Pitt v Holt and Futter v Futter These keenly awaited appeals will be the first review by the Supreme Court of the controversial Rule in Hastings Bass which, for 35 years, has been used to avoid dispositions of trust property where the trustee failed to take material considerations into account. The March 2011 CoA ruling […]
Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC v AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant This appeal concerns the scope of the courts’ jurisdiction, under the Senior Courts Act 1981, to grant declaratory and injunctive relief in support of an arbitration agreement in circumstances where there is no arbitration in existence or contemplation. In those circumstances the courts’ powers under the […]
Scullion (appellant) v Bank of Scotland (trading as Colleys) This case is one of the most important concerning valuers’ liability in the UK following the last property market crash. The CoA ruling in June 2011 stopped a potential barrage of claims against surveyors from investors in the buy-to-let market. This decision is now being appealed. […]
Bloom & Ors v The Pensions Regulator & Ors, Re: the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan; Lomas & Ors v The Pensions Regulator & Ors, Re: the Lehman Brothers Pension Scheme This long-running battle will have ramifications for the way the Pensions Regulator takes action against insolvent companies and how companies structure their pension schemes. […]
Benedetti v Sawiris Italian businessman Alessandro Benedetti claims he is owed a financial reward after he acted as a facilitator for Naguib Sawiris in his acquisition of Wind Telecommunicazioni. The acquisition agreement contemplated the financial reward but the ultimate deal was different from the original and it was decided that Benedetti’s brokerage services were not […]
Today’s feature unashamedly celebrates success. Don’t despair: despite the generally gloomy economic conditions and the demise of firms such as Cobbetts, there are still spots of brightness out there. This week we profile some of the most forward-thinking firms in the UK market. Most currently reside in the second half of The Lawyer’s UK 200, […]
Third-party litigation funders stand by to fill the gap on case running costs As the implementation of the Jackson reforms moves closer, some firms are considering how best to make use of the contingency fee model, or damages-based agreements (DBAs), as they are to be known in the UK. The new model is intended to […]
DoH chooses Bevan Brittan, Mills & Reeve and Wragges for legal operations After bungling its first attempt at a tender, the Department of Health (DoH) has picked three firms to advise it on creating and running a property company. Then-health secretary Andrew Lansley announced as far back as early 2012 that the Government was to […]
When the great training report finally arrives it may not answer the big questions The long-awaited Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) was intended for publication in December. The SRA then pushed this back to 16 January. Just five days before that the regulator announced another delay, saying the team behind the review needed more […]
Chris Hale to shore up London HQ as Travers Smith senior partner Prerequisites for being a good senior partner include respect among colleagues, longstanding internal knowledge of the firm and a way with people that makes you an impressive representative of the business. Chris Hale has these attributes as, perhaps, Travers Smith’s most illustrious corporate […]
Lack of accountability and minuscule nature of payouts throws doubt on whether fines are a serious deterrent Almost every week there seems to be an announcement that some regulator has settled claims for a sum of money that to most seem staggering. Yet the question remains: are eye-wateringly high US dollar settlements true deterrents for […]
Lawyers with football club clients should not underestimate the tough new financial controls regime Football clubs that splash the cash and then go bust let down their fans and their employees. Financial controls that prevent this from happening are good and necessary. The Premier League has recently followed the lead of Uefa and published proposals […]