Insights: Legal Updates - January 2016

An essential part of any executor’s job is to work out the assets and liabilities of the estate that they are administering. An executor also owes a statutory duty to HMRC to correctly report the value of the estate to it so that, if any Inheritance Tax is due on the estate, the right amount […]

Divorcing spouses in England and Wales have a legal duty to the court and to each other to provide full and frank disclosure of all capital assets, liabilities and income, not just in the UK but also on a worldwide basis. The duty is ongoing until the divorce is concluded, either by court order or […]

The Supreme Court has considered the meaning of “economic activity” and “establishment” for the purpose of deciding whether there can be secondary insolvency proceedings in the UK pursuant to European Regulation 1346/2000. In Trustees of Olympic Airways Pension and Life Assurance Scheme v Olympic Airlines SA [2015] UKSC 27, the court had to decide whether […]

Introduction A number of common law countries in the Asia Pacific region have introduced security of payment legislation for construction contracts.  Such legislation can present a number of pitfalls for the unwary, particularly where payment arrangements are concerned. There are two main approaches to payment terms in construction contracts.  These differing approaches are considered below. […]

In Taurus Petroleum v State Oil Marketing Co [2015] EWCA Civ 835, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal striking out a third party debt order made to enforce an arbitration award against State Oil. The London branch of a French bank had issued letters of credit which contained a promise to make payment in […]

Article 5 in our series of articles on the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 This is the last in the series of articles on the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and the grounds upon which a landlord can oppose a renewal under that Act.  This article looks at the ground in section 30(1)(g), known colloquially […]

In the Autumn Statement last month, the Government proposed that purchases of additional residential properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should be subject to an extra 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on top of the standard SDLT rates. All types of residential property will be caught – second residences, buy-to-lets or furnished holiday […]

For many years, group litigation and class actions have been synonymous with the United States: big claims, reams of claimants and damages measuring in the many millions. More recently, however, we are seeing litigation being brought in this jurisdiction by groups of claimants, borrowing in some respects from the US model but applying a very […]

In Property Alliance Group Limited v The Royal Bank of Scotland [2015] EWHC 321 (Ch), the claimant alleged that it was induced to enter into interest rate derivatives on the basis of the bank’s misrepresentations concerning the setting of LIBOR. The bank was ordered to disclose internal reports and other documents in order to enable […]

“We recently dismissed an employee, who left saying that he would “see us in court”! How long does he have to bring a claim?” The general rule is that an employee has three months less a day from the date of the relevant act or acts complained of – in this case, a dismissal – […]

Background New environmental legislation is endeavouring to make the UK an even greener and more pleasant land. The effect of the “minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) for private rented buildings” will shortly start to affect both commercial and domestic let premises and landlords may want to start taking action now to mitigate the impact.  This […]

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on the basis of certain protected characteristics, for example sex, race, religion and disability. Obesity is not one of those specified protected characteristics. However, when considering a case originally brought in a Danish District Court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently held that obesity may amount to a […]