Insights: Legal Updates - May 2012

If a piece of advice is correct when given, but later becomes obsolete due to a change in circumstances, is there a continuing duty to advise the recipient? This was the question the court had to consider when Shepherd Construction Ltd brought a claim against their solicitors, Pinsent Masons LLP, following the outcome of an […]

Dream Bags and Jaguar Shoes were adjacent shops in London’s Shoreditch, an area that has become a trendy and artistic neighbourhood in recent years. The two shops were acquired in 2001, knocked into one and turned into a café, bar and art gallery. The old shop signs were left in place and the venue used […]

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) provide employees with a number of key protections when the organisation in which they work is transferred from one owner (the transferor) to another (the transferee). First, TUPE provides for the automatic transfer to the transferee of the employees’ employment on the same terms and […]

It is relatively common for tenants to negotiate the inclusion of a break provision in a commercial lease, enabling them to terminate the lease early. It is also relatively common for such clauses to provide that the break will only be effective if the tenant has paid all sums due to the landlord by the […]

A limitation clause, which prevented claims being brought more than one year after practical completion or performance of the services, was sufficient to strike out an employer’s claim under a building contract. Inframatrix wanted to build a camera factory and Dean was the specialist roofing and cladding contractor. Their contract contained the following limitation clause: […]

The law which applies to cookies changed almost a year ago, on 26 May 2011. Website operators were given a one year grace period within which to implement the changes required by the new regulations. However, time is almost running out. This period is due to expire shortly, on 26 May 2012. You may be […]

Many people like the idea of creating a trust as part of their succession planning. Trusts enable wealth to be set aside for the next generation, but at the same time they can be extremely flexible and be tailored to a family’s changing circumstances and needs (for instance, the trustees can be given discretion about […]

In a move that will certainly impose greater monitoring obligations on ISPs, the High Court has recently ordered five ISPs (Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media) to prevent its users from accessing the Swedish file-sharing site The Pirate Bay by implementing sufficient website access blocks. The claimants in the case were record companies […]

A German court last week passed down a landmark decision holding that YouTube should take greater responsibility for the content which its users post. The ruling related to music clips that had been uploaded and is not only bad news for YouTube but also serves as a reminder to brands and the public that the […]