Insights: Legal Updates - December 2016

The Civil Justice Council’s Civil Litigation Review Working Group has released a report on the rarely used provisions in the CPR for “hot-tubbing” expert witnesses.  Hot-tubbing was introduced in 2013 as part of the Jackson reforms.  It involves judge-led questioning and the court hearing concurrent evidence from experts in a particular field. The working group […]

Whilst developers, owners and investors keep close tabs on the value of their property portfolios, most neglect to consider the intangible assets that exist within their bricks and mortar. IP rights can come in many forms, including building design, names, nicknames and addresses, all of which need careful safeguarding in this day and age. Eddie Powell and Oliver […]

We explain the key pitfalls hoteliers should avoid when undergoing construction projects. Too many construction projects encounter problems that can easily lead to delays and cost overruns if not managed properly with some of these issues arising on projects in the hotel sector. Whilst many hotel projects proceed without incident, there are some well-known examples […]

Shopping centres face big competition in the lead up to Christmas. Christmas favourites such as twinkling Christmas lights and a Santa’s grotto can prove essential in ensuring a shopping centre’s success at the busiest time of the year. In most centres it is usual for the responsibility of providing these festivities to remain with the […]

All hotel developers, regardless of the level of experience, can easily encounter similar pitfalls that cause delays and increased costs. In many cases these traps would seem to present a lesson in how not to build a hotel. So for those looking to commence such a project, let us consider the most common causes of […]

Christmas is coming and professional squatters are surveying high streets throughout the country for convenient vacant units from which they can trade over the festive season.  Not only that though – there are, apparently, websites where convenient empty units can be located. Six to eight weeks’ trading in rent and rate free accommodation is all […]

According to reports, online retail giant Amazon planned to hire 20,000 temporary staff at its UK fulfilment and distribution centres to cover the expected 2016 Christmas rush.  Marks and Spencer had 14,000 temporary roles available and Argos was hoping to hire an additional 10,000 workers for the same period.  Whilst it is to be expected […]

The Government has confirmed its intention to make UK residential property held indirectly by non-doms through an offshore structure chargeable to UK Inheritance Tax (IHT).  As planned, this will begin on 6 April 2017. Although the proposal was first announced as far back as July 2015, draft legislation effecting this change was only published on […]

We considers what effect the shorter and flexible trial schemes have had on practice As is well known, the growing cost of litigation and the delays to court availability have become a great cause of frustration, turning parties to alternative forums. It has, however, been just over a year since two pilot schemes were introduced […]

Every year sees new developments in employment law, and 2017 will be no different. Caroline Philipps, an associate in the Fladgate Employment team, looks at those areas of employment law that are likely to be of greatest interest in the New Year. Equal pay One of the most anticipated developments in employment law in 2017 […]

Construction management has fallen out of favour in recent years, but with the possibility of both cost savings and cash flow benefits on offer, is it worth reconsidering construction management as the procurement method for your project? What is construction management? Construction management is a procurement method for managing construction works.  It became popular during […]

A lot of time, energy and concentration is spent by tenants settling heads of terms and negotiating the lease when they first look to take a new lease. But, as the needs of tenants vary and change throughout their lifecycle, tenants often need to adapt the property they are trading from. They need increasing flexibility […]