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Commercial property owners are often concerned that residential developments may prejudice their longstanding use of their premises. In a High Court case on point , a football club argued that planning consent was granted for thousands of new homes without...
Exposure to toxic substances at work is often cited as a possible cause of diseases developed later in life. However, as an important Court of Appeal ruling made plain, establishing the plausibility of such causal links may not, by itself, be enough to...
When marketing a company, it may be perfectly legitimate to paint its business and prospects in the best possible light. However, as a High Court ruling showed , the thick application of lipstick to a pig may enter the realms of fraud. The case concerned...
For every headline-grabbing 'big money' divorce case there are hundreds of others where a former couple's assets are simply insufficient to meet their reasonable needs. As a High Court ruling showed, judges take a gender-neutral approach to such cases,...
To state that location is the only important factor when it comes to valuing a home is a cliché and something of a generalisation. However, as an Upper Tribunal (UT) ruling showed , if public infrastructure works render the location of your property...
Those who undergo cosmetic surgery overseas take a step into the unknown and, if things go wrong, it can be very difficult to obtain just compensation. However, as a High Court ruling showed, English lawyers are more than capable of overcoming the challenge...
When an employee utters words of resignation in the heat of the moment, employers are often left in doubt as to whether they should take them at face value. In an important ruling, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has for the first time drawn together...
Couples who run businesses together are often tempted to dispense with paperwork and rely solely on trust. As a High Court ruling showed, however, any relationship may come to an end, leaving both sides wishing they had taken a more formal approach at the...
In deciding where in a supply chain VAT liabilities come home to roost, tax tribunals look to the economic reality of commercial relationships. That was certainly so in a case of critical importance to the burgeoning online trade in academic papers . The...
It is a very rare event for the Court of Appeal to find that a judge's assessment of factual evidence is plainly wrong. However, that is what occurred in an unusual case concerning serious injury said to have been sustained by an unborn child. The boy's...
If you have not been reasonably provided for in a loved one's will, the law may come to your aid. However, as a High Court ruling made plain , your ability to seek legal redress cannot itself be inherited and will expire on your death. Following the deaths...
Those who undergo the challenging process of gender transition are entitled to their employers' full understanding and support in establishing their new identity. A local authority which woefully failed in that obligation by persistently deadnaming a...
Clinical negligence claims inevitably take time to resolve but, as a High Court ruling showed, judges have the power to provide immediate financial assistance to alleged victims long before their cases are settled or come to trial. The case concerned what...
Most investors would agree that the price at which shares are listed on an accredited investment exchange is as reliable a guide as any to their open market value. A tax dispute concerning a gift of shares to charity , however, showed that such an...
As a matter of common humanity, most people would wish damages to be paid to children who are seriously injured in road accidents. As a High Court ruling made plain, however, judges must put sentiment aside and dispassionately weigh the evidence in deciding...
How does one decide whether a commercial tenant 'ought not' to be granted a new tenancy under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ? The Court of Appeal addressed that and other important issues in a guideline case. The tenant of two newsagents'...
Fathers who are denied access to their children are frequently heard to complain that judges do not do enough to support them. In coming down hard on a defiant mother who refused to countenance her child having contact with her father , however, a family...
There are often few, if any, witnesses to accidents at work and accounts of how they occurred may differ dramatically. As a case concerning an injured fairground worker showed, however, judges are adept at weighing up the evidence before reaching conclusions...
The corporate veil affords no protection to directors who have behaved fraudulently. However, as was made plain by a case concerning the frenzied market in the supply of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a great difference between...
Doctors are neither machines nor infallible, but patients are entitled to expect them to exercise a level of care and skill commensurate with their years of training. The High Court made that point in finding that two radiologists breached their duty of care...
Law firms focused on ensuring their clients' peace of mind generally provide secure storage facilities for their important documents. A High Court inheritance dispute triggered by a landowner's missing will underlined the risks of keeping such documents at...
Anti-discrimination laws are often viewed as requiring employers to treat all their staff in the same way. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling made plain, the positive duty to make reasonable adjustments to cater for disabled workers' needs may...
Where a transaction appears to be very one-sided or manifestly more advantageous to one side or the other, judicial eyebrows are likely to be raised. However, as a High Court ruling showed, such an imbalance does not necessarily mean that a bargain should be...
Road traffic accidents happen in the twinkling of an eye and it is not at all surprising that those involved often give differing accounts of what occurred. As a High Court ruling showed, however, motor insurers are relentless in their pursuit of those whom...
