Insights: Legal Updates - July 2012

Trustees and beneficiaries involved in trust litigation are naturally concerned to understand the circumstances in which they can expect to recover their costs of proceedings (either from another party or by indemnification out of the assets of the fund) or in which they might have to pay another party’s costs. Two English cases establishing the […]

Baby P’s death almost five years ago led to the dismissal of a number of Haringey Council employees. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently upheld an employment tribunal’s decision that the dismissals of the case worker directly responsible for Baby P’s care and her manager, 18 months after the death and 12 months after […]

Motherhood is upon you and you need help. But where to start? What is the difference between a nanny and an au pair? Are there any legal pitfalls? What kind of help do you need? Nannies are childcare professionals. Specific roles may mean they help with the odd task around the house, but their primary […]

According to some, design and build is the right procurement method for all occasions. It started life as a quick and easy way of building industrial sheds where the design was minimal. Giving the contractor the design risk on more complex projects soon became attractive to those employers looking for a one-stop shop approach. But […]

The UK intestacy laws are found in the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (1975 Act) and allow certain family members and dependants to claim against the deceased’s estate if the deceased died intestate or they have not been provided for under a Will. However, the provisions do not address the change in […]

The notice must remain on Apple’s website for at least six months and must specifically refer to the judgment below to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets had mimicked the appearance of Apple’s products. Ever since the first iPad hit the market in 2010, companies around the world have been trying to share […]

A mother who was sent anonymous death threats on Facebook recently won her case to unmask the identity of her abusers. Ms Brooks was sent death threats and offensive messages within hours of posting her support for X-Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza after he was voted off the show. Anonymous accounts were set up and the […]

A clear contract term was recently reversed to give effect to ambiguous heads of terms due to the “sharp practice” of a negotiator, leaving the losing party with a £2.4 million liability. This case concerned a contract between Daventry District Council (Council) and Daventry & District Housing Limited (DDH). The Council wished to transfer its […]

Protecting workers from the effects of asbestos has been a priority of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for several years, so it is surprising to find that the Asbestos Regulations 2006 apparently did not fully implement the EU directive on asbestos. While there could be some debate on whether the 2006 Regulations were compliant, […]