Insights: Publications - August 2012

As I’ve remarked before, court judgments in art cases are always a good read for anyone interested in art. The background in Mr Justice Newey’s 43 page judgment, in the much awaited Vekselberg case, is no exception, and it will be a useful source for students of the works of Russian artist Boris Kustodiev. The […]

Developers and landowners often find that development sites are subject to covenants which prohibit certain actions, such as a change of use, construction or alteration to a building. These covenants are known as restrictive covenants and can have a significant impact on the proposed development. It is, therefore, very important to identify such a restriction […]

In this article we look at some of the issues concerning trustees and beneficiaries where a complaint is made about the performance of trust investments. In recent years in particular, trustees will be excused for having had many sleepless nights, lying awake asking themselves such questions as: Is my fund exposed to any of the […]

This recent case highlights that applications for the court to make a declaration in a dispute which is the subject of an ongoing adjudication will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. In 2007 WW Gear Construction Limited (WW) appointed McGee Group Limited (McGee) to carry out works for a development in south London under a […]

As owners of residential properties will be aware, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 states that any written demands for service charge must contain “the name and address of the landlord”. A recent decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) may well be important to them. In that case the service charge demand contained the […]

Parties negotiating contracts can find themselves spending a great deal of time refining their contractual obligations, be they “reasonable endeavours”, “best endeavours”, “all reasonable endeavours” or some other standard. However, as a recent case highlights, the most important way of avoiding unwanted repercussions is certainty in the obligation itself. The Court of Appeal had to […]

In November 2011 an administration clerk at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court in Essex, became the first individual to be convicted of a personal offence under the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) when he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for bribery. However, of greater concern to companies may be the corporate offence of failing to prevent […]

Legal updates for professionals in the on- and off-shore trust industry.