Some industrial processes simply cannot be carried on without producing noise and dust. As a High Court ruling showed , however, commercial property owners may be required to pay a high price if their activities enter the realms of nuisance. When a couple...
Having worked hard to establish the reputation of your product, there is nothing more annoying than a competitor marketing rival goods under a confusingly similar name. As a High Court ruling showed, however, registering a trade mark is a highly effective...
Those whose tax affairs are allowed to fall into disarray must live in permanent fear that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will in due course descend upon them. Such anxiety proved well justified in the case of a businessman who was on the receiving end of...
Crime victims often feel that they are forgotten by the legal system once perpetrators have been caught and punished. However, as a High Court ruling showed, a phone call to a solicitor may be all that is needed to start a process which in many cases yields...
A young man who sustained catastrophic brain damage after contracting the herpes simplex virus when he was a baby is set to receive a multi-million-pound settlement of his clinical negligence claim. The man, in his 20s, was a few months old when the virus...
Those who willingly submit contract disputes to adjudication must, save in very exceptional cases, honour the outcome without delay – no ifs, no buts. The High Court resoundingly made that point in a guideline ruling . The case concerned highway...
Most divorcees would, wherever possible, prefer to achieve a clean financial break so that they can regain their independence and move on with their lives. A High Court ruling provided a powerful illustration of why that is a sensible choice. The case...
Every employer should nowadays appreciate that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. As a High Court ruling showed, however, knowledge of the risks has evolved over time and, in a personal injury context, it is not the state of understanding today...
Deficiencies in a workplace disciplinary procedure will very often render a dismissal unfair – but not always. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) made that point in finding that a hospital supervisor's dismissal was fair ( Greater Glasgow Health...
The tale of a devoted son labouring for years on a family farm only to be cut out of his father's will is so often told as to be almost a cliché. However, as a High Court ruling showed , such stories are often reflected in the sad and recurring...
Where seriously injured accident victims have no family or friends to turn to, they can have confidence that personal injury lawyers will fight their corner. In a case on point, a senior solicitor did not let a cancer diagnosis stand in the way of his...
When retail premises are compulsorily purchased by public authorities and forced to relocate, to what extent should compensation be paid for any resulting permanent loss of profit? The Upper Tribunal (UT) considered that issue in a guideline case . ...
The ability of modern medical technology to keep patients' hearts beating and their lungs ventilating has led to a blurring of the boundary between life and death. As a High Court ruling showed , it sometimes falls to family judges to make the desperately...
The High Court has praised the dedication and professionalism of lawyers after they achieved a settlement of a little boy's clinical negligence claim. The boy sustained injuries of near-maximum severity at or around the time of his birth and the settlement...
Companies that suppress their takings, thereby evading tax, may live on the fat of the land for a while. However, as a tax tribunal ruling showed , the corporate veil often affords limited financial protection to their directors when HM Revenue and Customs...
In coming to the aid of a frail and elderly householder, the High Court has ruled in a landmark case that she was on the receiving end of a fraudulent misrepresentation when a would-be purchaser of her home was falsely described to her as a cash buyer. A...
Adventure holidays abroad are increasingly popular but, as a High Court case made plain, tourists should be extremely careful when invited to sign documents before taking part in potentially hazardous activities. A young woman embarked on what was described...
Those who manage companies in a reckless or incompetent manner can expect to be banned from holding directorships in future – but should they also be ordered personally to compensate customers who are left out of pocket? The High Court addressed that...
Parents may be worthy of praise and deeply love their children, but it sadly does not always follow that they are able to provide them with a stable home. The High Court made that point in sanctioning a little boy's placement for adoption . Due to concerns...
When an operation ends badly, leaving a patient seriously disabled, any sympathetic person might think that a damages award will follow as night follows day. However, as a High Court ruling made plain, it is a judge's duty dispassionately to consider the...
Making a will without the benefit of professional legal advice is an excellent recipe for strife between your loved ones after you are gone. That was sadly so in the case of a cancer sufferer who had no understanding that, when she signed her will, she was...
Small businesses not blessed with human resources departments can find it hard to accommodate disabled members of staff who need to take time off work. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling showed, when it comes to catering for their needs, a corner...
Landowners intent on developing their properties can find it intensely annoying when neighbours resist their plans. However, as a High Court ruling made plain, the right to object to planning applications is one of the benefits of living in a democratic...
