Knowledge

In this article, we look at the High Court’s recent judgment in Hughes v The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society, where it overturned a decision by the Pensions Ombudsman in relation to a suspected pension liberations transfer.

A recent appeal decision by the Scottish Court of Session highlights the duty of care owed by a borrower’s solicitor to an outgoing lender, as well as serving as a reminder to lenders to be certain of outstanding liabilities when they discharge security. 

It is often said that where a breach of contract occurs, the innocent party has a duty to mitigate its loss. In fact, no such duty exists in law. Instead, it is a general principle that recoverable damages following a breach of contract will be assessed on the assumption that the innocent party has taken reasonable steps to mitigate its losses.

Hear from our property litigation experts as they share their knowledge and experience by discussing recent cases involving property disputes, highlighting the key issues affecting commercial landlords and tenants, developers and surveyors.

An overview of the key changes to UK company law following implementation of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 

In this final part of the construction case law update series, our construction dispute specialists review what they consider to be the top five adjudication cases of 2015 involving construction disputes, highlighting the key aspects in each.

The Incentive Exercises Monitoring Board published a revised and updated version of its Code of Good Practice on Incentive Exercises for Pensions on 1 February 2016. The Code, originally published in June 2012, has been updated to reflect recent industry developments and practices including the 2015 pension flexibilities. 
Our article highlights the six key points to note on the revised Code and will be of interests to sponsoring employers, trustees and others involved in the pensions industry.
 

This case arose in circumstances where a consultant refused to execute a collateral warranty that was requested more than 6 years post-completion, by which time proceedings had been raised against the main contractor for defects in the works. The court agreed to order the consultant to execute a warranty despite an “armada” of arguments that the consultant made for not doing so.

In The Trustees of Scottish Solicitors Staff Pension Fund v Pattison & Sim,  the Inner House of the Court of Session has confirmed the general application of important principles to the interpretation of pension scheme amendments. This is an important decision that confirms the more practical approach adopted by the Scottish courts, as compared to the more technical approach applied in some English decisions.   

We look at the recent Ombudsman determination regarding a failure to make a police officer aware of the potential tax implications of re-employment where he had a protected pension age.

The damage to property in Scotland caused by recents floods is unlike anything many parts of the country have experienced before and this has led to some complex legal queries in relation to damage to properties.

A recent English Court of Appeal decision indicates that an English court can strike out a claim brought before it if it is more closely connected to Scotland than England, even if neither party has raised the issue.

Normally the worst outcome of a work night out is a hangover which can usually be resolved by a bacon roll the next morning. But when a fight breaks out between employees, the outcome for the individuals may be far more significant, and could result in disciplinary sanctions including dismissal. In a recent case involving an altercation at an office function, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that where the two employees involved have behaved differently then it will not necessarily be unreasonable to apply different sanctions.

This article provides an overview of the key issues to consider when using Standard Terms & Conditions.

This year has seen the rise of the headline-grabbing “smash and grab” adjudication; but to what extent are the courts attempting to redress the balance which, under the Construction Act, favours the contractor as payee?

The whys and wherefores of modern mediation in the construction industry. 

We provide a quick checklist of things to think about when employing individuals overseas, in this Part Four of our Going Global Guide.

The various challenges of preparing and enforcing international restrictive covenants are explained in this Part Three of our Going Global Guide.

Our Going Global Guide to employment is essential reading for organisations with international reach. In this Part Two we focus on international employment contracts, jurisdiction and choice of law clauses.