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Pre-nuptial agreements (PNAs) which are not entered into freely or which have unfair results will generally not be worth the paper they are written on. However, as a High Court case showed, judges are far more likely to treat them as valid if they are signed...
When children suffer injury at birth, the possibility of compensation should always be explored with their future in mind. A case on point concerned an eight-year-old girl who sustained serious damage to her left eye during her forceps delivery. It was...
Development potential is often a critical factor when it comes to calculating amounts of compensation payable to landowners whose property is compulsorily acquired to make way for public infrastructure projects. As an Upper Tribunal (UT) ruling made plain ,...
Many neighbours' disputes may, at least to an outsider, appear trifling. However, as a High Court ruling showed , they matter very much to those involved and, in the absence of amicable negotiation, they can very easily become ruinously expensive. A...
The vast majority of personal injury claims are entirely genuine. However, as a High Court ruling showed, there are very sadly a dishonest few who, in pursuit of large sums in compensation, present exaggerated or fabricated cases. The case concerned an...
Making reasonable provision in your will for those who depend upon you financially is a duty, not a choice. A judge made that point in coming to the aid of two sisters who were left in acute need when their father bequeathed them nothing. In a will made...
Creative people often live in fear of allegations that they have copied someone else's work. However, as a High Court case concerning a CGI dragon featured in a John Lewis TV advert showed, the law provides a route to vindication for those on the receiving...
Exposure to even very low levels of asbestos can be a source of tragedy many years in the future. The point was made by the case of a retired joiner who succumbed to asbestos-related cancer more than 50 years after he worked for just a few days on the...
The belief that you cease to be a UK resident for tax purposes simply by staying out of the country for a certain number of days is a common fallacy. As a TV personality, entrepreneur and property investor found out to his cost, the legal test is very much...
UK nationals who travel abroad for cosmetic surgery or other medical treatments can struggle to obtain damages in the event of a poor outcome. However, as a High Court ruling showed, obstacles posed by national boundaries do not deter English personal injury...
Anyone who engages in contract adjudication proceedings would be wise to assume that the outcome – regardless of whether it is right or wrong – will be legally binding and swiftly enforceable on a 'pay now, argue later' basis. As a High Court...
Many adopted people feel driven to embark on long and demanding quests to find their birth parents. In one case, decades of painstaking research paid off when a woman in her late 70s was granted a court order that completed her sense of identity . The...
Promising young lives are sadly ruined every day by road traffic accidents. Nothing can make up for such tragedies but, as a High Court case showed, compensation can at least soften the blow and give hope for the future. The case concerned a teenager who...
In an era of easy, internet-based mass communication, reputations can, without a shred of justification, be destroyed at the click of a button. As a High Court case showed, however, victims of such behaviour can, with expert legal assistance, achieve both...
Workaholic directors who are not good at delegating may take a slapdash approach to paperwork – but that does not make them dishonest. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) succinctly made that point in relieving a businessman and his company of substantial...
Those who invite visitors onto their property are obliged to take steps to keep them reasonably safe. As the case of a troubled woman who fell from a hostel window showed, even charities are not exempt from that fundamental duty. The middle-aged woman led a...
There are all sorts of good reasons why you should instruct a solicitor to draft your will whilst you are still hale and hearty. As a High Court case showed , waiting until you are old and vulnerable before performing that vital task is to positively invite...
The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 April and provided for the following changes to the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates: The NLW, which applies to those aged 23 and over,...
Personal injury lawyers never cease to be amazed by the tenacity and sheer guts of people who conquer disability to lead active and fulfilled lives. Such qualities were on abundant display in the case of a remarkable young man who received a settlement of...
Many commercial property occupiers whose businesses were interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic remain in dispute with their insurers regarding to what extent, if any, they were covered against such losses. In an important ruling, the High Court found...
A newly purchased house may require a great deal of renovation and repair work to render it habitable – but does that mean it is unsuitable for use as a dwelling for the purposes of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)? A tribunal considered that issue in a...
It is notoriously difficult for victims of crime to successfully sue the police on the basis that they failed to match up to their duty of care. However, as the case of a woman who was repeatedly stabbed outside her home showed, it is not impossible. The...
What is to be done when a company falls into paralysing deadlock, with equal shareholders unable to agree about anything? A judge addressed that issue in a case concerning a former husband and wife whose business and personal relationships had descended...
Disputes between separated couples as to how their children should be provided for can, in the absence of compromise, sadly reach epic proportions. That was certainly so in one extraordinary case in which a couple spent over £5 million between them ...
