Business property relief
Wills and probate
‘Same-roof’ rule in criminal injuries compensation
Personal injury.
Brexit white paper
Legal update: immigration law
Cliff Richard vs the BBC
Media and privacy.
Assessing the adjudication pilot
Professional negligence.
Cryptocurrencies in divorce settlements
Family law.
Duty of candour
Local government.
Enforcement of arbitral awards
Civil procedure
Protecting the vulnerable
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children or adults at risk and protect them from harm.
GDPR and those emails
Freedom of information
Boilerplate clauses and implied terms
Legal update: commercial property
Interim orders for sale
Family law
What now for the discount rate?
Legal update: personal injury
Lawfulness of fracking works
Legal update: local government
QOCS transitional provisions
Important questions concerning the interpretation and application of the provisions under the qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) regime (CPR 44.130-44.17) came before the Court of Appeal in Jacob Corstorphine v Liverpool City Council [2018] EWCA Civ 270 (Sir Geoffrey Vos PQBD and Hamblen LJ).
Waiving privilege and ‘cherry picking’
Legal update: professional privilege.
A changing sanctions regime
Does the UK need its own version of the Magnitsky Act?
Financial remedy work
Legal update: family law
Disclosure and litigation privilege
legal update: civil procedure.
Criminal law round-up
A round up of criminal justice elements with Anthony Edwards.
General power of competence
Nicholas Dobson says for local authorities that previously had seen their functional creativity significantly curtailed, the GPC in the Localism Act 2011 promised a brave new world.
Common law duty of care
Personal injury, BLC claims.
E-disclosure and party agreement
The disclosure of relevant documents during the litigation process has been a longstanding and distinctive feature of English civil procedure. However, standard disclosure under the Civil Procedure Rules does not give rise to ‘perfect justice’.
Hair strand testing in care proceedings
The case H (A Child: Hair Strand Testing) 2017 EWFC 64 concerned care proceedings to determine whether H, an eight-month-old removed at birth and then returned to the mother under supervision, should remain in her mother’s care, given a history of drug abuse and the presentation of a positive drug ...
Emerging law and procedure in Wales
Update on the latest legislative developments in Wales.
Applying for relief against forfeiture
Macmillan Cancer Support v Hayes [2017] EWHC 3110 (Ch)
EU treaty breaches and national courts
Undertakings investigated by the European Commission that offer commitments, while avoiding a formal finding of infringement binding on the national court, may not prevent those who consider themselves harmed by the conduct from bringing actions for damages.
Planning consent contrary to advice
What legal duty does a local planning authority have to state reasons behind a decision, against the advice of its own professional advisers, to grant a controversial development?
Future status of EU citizens and families
On 8 December 2017 the European Commission and UK government issued a Joint Report on the progress of article 50 talks to date. A week later the stage was set to proceed.
Privacy and disclosure
Two recent cases at the Court of Appeal considered the application of article 8 to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
Pre-action disclosure of insurance policies
Peel Port Shareholder Finance Company Ltd v Dornoch Ltd [2017] EWHC 876 (TCC) serves as a reminder of the court’s approach to the rules on pre-action disclosure and the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the 2010 act).
Employment: Is the gig finally up for Uber?
The ride-hailing business has been doing battle in the UK employment tribunals – and it has not fared well.
Councillor disqualification
The government is considering the disqualification criteria for councillors and mayors – and practitioner feedback is welcome
Litigation – 2017 in review
BPE Solicitors v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21, a solicitors’ negligence claim, was the Supreme Court’s first opportunity to review the 20-year-old House of Lords SAAMCO principle, which underpins the calculation of loss in professional negligence claims. The court reaffirmed the SAAMCO judgment, referred to by Lord Sumption as ‘one of ...
Criminal: General defences
In R v Riddell [2017] EWCA Crim 413 the court confirmed that self-defence can potentially be a defence to allegations of both dangerous and careless driving.
Commercial property: Restrictive covenants
There are few cases so iconic that lawyers remember the names long after university or law school. One is Tulk v Moxhay [1848], the case on the restrictive covenants which have prevented building on Leicester Square. The date of that case demonstrates that well-drafted restrictive covenants on land are an ...
Data protection: Preparing for GDPR
No excuses for confusion on day one of the new regime.
Going Dutch
The Netherlands has published draft rules for its new English language commercial court, which will seek to exploit Brexit by targeting international dispute resolution.
Assisted dying: A right to autonomy and dignity
Stage is set for the next round of assisted dying litigation.
Cards on the table for criminal solicitors
Ivey could cause a revision in the laws on dishonesty.
Personal injury: Foster carers and vicarious liability
Supreme Court reverses decision of the Court of Appeal, deciding that a local authority could be vicariously liable for torts committed by foster carers against children in local authority care.
Council vicariously liable for abuse committed by foster parents
Lawyers will need to pay close attention to local authority contracts with independent fostering agencies.
Construction: Adjudication – unilateral withdrawal
Can the referring party withdraw a dispute from adjudication and subsequently refer the same dispute to a second adjudication?
Partnership agreements: Lateral hires and restraint of trade
How far can a law firm go to protect its business from the threat of team defections?
Intellectual property: A stress on technical advantages
The US Federal Circuit’s latest struggles with the Alice decision could have a positive impact for UK patent litigators
Property: Clarity needed for process for obtaining writs of possession
Partridge has reduced the confusion surrounding rules in relation to obtaining wits, but these are small steps.
Education: Ofsted marked its own homework
Durand Academy Trust School challenged critical Ofsted report.
Family: Undertakings and variations
Birch v Birch emphasises the variation of family orders.
