Insights: Legal Updates - January 2015

Corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences can result in unlimited fines or even a prison sentence. The courts try to apply a consistent approach to sentencing across England and Wales, and there is a Sentencing Council which publishes guidelines on the appropriate level of fine/prison sentence, depending on a range of factors, such as […]

Six years ago, the fashion industry got a wake-up call on race, amid complaints that many shows and magazines only featured white models. Various initiatives were proposed, and some were even pursued (famously, Italian Vogue published an issue with only black models), at the end of which there was, according to the New York Times, […]

As a general rule, Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable on the net value of assets. In other words, debts are generally deductible when calculating what a person is worth for IHT purposes on death. However, the Finance Act 2013 introduced limitations on the deductibility of certain debts. Judging from a few cases that have come […]

We now have the keenly awaited High Court judgment in The Cardsharps case. This was a negligence claim against Sotheby’s who had advised a Mr Lancelot Thwaytes in 2006 that his painting of The Cardsharps was a copy of Caravaggio’s painting of that name, currently in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Sotheby’s […]

Legislation does not always fit together very well, as we know. For instance, there are frequent clashes between English Heritage exercising its statutory powers, requiring buildings to be preserved as originally constructed, and the desire of designers, contractors and employers to satisfy the CDM regulations by installing protective netting inside guttering, so that working at […]

Victoria’s Secret, the famous lingerie brand, set up a sub-brand for its “college girl” clothing range and decided to call it “Pink”. It opened up Pink-branded retail units, sometimes as part of or connected to a VS store, but sometimes on a stand-alone basis. Much of the clothing sold as the sub-brand had “Pink”emblazoned across […]

As the role of a football manager has become increasingly less stable – particularly at the highest level of the game – the terms of a football manager’s contract have assumed greater significance, given the issues that are likely to arise when club and manager part company. Part one of this article explores current trends […]

After facing a barrage of criticism over the last few years following a series of high profile failures, such as the Tchenguiz affair, the SFO appears to have clawed some pride back after the Sustainable AgroEnergy PLC (SAE) convictions at Southwark Crown Court. But has there truly been a turn in its fortunes? Many believed […]