Even in the teeth of adversity, love will not be conquered. The High Court made that observation in approving the multi-million-pound settlement of a seriously disabled boy's clinical negligence claim. The boy, aged nine, sustained a catastrophic hypoxic...
Establishing that an employee has made a protected disclosure is the first step on the path to success in any whistleblowing claim. However, as a case concerning a dismissed care homes manager showed, it is often much harder to prove that detrimental...
Many nationally important infrastructure projects would simply not get off the drawing board were public authorities not equipped with the power to compulsorily purchase private land for the public benefit. When it comes to paying compensation, however, what...
It is legally possible for couples to make mutual wills by which each binds the other not to alter their bequests at any point in the future, save by mutual agreement. As a High Court ruling showed , however, the inherent inflexibility of such arrangements...
Settlements of personal injury claims involving children or persons with a disability are subject to close judicial scrutiny. That was certainly so in the case of an autistic young man whose stepfather died from asbestos-related cancer at a tragically young...
All dramatic works draw on the common human condition and similarities between them, in terms of plotlines and the language used, are inevitable. The High Court made that point in rejecting a screenwriter's claim that her original works were copied by the...
The word 'accident' is, in common parlance, often used quite loosely. However, as a case concerning a passenger who slipped on board a Ryanair jet showed, it has a very specific meaning in the context of commercial air travel. Wintry conditions afflicted a...
One of the social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the creation of a fashion for householders to operate businesses from outhouses in their gardens. However, an important tribunal ruling underlined the legal hazards of such a course . In response to...
The speed with which road accidents occur can make it extremely difficult to discern with absolute certainty where fault lies. However, as a case concerning a severely injured motorcycle pillion passenger showed, judges are adept at sifting detailed evidence...
When companies purchase a vehicle, they can reclaim VAT on the transaction only if they can show that they have no intention of making it available for private use. As a case concerning the provision of a high-end Audi car to a director showed , that...
Many people who have little understanding of the tax system sensibly seek help from those with greater expertise. However, a case that exposed an apparent loophole in HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) systems showed how important it is to choose your advisers...
The nation's high streets are changing and moves are afoot to demolish many once thriving department stores and replace them with new homes. As a High Court ruling showed , however, such developments are often highly controversial. A developer wished to...
Employers must compensate victims of misdeeds committed by their employees in the course of their work. That is a true statement, so far as it goes, but a Supreme Court ruling in a case concerning a Jehovah's Witness who was sexually assaulted by an elder in...
Only those with the mental capacity to make important decisions for themselves can consent to marriage – or divorce. However, as a High Court ruling made plain , it is in no one's best interests for the law to maintain a marriage that has become no...
Employers are often contractually entitled to require their personnel to move from one place of work to another. However, as one case showed, doing so without consultation is a positive invitation to Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings ( Pye v Bolton Cares...
The Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill has received its first reading in the House of Commons, with MPs set to undertake a second reading on Monday, 17 April. The government intends this new UK version of the GDPR to 'reduce costs and...
Almost everyone has returned from a holiday feeling deeply disappointed, but a right to compensation by no means necessarily follows. However, in one case, a couple whose £20,000 polar cruise fell sadly short of their expectations successfully took a...
Amidst the daily challenge of caring for a disabled child, it is hardly surprising that seeking compensation is far from the top of many parents' priority list. As a High Court case showed, however, it is vital for them to remember that they will not always...
Minority shareholders may have limited managerial influence but they are very far from powerless and have rights that must be respected. The High Court made that point in coming to the aid of a man whose dividends were unjustifiably suspended after he was...
If you suffer loss or injury as a result of an accident that you believe was someone else's fault, you should contact a solicitor immediately. The potential consequences of delay in doing so were underlined by a case concerning a security contractor's death...
Tensions simmer within many families and, when making your will, you may wish to keep its contents secret from your loved ones so as to avoid feeding the fire. As a High Court case showed , however, that makes it all the more vital to engage a solicitor to...
With widely differing degrees of success, many enthusiastic investors buy and sell shares on their own account in the hope of boosting their incomes – but can such activities be viewed as a 'trade' for tax purposes? The First-tier Tribunal (FTT)...
Those who drag their feet in litigation may deserve stern judicial rebuke, but should they be shut out from pursuing or defending a claim? The High Court pondered that issue in the case of a young father who was dying from asbestos-related cancer. The...
