal. The companies are all in...

The standard rate of VAT has changed from 15% to 17.5% from today. If you have goods priced up for sale at VAT inclusive prices (i.e. including 15% VAT), you will need to recalculate the output tax....

The place of supply rules for the supply of services abroad have changed from today. If you supply services to foreign customers, you may be affected. See the HMRC website for further information....

A grandfather who contracted an asbestos-related cancer has won £140,000 compensation, even though an initial attempt to trace the insurers of his former employers proved unsuccessful. Ronnie Cadwallader, 76, was exposed to asbestos when he worked as...

It may be assumed that when a couple purchase a property in equal shares, that is how ownership remains, but it isn’t necessarily so. In a recent case, the High Court had to rule on the ownership of a house, which had been bought for £30,000 by...

Employment disputes often arise because an employer does not consider that an employee’s condition is one that qualifies them for protection under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA). It is therefore important that the definition of...

A pensioner whose car struck a mattress as he drove down a motorway has been awarded £3,770 in damages. Thomas McKenna, 71, was driving along the motorway between Edinburgh and Glasgow when the mattress fell off another vehicle onto the road in front...

No one likes to pay tax unnecessarily and Inheritance Tax (IHT) can be especially problematic, as it must often be paid ‘up front’ when administering an estate. It is quite common for people to decide to mitigate the effects of the tax by...

An appearance in the criminal court may await a property owner who tried to be too clever with his local planning department. The property owner submitted a planning application to build a barn to store hay. This was granted on the condition that use was...

When someone holds goods belonging to someone else, (a ‘bailee’ in legal terminology), that person owes the other person a duty of care. A recent case shows that such responsibilities should not be taken lightly. The circumstances were that a...

A man who allowed his bank account to be used to lodge funds that amounted to criminal property was guilty of the crime of converting criminal property. So held the Court of Appeal, dismissing Mohammed Fazal’s appeal against convictions at Reading...

A factory worker who developed asthma soon after being exposed to dangerous fumes has won £20,000 in compensation. The unnamed 42-year-old woman from Gateshead worked in a factory which makes electric generators and motors for use in the aerospace...

The changes to Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowances announced in this year’s Budget, increasing the maximum annual investment from £7,200 to £10,200, came into effect on 6 October for those aged 50 or over, as well as anyone who will...

Landlords seeking to recover service charges in circumstances which require that a notice be served on the tenants should make sure they serve the relevant notice correctly! In a recent case, a landlord had to do works on a building and sought to recover the...

The children of celebrities have the same right to anonymity in court proceedings as any other children, following a ruling of the High Court. The press have only been allowed into the family courts since April 2009 and can be excluded by the court when...

A retired yoga teacher whose health was destroyed after she bit into a black worm in a meal she had ordered at her holiday hotel has won £240,000 in compensation from the tour operator. It was during a two-week break in the Dominican Republic that...

The Pensions Act 2008 contains provisions which will make it compulsory (from 2012) for an employer to enrol qualifying workers aged between 22 and the state pension age who earn more than a de minimus amount (currently set at £5,035 per annum) into a...

You may think that after an estate has been probated and the assets have passed to the surviving spouse or civil partner, that is the end of the matter and the paperwork (including the will) can be consigned to the shredder after a suitable period of time. ...

Twenty-four British tourists who were involved in a coach crash while on holiday in Bulgaria have won a court battle against the tour operator that provided their package holiday. The accident happened when the tourists were on their way to a ski resort....

It is rare to see a petition under the Companies Act regarding the payment of excessive remuneration to a director, but the Scottish Outer House of the Court of Session had to deal with just such a case earlier this year. It involved the sole director of a...

When company cash flow is tight, a director may decide to waive salary in order to help ease the cash position. However, care needs to be exercised as unless the waiver is done correctly, the PAYE on the salary waived (which, together with the related...

Ownership of land is often fettered with obligations and, in some circumstances, the obligation can be to permit someone else to extract something from the land. In legal terminology, this is called a profit-à-prendre and one of the most common of...

A woman who slipped on some spilt food in a restaurant has won £11,500 in damages. The unnamed woman was a spectator at a sporting event when the accident happened. She had bought some food in the restaurant area and was walking away from the counter...

The ruling in a recent patent dispute will give comfort to developers of products that are patented after the developer has already ‘let the cat out of the bag’. The general rule is that a patent cannot be defended if the subject matter of the...

Elderly people can become suggestible and it is, regrettably, not uncommon for avaricious people to attempt to influence them for personal gain. In a recent case in point, an elderly and wheelchair-bound lady altered her will a few months before she died so...

