Insights: Legal Updates - October 2013

Estate planners may dismiss the recently reported Court of Appeal case of Slutsker* v Haron Investments Ltd & Another ([2013] EWCA Civ 430) as one for divorce lawyers only. However, for anyone engaged in setting up trusts or other wealth structuring vehicles, the case is an intriguing one. The facts; in brief. In 2000, with […]

Two recent cases have involved foreign parties trying to resist orders for the disclosure of documents on the ground that it would be contrary to their local law. In National Grid Electricity v ABB Limited and 22 others [2013] EWHC 822 (Ch) French companies were required to provide specific disclosure in connection with a claim […]

In a recent court case the judge made an important finding on the wording of a “net contribution” clause, and awarded significant damages for distress and inconvenience arising out of the repair of defective work. The project was a fairly standard one. Mr and Mrs West purchased a five floor house close to the Thames […]

The basis of image rights differs from region to region, causing confusion especially when it comes to cross-border player transfers. Mark Buckley explains how effective legislation is in various countries. There was huge press interest in the transfer of English Premier League (EPL) Tottenham Hotspur footballer Gareth Bale to Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid, […]

On a week’s escape from the office recently, I had the pleasure of residing at a rather swanky Yorkshire hotel for a few days. I was enjoying the novelty of a leisurely read of the paper over breakfast when I found my attention drawn to a conversation ensuing offstage left. A lady was regaling her […]

New Subject Access Code of Practice Subject Access Requests (SARs) are the device under which individuals can ask businesses to supply them with details of what personal information is held on the individual concerned, as a statutory right under the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The body responsible for enforcing the DPA, the Information […]

On 12 September 2013 the High Court dismissed the petition of a German national who had incurred substantial debts, almost exclusively in Germany, to be declared bankrupt (Re Wilfried Löffler). Alexander Wildschütz and Lisa Serrant of Fladgate’s Banking Litigation team acted for the opposing German bank. For some time debtors from across the EU have […]

I know from having worked with lawyers across the shores from the British Isles that not all jurisdictions place an emphasis on making a will to control the distribution of a person’s assets on death. Some countries set down rules that govern where a deceased person’s assets will pass and therefore a ‘testamentary disposition’, as […]

Historically there has been significant investment by overseas individuals and corporations in property in England and Wales and in particular in central London which is perceived as a safe haven for overseas investors. Much of the recent overseas investment has been focussed on residential property, but there has also been substantial investment in commercial property. […]

Many commercial agreements provide for the resolution of disputes by arbitration as opposed to through national courts. This is often for reasons of confidentiality, enforceability of the final award or tribunal neutrality. But what if your contract counterparty, in breach of an agreement to arbitrate disputes in London, either threatens to, or does, issue court […]

Bank Mellat, an Iranian bank, appealed to the Supreme Court in its claim against HM Treasury ([2013] UKSC 39) that sanctions imposed on it under the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 were arbitrary, disproportionate and also unlawful because of a failure to give prior notice and any opportunity to make advance representations. The bank also claimed that […]

When a person loses capacity to look after their UK situated assets, usually someone has to assume responsibility for their management. The well advised have often made an Enduring Power of Attorney, or nowadays, a Lasting Power of Attorney naming someone they trust to act as their attorney. For everyone else, there’s the Court of […]