In cases where even a succession of stiff prison sentences has failed to bring about compliance with court orders, what is a judge to do? A family judge faced exactly that quandary in the case of a father who defiantly refused to cooperate in arranging the...
Commercial property occupiers who are dissatisfied with the valuation put on their premises for business rates purposes can do a great deal more than just grin and bear it. In a case on point, the tenant of a waste transfer station succeeded in slashing its...
Accidents that happen abroad often present particular difficulties for personal injury lawyers. However, as the case of a young boy who almost died when an open-top tour bus was driven into an overhanging tree branch showed, there are few challenges that...
Employers should take careful note of a case in which a manager's reference to the 'limitations' of a bar attendant who suffered from osteoarthritis was adjudged to be unfavourable treatment giving rise to disability discrimination ( Taylor v Hoddom Castle...
Negotiating settlements in clinical negligence cases involves balancing the prospects of success against the risks of failure in the context of often highly complex medical evidence. That exact exercise was performed in the case of a seven-year-old boy who...
Failing to make reasonable provision for your dependants in your will is to positively invite discord between your loved ones after you are gone. That was certainly so in the case of a man who bequeathed not a penny to his elderly widow . The man wanted...
Anyone who reads the news will know that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is facing a multitude of claims by services personnel who sustained noise-induced hearing loss. In one such case, an ex-Royal Marine who was stricken by tinnitus following an overseas...
Landowners should sit up and take notice of the Court of Appeal's ground-breaking decision to award thousands of pounds in compensation to a property investor, the value of whose land was blighted by notoriously invasive Japanese knotweed. The case...
Disappointed people often claim that others have made themselves rich by usurping their brilliant business ideas. However, as a High Court ruling in a case concerning a thriving online fashion company showed , proving such allegations can be an uphill...
Newborn babies are uniquely vulnerable and delays in delivery or treatment in the immediate neonatal period can have devastating consequences. That was sadly so in the case of a gravely disabled six-year-old boy whose lifelong care was thankfully secured by...
Directors whose companies fail to make accurate VAT returns can expect to receive stiff financial penalties – but only if such failures are deliberate. In a guideline case, a tax tribunal adopted a narrow interpretation of that word in relieving an...
Discerning where an individual is domiciled for tax purposes can involve delving far back into his or her family history. In a case on point, a tax tribunal's inquiries began with the birth of a wealthy businessman's father in Austria at the end of the First...
In public procurement exercises, the tricky business of uploading bids to e-tendering sites can be rendered more hazardous by leaving it to the last moment. In a case on point , a series of minor human errors led to a missed deadline and the loss of a...
Witnesses to road accidents commonly express linear, black and white views as to where responsibility lies. As a case concerning a catastrophic collision in a road tunnel showed, however, judges take a more nuanced and evidence-based approach. After a...
Any proposal for a child to have gender surgery is likely to be subject to close judicial scrutiny. In opening the way for a teenager to undergo a double mastectomy abroad, however, the High Court reminded local authorities that they must always treat the...
A commercial property owner who for years shelled out for drainage bills that it was never obliged to pay must be reimbursed every penny. That was the effect of an important High Court ruling in which utility companies were found to have been unjustly...
People with mental health difficulties are entitled to look to the NHS to protect them from themselves. In a case on point, a young man who was gravely injured when he tried to take his own life by jumping from the first-floor window of his home received...
In rare and exceptional cases, family courts have to intervene to protect the welfare of children even before they are brought into the world. A judge did just that in the case of a baby boy who was at high risk of being born HIV positive . The boy's...
To make a valid will, you need a certain level of mental capacity. However, as a High Court ruling showed, a flawless memory is not required and those suffering from mild cognitive impairment may not be disqualified from expressing their wishes. The case...
Many people are still being carried off by merciless cancer due to asbestos exposure in the dim and distant past. As a High Court ruling showed, it is the very passage of time that makes it so hard for their loved ones to obtain compensation. The case...
Business owners and managers tend to view writing job references as an important but relatively routine task. However, the need to choose words carefully – and to take professional advice where necessary – was underlined by a High Court ruling in...
So-called 'cowboy' builders who demand overpayment for delayed and shoddy work are a curse on householders. However, as a Court of Appeal ruling showed , the law takes a tough line with dishonest tradespeople. The case concerned a builder's work for four...
Fierce competition between retailers, particularly during the Christmas period, has a tendency to spill over into intellectual property disputes. Exactly that happened in a High Court case concerning design rights in festive bottles of gin . A supermarket...
