Insights: Legal Updates - March 2012

Does a contractor have a right to withhold payment if a subcontractor is proceeding slowly? What if the contractor has an express right to terminate the subcontract for subcontractor delay? Could this be sufficient to withhold payment? This situation was considered in the recent decision of Leander Construction Ltd v Mulalley. Leander was employed by […]

An interesting valuation case has just been concluded: Coleridge v Sotheby’s [2012] EWHC 370 (Ch). It concerns the Coleridge Collar. That is a gold chain of office that was worn by the judge Lord Coleridge while he was Chief Justice of Common Pleas until 1880, when the post was abolished. Historically, the chain had been […]

In 2008, the Government introduced new legislation which gave local authorities the power to charge a new levy on developments in their area. The money that is raised by the levy can be used to fund local infrastructure. Most local authorities are preparing to introduce a levy and a few local authorities already have a […]

It was a developer’s nightmare: all 94 properties on their estate were affected by inadequate foundations. Shortly after construction the owners were reporting that because of cracking the properties were unsaleable, difficult or impossible to mortgage and they could not obtain any insurance against the risk of subsidence. What went wrong? The estate was built […]

The European Commission has unveiled sweeping provisions to reform data protection laws which will apply to all EU countries, including the UK. A number of these have been widely trumpeted, such as the so-called “right to be forgotten”, but the proposals do represent a significant change in the way that protection thresholds will be set […]