Under Section 237(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 , an employee has no right to complain of unfair dismissal if he or she was taking part in an unofficial strike or other unofficial industrial action at the time of their...

The recession hasn’t brought much favourable comment, but falling asset values do present opportunities for savings on Inheritance Tax (IHT). Here are some ways that you can save IHT when asset prices are depressed. Lifetime Gifts In general, the...

A woman who was injured when a stack of doormats fell from a high shelf in a hardware store has won £20,000 in compensation. The woman, who was browsing in an aisle of the store, was suddenly hit on the head and shoulder by the thick rubber doormats....

If you are not seeing eye to eye with your auditor because their view of your financial statements is at variance with yours, and you are thinking of making a change of auditors, you should be aware that Sections 522 to 525 of the Companies Act 2006 set...

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides that in certain circumstances a criminal trial can be held without a jury. One of the main reasons for doing so is when there is a clear risk of jury tampering. In December 2008, a trial collapsed for the fourth...

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has produced guidance which sets out the key provisions of the law governing the employment of children under the school leaving age. This covers age limits and permitted hours of work, what kind of work...

A woman who was left severely brain damaged after a doctor gave an incorrect diagnosis of her condition has been awarded more than £4 million in compensation. In 2002, Cristina Malcolm collapsed at her home in County Durham with a severe headache....

A delivery driver who was forced to give up his job after suffering a back injury during the course of his work has won a £22,000 payout. When the accident happened, John Atkin was driving a van loaded with leaflets and newspapers. As he drove, the...

The 2007 case involving Persimmon Homes and landowner Chartbrook Ltd. has now been decided in the House of Lords. The case turned on the meaning of an agreement which contained a ‘grammatical ambiguity’, which applied to a formula used to...

It is not uncommon on divorce for one ex-spouse to remain in the family home and the other to retain an interest in it after moving out. The importance of having documentation in place relating to the arrangements agreed upon in this situation is obvious, as...

A bus driver who was fortunate to survive after his vehicle was involved in a head-on collision has been awarded £250,000 in damages. James Morton, 60, was driving his bus down a tree-lined country road when the accident happened. An oncoming Mercedes...

HMRC have announced that the rates payable for car fuel (where a mileage rate is paid to company car users for business travel) are as follows from 1 December 2009.   The mileage rates are payable when an employee uses a company car for business...

One of the often forgotten issues in retirement planning is the possibility of having to fund long-term care at some future time. Such care is means-tested and most care home residents of means will pay in full for their care. With an ageing population and...

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) – often referred to as the ‘Whistleblowing’ Act – gives workers legal protection when disclosing information relating to crimes, breaches of a legal obligation, miscarriages of justice,...

The widow of a man who died as a result of being exposed to asbestos while working at an oil refinery many years earlier has been awarded more than £300,000 in compensation in the High Court. Frances Streets’ husband began his career working for...

A woman who expressed her anger at the response of an anti-social behaviour coordinator working for Slough Council found herself on the Council’s ‘violent persons register’. Jane Clift had seen a toddler, who was with a group of adults...

A rugby player from Wales whose jaw was broken when he was punched by an opponent has been awarded £1,500 in compensation. Richard Mark Williams was playing in a Swalec Cup game when the incident occurred. He was kicking the ball downfield and an...

Occupiers of business premises are reminded that appeals against the rateable values of their premises (based on the 1 April 2008 valuation)  must be made by the end of this week. That valuation will affect your rates bill from April 2010. The...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that it is cracking down on insider dealing. The FSA, which levied fines of more than £28 million in the year to 31 March 2009, is appointing 30 new inspectors and tripling the level of fines it can...

The Court of Appeal has overturned what was to many a surprising decision of the High Court and confirmed that when a company pension scheme member takes benefits early (at 60 rather than 65), the benefits may be subject to an actuarially-calculated...

In the current economic climate, many employers are seeking ways to reduce staff costs. For example, both British Airways and British Telecom are reported to have recently offered staff increased time off work in return for a deduction in pay. However, when...

A new scheme is to be introduced that is intended to reduce the time it takes to settle personal injury claims for between £1,000 and £10,000 brought by victims of road traffic accidents in England and Wales. The new process will set fixed time...

The Court of Appeal has taken the unusual step of considering an appeal in a matrimonial case which was settled by agreement before the appeal was heard. In the High Court, the ex-wife of a wealthy man had failed to obtain an ‘uplift’ to her...

When a dispute arises under a contract and notices or other documents have to be delivered to the other side in the dispute, in order to avoid problems it is essential that these are delivered in accordance with the contract terms. This may seem obvious, but...

