Insights: Legal Updates - February 2019

The European Parliament recently adopted a Resolution setting out its position on the implementation of Directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payments in commercial transactions. Corporate partner Tim Wright provides an overview in his latest article.

The recent decision of Clancy Docwra Ltd v E.On Energy Solutions Ltd is a useful reminder to parties to be clear on how works in a construction contract are defined and incorporated.

On 20 February 2019, the UK government’s Government Commercial Function published “The Outsourcing Playbook”[1] outlining a series of key new policies for making outsourcing decisions and contracting with outside suppliers for the delivery of public services. Against a backdrop of increased scrutiny of government outsourcing, Carillion’s collapse in January 2018, and ongoing financial problems of […]

Whatever your views on Brexit and whether the UK should leave or remain and on what terms, Brexit seems a source of frustration for many people.  The question that the court had to decide was: can a tenant end its lease early because of Brexit?  The outcome will reassure landlords but be a disappointment for […]

In September 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority issued its first ever fine (against Heathrow Airport Limited) in connection with a property agreement breaching the competition law rules . A recent “fast track” application to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) looks to push the door further open to potential challenges to restrictions contained in property agreements.

Despite a wealth of proposals, no clear majority has surfaced for any single legislative option in the House of Commons to manage the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union (Brexit). As such, as an operation of law on 29 March 2019, without an agreed or managed exit (a No Deal), contracts, domestic and international, will need to be reviewed for their effectiveness. Here we explore the potential effects of a No Deal on typical contractual terms.

With the UK remaining set to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, possibly crashing out without a deal, buyers of facilities management (FM) services (who haven’t already) should urgently act to review key contract terms in relation to business critical services and, where appropriate, put in place contingency plans and contract amendments with their providers.

From 1 March 2019, the current 30 day time limit to pay SDLT and file SDLT returns in England and Northern Ireland will in most cases be reduced to 14 days. This new 14 day time limit will apply to: all land transactions with an “effective date” on or after 1 March 2019; and all […]

The Home Office recently published the Second Interim Report from the independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Corporate partner, Tim Wright, discusses the impact and recommendations of the transparency statements.

Opco/Propco structures have long been popular in the hotel sector. IHG, Accor and Hilton are just a few of the big names who have split Propcos from Opcos. Many smaller groups have also found it to be an attractive model. There are, of course, commercial reasons why many hotel owners have put these structures in […]

Famous fashion model Gigi Hadid is being sued in the USA for copyright infringement, and not for the first time. Hadid is widely considered to be one of the most well-known models in the world, and has appeared in all of the major fashion publications over the last year. However, Hadid has found herself in […]