Early admissions of liability, based on an overall assessment of the likely outcome of a contested trial, are a common occurrence in personal injury cases. However, the weight of the evidence may subsequently shift and, in a guideline ruling, the High Court...
To what extent should landlords who have breached fire safety rules be entitled to recover the costs of remedying such breaches from tenants by way of service charges? The Upper Tribunal (UT) considered that important issue in a case concerning a former...
So-called 'activist' shareholders have a perfect right to seek to influence the strategy of companies in which they hold a stake. In a guideline ruling, however, the High Court shut the door on an environmental charity's novel attempt to make the board of a...
Those who attempt to lie their way to a favourable result in divorce proceedings are more than likely to be found out and hit hard in the pocket. That was certainly so in the case of an elderly entrepreneur who treated his ex-wife's financial claims as if...
When children suffer asphyxia in the womb, a delay of minutes – even seconds – in their delivery can make an enormous difference to the level of disability, if any, that they will endure for the rest of their lives. One such delay was the focus...
There is no reason in principle why someone who is a shareholder and controlling director of a company cannot also be its employee. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling made plain, the assessment of whether an employment relationship does or does...
Borrowers who take out loans at high rates of interest with their eyes wide open may have only themselves to blame. As a High Court case showed , however, such loans may be vulnerable to arguments that they amount to a penalty or are the product of an...
Even where there is a clear-cut answer to the question of who is to blame for a road accident, assessing the damages due to victims requires the highest level of professional skill. That was certainly so in the case of a taxi driver who suffered devastating...
For good administrative reasons, public authorities hold a mass of personal data concerning almost every UK resident. However, as a High Court ruling showed , judges are always alert to the danger of such data being misused. In the course of possession...
People may be blinkered, difficult and downright ruthless but that does not mean that they are incapable of making a rational will. The High Court made that point in the case of a highly successful businessman who all but disinherited his children. By his...
Those who delay lodging clinical negligence or personal injury claims take a serious risk that their cases will be dismissed without a hearing. However, as a High Court ruling showed, even legal deadlines sometimes come second to the overriding requirements...
Restrictions on the use to which properties can be put are often to be found in their title deeds and, in some cases, can have a dramatic impact on their value. A High Court case on point concerned the future of a further education college that was already...
Many families whose loved ones are in hospital on life support understandably cling to the hope that they will in time recover. As a High Court ruling showed, however, where such hopes run contrary to the weight of expert medical evidence, judges have the...
There will always sadly be a few accident victims who exaggerate their injuries with a view to maximising their compensation. A High Court ruling, however, showed the extent of legal and surveillance resources that insurance companies are willing to deploy...
It is obviously impractical for employers to have in place disciplinary policies that set out each and every form of frowned-upon conduct. However, as an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling showed, employees are generally entitled to some forewarning of...
For personal injury lawyers, negotiating and risk assessment skills are just as crucial as their knowledge of the law or their ability as advocates. That was certainly so in a case concerning a seven-year-old girl who was a baby when she was struck down by a...
Many householders are familiar with the often traumatic experience of falling out with builders. However, as a High Court case showed , if their work is not up to scratch or left unfinished, lawyers will bend every sinew to ensure that fair compensation is...
Did business interruption insurance cover financial losses arising from the COVID-19 lockdowns? Few questions have been the subject of more litigation in recent times but, as a High Court ruling showed , there is regrettably no standard answer. The case...
Judges frequently impress on divorcing couples that it is in their own best interests to put conflict behind them and focus on achieving a sensible resolution. However, as a case in which a couple spent £8.4 million fighting over money and their...
An important Court of Appeal ruling provided a clear warning to employers that their indirect – or vicarious – responsibility for the unlawful acts of those who work for them may not be confined to those who are formally on their payroll. The...
Light pollution generated by hi-tech digital advertising displays can be a source of bitter complaint. However, such concerns were insufficient to persuade the High Court to overturn permission granted for the inclusion of one such display in a proposed...
Childbirth is always an anxious time and, for newborn babies, events that occur in a few short minutes can result in a lifetime of acute disability. That was sadly so in the case of a little boy who would have escaped devastating injury had he been brought...
There is a big difference between moral and legal obligations. The High Court made that point in finding that mirror wills signed by a married couple did not impose on either of them a binding obligation not to change their bequests in future, save by...