Where an agreement is entered into as a result of a misrepresentation, the court can order the agreement to be set aside. This recently benefited a wife who entered into an agreement which meant that her sole beneficial interest in the family home was...

A welder whose hearing was damaged as a result of exposure to excessive noise levels in the workplace has won £12,750 in damages. John Walton, 46, worked for three different employers between 1978 and 2007 and in each job he worked in a noisy...

It is often assumed that the mere payment of a sum by way of a dividend, rather than as salary or bonus, will avoid PAYE and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). In the case of PAYE, the tax treatment as payment of a dividend will override that...

A man who fell from a London bus and suffered severe head injuries has been awarded a seven-figure compensation settlement. Vincenzo Bollito, a 36-year-old designer, was between the doors of the bus when the driver closed them and accelerated down the road....

An incident in which a pupil was injured during a break at school, when he was hit by a rock thrown by another pupil, resulted in the county council responsible being found negligent. The case turned on a simple point – was it sufficient (as was the...

The Government has announced that it intends to levy fines of up to £500,000 (yes, £1/2 million) for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) . It is time for a DPA compliance review!...

The gender pay gap is the term used to describe the difference between the hourly earnings of men and women. It is determined by calculating the overall pay of women as a percentage of that of men. The pay gap is the difference between this and 100 per cent....

Cases involving the custody of children are often very contentious and need to be approached with sensitivity and care. Recently, the Court of Appeal was called upon to rule in just such a case, the critical issue being whether the judge in the family court...

One of the big problems with understanding the accounts of small businesses in different countries has been that the applicable accounting standards have varied greatly from country to country. Large business entities are covered by standards issued by the...

An expectant mother who injured her back when she tripped on a loose carpet tile at work has won £9,000 in compensation. Andrea Swales, 39, was almost five months pregnant when the accident happened at the office where she worked as an HM Revenue and...

Yet again, we hear a report of the Financial Services Authority and the police investigating a firm that was promising investors returns of between 6 and 13 per cent per month. It is said that £80 million may be involved. Assets including Ferraris,...

Hard on the heels of several cases dealing with whether builders on construction sites are employed or self-employed for employment law purposes, the Treasury has announced yet another review of the employment status of construction workers for tax purposes....

A former contestant on Celebrity Big Brother and frontman of pop group Dead or Alive has won damages of £450,000 after a cosmetic surgeon who treated his lips admitted negligence. Pete Burns, 49, was treated by Dr Maurizio Viel at a London clinic...

In an unusual case, the House of Lords has confirmed that a person cannot benefit from their own wrongdoing. The case concerned a man who had been a passenger involved in the Southall train disaster, in which 31 people were killed and more then 500 injured....

A recent case, in which a dispute arose over the right to terminate a distribution agreement, has illustrated the risks of not having formal written contracts in place governing business transactions. Jackson Distribution Ltd. entered into an arrangement...

A pensioner who developed an asbestos-related disease has won compensation for his illness. The man, who had worked for a variety of employers in the Cambridgeshire area, was exposed to asbestos at work on a daily basis. Despite this, he was neither offered...

A property and affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a power of attorney which allows you to authorise one or more named persons to make decisions on your behalf in order to manage your property and financial affairs if you are no longer able or willing...

It is common that where a lease is sublet or where the lease is to a company, a guarantee arrangement will be put in place whereby the former tenant or a director of the lessee company guarantees performance of the lease. In the event that the tenant fails...

The recent case in which the Court of Appeal ruled that a German heiress was able to rely on a pre-nuptial agreement made with her husband was widely reported as meaning that the traditional view of the courts, that ‘pre-nups’ are little more...

Online auction house eBay has secured an important result in its battle to avoid liability for counterfeit goods sold via its trading website, following a recent ruling by the High Court. Cosmetics giant L’Oréal failed in its claim to make eBay...

A student who was injured after a pub seat collapsed underneath him has received £1,200 in damages from the brewery. Faisal Hakeem, 20, was out with friends at a bar in Manchester when the bench on which he was sitting gave way. A protruding nail...

When the new legal year started on 1 October 2009, a new Supreme Court for the United Kingdom replaced the House of Lords as the highest appeal court in the land. It will act as the final court on points of law for the whole of the United Kingdom in civil...

Following changes in the tax legislation governing the income tax payable by non-domiciliaries, and some relevant tax cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued a new guidance booklet (HMRC 6) . This replaces the old guidance, which was contained in...

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a new code of practice giving guidance to businesses and other organisations that collect personal information, to enable them to comply with best practice when issuing notices to their customers...

