Insights: Legal Updates - August 2013

Some recent judicial decisions in the Technology and Construction Court show the court is taking a less compromising attitude to litigants. In the case of Venulum Property Investments Limited v Space Architecture Limited and others, Venulum had failed, by a mistake, to serve its particulars of claim within the time limits allowed by the court. […]

A Court of Appeal decision[1] has confirmed that a tenant’s deposit needs to be protected where: the initial fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy (AST) was entered into before 6 April 2007; and the initial fixed term ended at some point after 6 April 2007 and the tenancy has not been renewed or determined, so a statutory […]

The deductibility of debts for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes is a hot topic at the moment, following the changes introduced to IHTA 1984 by this year’s Finance Act. However, it’s easy to overlook more mundane loans between family members. Not surprisingly, these loans often remain undocumented as they tend to be informal arrangements. However, that […]

The success of private companies depends on there being a functioning relationship between the key stakeholders, in particular the shareholders and directors. In this article we consider the measures that can be taken at the outset of a business relationship to minimise the likelihood of disagreements and also the avenues available to obtain redress where […]

If you’ve ever bought a property with someone else, chances are that your lawyer asked you a slightly strange question: “How do the co-owners want to own this property?” To which you probably felt like replying – “Jointly? (Is this a trick question?!)”. The law gives co-owners two options. They can own the equity in […]

The rigging of certain LIBOR rates has led to regulatory action in the UK, US and Switzerland and at EU level, and more is yet to come, including antitrust action as well as criminal proceedings against individuals. LIBOR rates were widely used to set interest rates on loans and in interest rate swaps and other […]

1 April 2013 saw the introduction of the most far-reaching changes to the Civil Procedure Rules since they were introduced in 1999. They are the result of a review, undertaken by Lord Justice Jackson in 2009, into whether changes in case management procedures could bring about more proportionate costs in litigation. While the new focus […]