Latest News

Whistleblowing and the Importance of Proving Motive

Establishing that an employee has made a protected disclosure is the first step on the path to success in any whistleblowing claim. However, as a case concerning a dismissed care homes manager showed, it is often much harder to prove that detrimental...

Compulsory Purchase - What Happens if a Landowner's Identity is Unknown?

Many nationally important infrastructure projects would simply not get off the drawing board were public authorities not equipped with the power to compulsorily purchase private land for the public benefit. When it comes to paying compensation, however, what...

High Court Ruling Underlines the Pitfalls of Making 'Inflexible' Mutual Wills

It is legally possible for couples to make mutual wills by which each binds the other not to alter their bequests at any point in the future, save by mutual agreement. As a High Court ruling showed , however, the inherent inflexibility of such arrangements...

Seen One Television Drama? You've Seen Them All - Copyright Ruling

All dramatic works draw on the common human condition and similarities between them, in terms of plotlines and the language used, are inevitable. The High Court made that point in rejecting a screenwriter's claim that her original works were copied by the...

Setting Up Business in a Garden Outhouse? Make Sure You Read This First

One of the social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the creation of a fashion for householders to operate businesses from outhouses in their gardens. However, an important tribunal ruling underlined the legal hazards of such a course . In response to...

Reclaiming VAT on Company Cars - It's Certainly Not Easy

When companies purchase a vehicle, they can reclaim VAT on the transaction only if they can show that they have no intention of making it available for private use. As a case concerning the provision of a high-end Audi car to a director showed , that...

Need Help with Your Tax Affairs? Choose Your Advisers Carefully

Many people who have little understanding of the tax system sensibly seek help from those with greater expertise. However, a case that exposed an apparent loophole in HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) systems showed how important it is to choose your advisers...

Plan to Redevelop Debenhams Department Store Receives High Court Boost

The nation's high streets are changing and moves are afoot to demolish many once thriving department stores and replace them with new homes. As a High Court ruling showed , however, such developments are often highly controversial. A developer wished to...

Mental Capacity and Divorce - High Court Ends 'Empty Husk' Marriage

Only those with the mental capacity to make important decisions for themselves can consent to marriage – or divorce. However, as a High Court ruling made plain , it is in no one's best interests for the law to maintain a marriage that has become no...

Veteran Care Worker Succeeds in Constructive Unfair Dismissal Claim

Employers are often contractually entitled to require their personnel to move from one place of work to another. However, as one case showed, doing so without consultation is a positive invitation to Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings ( Pye v Bolton Cares...

New UK Version of GDPR Progressing Through Parliament

The Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill has received its first reading in the House of Commons, with MPs set to undertake a second reading on Monday, 17 April. The government intends this new UK version of the GDPR to 'reduce costs and...

Disappointed Polar Cruise Couple Triumph in Breach of Contract Claim

Almost everyone has returned from a holiday feeling deeply disappointed, but a right to compensation by no means necessarily follows. However, in one case, a couple whose £20,000 polar cruise fell sadly short of their expectations successfully took a...

Minority Shareholder in Family Business Succeeds in 'Unfair Prejudice' Claim

Minority shareholders may have limited managerial influence but they are very far from powerless and have rights that must be respected. The High Court made that point in coming to the aid of a man whose dividends were unjustifiably suspended after he was...

Want to Keep Your Will a Secret? High Court Ruling Underlines the Pitfalls

Tensions simmer within many families and, when making your will, you may wish to keep its contents secret from your loved ones so as to avoid feeding the fire. As a High Court case showed , however, that makes it all the more vital to engage a solicitor to...

Can Managing Your Personal Share Portfolio be a Trade for Tax Purposes?

With widely differing degrees of success, many enthusiastic investors buy and sell shares on their own account in the hope of boosting their incomes – but can such activities be viewed as a 'trade' for tax purposes? The First-tier Tribunal (FTT)...

What Can a Family Judge Do When Faced With a Parent's Absolute Defiance?

In cases where even a succession of stiff prison sentences has failed to bring about compliance with court orders, what is a judge to do? A family judge faced exactly that quandary in the case of a father who defiantly refused to cooperate in arranging the...

Waste Transfer Station Occupier Succeeds in Slashing Business Rates Bills

Commercial property occupiers who are dissatisfied with the valuation put on their premises for business rates purposes can do a great deal more than just grin and bear it. In a case on point, the tenant of a waste transfer station succeeded in slashing its...

Manager's 'Limitations' Comment Leads to Disability Discrimination Finding

Employers should take careful note of a case in which a manager's reference to the 'limitations' of a bar attendant who suffered from osteoarthritis was adjudged to be unfavourable treatment giving rise to disability discrimination ( Taylor v Hoddom Castle...

High Court Comes to Aid of Widow Left Almost Penniless by Husband's Will

Failing to make reasonable provision for your dependants in your will is to positively invite discord between your loved ones after you are gone. That was certainly so in the case of a man who bequeathed not a penny to his elderly widow . The man wanted...

Japanese Knotweed Victim Wins Compensation in Landmark Nuisance Case

Landowners should sit up and take notice of the Court of Appeal's ground-breaking decision to award thousands of pounds in compensation to a property investor, the value of whose land was blighted by notoriously invasive Japanese knotweed. The case...
  • Page 1 of 5