A teenager who had to have partial amputations of two of his fingers after he was involved in a car accident has been awarded compensation for his injuries. The 18 year old was a passenger in a car which hit an embankment and flipped over. He suffered a...

The Government has announced that it has asked the Low Pay Commission to set a National Minimum Wage (NMW) for apprentices. Currently, apprentices under age 19 do not qualify for the NMW. Neither do those over age 19 who are in the first 12 months of their...

A recent, bitterly contested 'big money' divorce case shows how reluctant the courts are to upset financial settlements on the basis of contingencies and reinforces the point that bad behaviour is not a basis for changing the division of the assets. It...

If you have a licence to sponsor migrants under the points-based system of immigration, you are reminded that you must apply to renew your annual allocation of certificates of sponsorship if you wish to continue issuing certificates for a further year. The...

The UK has some of the strictest laws in the world to protect beneficiaries from rapacious executors and trustees. Recently, a woman who was the co-executor of a man’s will and trustee for his minor child was jailed for three years after making...

The Government has announced that legislation implementing EU Directive 2008/104/EC, usually referred to as the ‘Agency Workers Directive’, will not come into force in the UK until October 2011. At the recent TUC conference, the Prime Minister...

When an easement exists over land, as a general rule it cannot compel the landowner to do anything, it can only prevent them from stopping something being done. This proved the undoing of a  developer, who bought  a piece of land, intending to...

A holidaymaker who suffered kidney failure after he ate a burger contaminated with E. coli has won £750,000 in compensation from the tour operator. Carl Riley, 46, was staying with his girlfriend at a hotel in Egypt on what they hoped would be the...

According to statistics provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Every year 1,000 people who have been involved in carrying out building maintenance and repair work die as a...

In a recent case in the Court of Appeal, the Court ruled that information on a web page under the heading ‘about us’, that contained advice to users to obtain further information, was sufficient to absolve a trade organisation from its...

A man who suffered chemical burns after sitting on a new leather sofa has received a four-figure sum in compensation. Maurice Heminsley, 68, has become the first person in Britain to win compensation after buying a ‘toxic sofa’. The problem...

In a contract, who is responsible for what is determined by the wording; which is why it is crucial to get the wording right from the outset. In a recent case, a company bought oil on a standard FOB (free on board) contract. The oil was of satisfactory...

One of the principal tenets of law in the UK is that a successful action in damages will restore the claimant to the position they would have been in had the 'tort' not taken place: there is no concept of punishment for the person causing the damage. ...

A refuse collector whose shoulder was badly damaged after he tripped on a raised paving slab has achieved a settlement of £57,000 in compensation. Alan Shambrook, 55, was collecting recycling boxes when he tripped and fell heavily, injuring his left...

The concept of ordinary residence is an important one in tax law, especially the law relating to Income Tax as it applies to people coming to live in the UK. The general principles were originally set out in booklet IR20, published by HM Revenue and...

Directors of companies which become insolvent can find themselves in the firing line if they are found to have been complicit in the company engaging in ‘wrongful trading’ – continuing to trade and to incur debts when there is no realistic...

In a recent case involving an attempt to rescind a contract to purchase a leasehold property, the High Court ruled that where a special condition of sale is written into a contract and this is inconsistent with the usual standard conditions of sale, the...

A man whose wife died of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, heart or abdomen and is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos, has won an undisclosed amount in compensation. June Probin, who was a trained nurse, knew...

Brand value is an increasingly important issue in an economy in which intellectual property underpins the value of many businesses. The UK Intellectual Property Office has initiated a process to arrive at a new standard for the valuation of brands. For more...

When a company becomes insolvent (as many have in the last year or so) one effect  is that its shares will normally have nil or negligible value and the holder of the shares will therefore normally show a ‘book loss’ on them. Such losses can...

Two brothers have won a substantial undisclosed amount in compensation after blood transfusions they underwent at the Royal Liverpool Hospital were found to have poisoned them. Paul and Liam McNeely, 39 and 35 respectively, both suffer from a rare form of...

The importance of having an up-to-date will is highlighted by the events following the death of a wealthy Scotsman. His personal circumstances had changed but his will had not. The man separated from his wife in 2005 and each signed an agreement that they...

Sometimes, the courts are called upon to decide matters which are so obvious that the mind boggles as to how a case was brought in the first place. A recent case involving a local council is just such a puzzle. The council was concerned that the dilapidated...

A landlord who decided to go for a stroll when the hearing of his case was delayed was left to count the cost of the judge’s displeasure recently. During the hot weather last July, the landlord, who was contesting his tenant’s right to have her...

Following the recent decision of the House of Lords, granting Debbie Purdy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, the right to clarification from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the circumstances in which a relative of someone who wishes to end...

The Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) enquiry into price-fixing in the construction industry has now been completed and it has been announced that 103 firms are being fined a total of more than £129 million for participating in anti-competitive...

The new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates apply from today (1 October 2009). For workers aged 22 and over, the rate has increased from £5.73 to £5.80 an hour. The rate for 18 to 21-year-olds has risen from £4.77 to £4.83 and for...

The UK Intellectual Property Office has introduced a number of changes that will apply to applications for new trade mark registration. View the changes .  ...

The Companies Act 2006 is now fully in effect. Here are some useful sources of information on the Act. For more information and advice on your circumstances, contact us. Companies House Overview . Changes Implemented on 1 October 2009. ...

A man who contracted a potentially fatal disease whilst on honeymoon in Venezuela has won £286,500 in compensation from the tour operator. After their wedding, Julian Hurley, 50, and his wife Jayne went on a package holiday to South America with First...

If you have acquired shares in a company through an employee option, a recent change may affect you. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have received legal advice which has made it necessary for them to issue revised guidance on the Capital Gains Tax (CGT)...

It is common for the licence of managed premises to be held in the name of the owner of the premises (such as a brewery) rather than that of the tenant, since it makes it administratively more simple if the tenant changes. However, if the tenant then...

A fitter whose hands have been permanently damaged through the regular use of vibrating tools at work has been awarded damages. Anthony Barry, 61, worked for the car manufacturer Ford for 33 years. During that time he used a variety of hand-held vibrating...

Employees are protected from discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. The Regulations apply to recruitment, employment and vocational training. There is no qualifying period of...

When a dispute arises under a contract and notices or other documents have to be delivered to the other side in the dispute, it is essential that these are delivered in accordance with the contract terms. This may seem obvious, but proceedings are quite...

The rules relating to the right of residence in the UK have been changing rapidly over the last few years, which has led to a considerable degree of uncertainty as to which rules apply in some circumstances. A recent case in the House of Lords, in which the...

The main type of collusion between firms was the practice of ‘cover pricing’ where tenders are submitted at artificially high prices by firms who do not want to win them, enabling the firm that does to submit a higher tender bid than they would...

The family of a teacher who was killed as he cycled home from work has received £580,000 in compensation. David Kerslake, 44, cycled to and from the Sharples School in Bolton, where he worked as the Head of Science, every day. He was on his way home...

One of the more common reasons for litigation over an estate is when a new will is written or an existing will is changed late in life and the persons disadvantaged by the change allege that the testator (the person who made the will) was not mentally...

When a developer bought a piece of land, intending to build an office block, it was in for a shock. The land benefited from an easement granting access over adjacent land (the garden of a house). This allowed the right of passage of utility companies over...

Back injuries are one of the most common causes of absenteeism in the UK. Each year, employers lose millions of pounds because of lost working days and compensation payable because of injuries sustained in the workplace as a result of poor practice when...

In one of its final decisions before it is replaced by the new Supreme Court, the House of Lords has allowed a confiscation order against a criminal in a judgment that will come as a blow to others in the same line of business. The man was convicted of...

In a claim from a motor dealer who had overpaid VAT for several years and reclaimed the VAT overpaid with interest, the High Court has recently ruled that a trader who is due a tax refund for overpaid VAT can, in principle, claim compound interest. This is...

Unlike some countries, the UK allows a will to be varied if the beneficiaries under it all agree. A variation of a will is often an effective way to save Inheritance Tax or to provide a fairer division of assets. However, a recent case shows that with...

Businesses which own patents need to have a system in place to ensure that they do not lapse by default. Failure to pay patent renewal fees will mean that the patent lapses and the previously patented material is then capable of being exploited by anyone. ...

A young man has received £40,000 in compensation after he was mentally and physically bullied by two football coaches. The young man was attending a sixth form college in North London under a scheme designed to encourage promising footballers to...

Dubious business practice will always be with us, but it is more likely to be uncovered when business is tough. Directors who discover such practices within their companies can find themselves in a difficult situation. This is especially common when a...

The first charge of corporate manslaughter since the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMA) came into force last year was recently made against a company based in Gloucestershire and the trial is scheduled to begin in early 2010. ...

The family of a man who died in 2007 of an asbestos-related disease has won the right to compensation. The man used to work as a self-employed tailor but lack of business forced him to change his line of work in order to support his family. He took a job in...