Most people in the commercial world, even if not lawyers, are aware of what a contract is and may even have heard of a duty of care. Many may even appreciate that a breach of either can give rise to a legal liability. Fewer, however, are familiar with the concept of the fiduciary obligation and …
Continue reading “Beware the long reach of fiduciary obligations”
In April 2014, the pan-European car park operator, Apcoa, obtained the sanction of the High Court in England to a set of schemes of Arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act1. With the group’s finances under pressure, this step was taken purely in order to extend the term of its loan facilities. In September, …
It is with a melancholy heart that the following observation is made: terrorism is more than ever still a very real threat. Immigration policy remains high on the ‘finger-pointing’ list for being a contributing factor. A fair comment? It’s far from an easy one to call. Recent press will show that proposals have been made …
The government is expected to produce draft regulations to introduce a new minimum energy efficiency standard for non-domestic and domestic rented buildings.
The High Court’s decision in Richard Edwards v Jahit Ahmet Ashik [2014] has provided useful guidance on what is required to rebut the presumption that fraudulent pre-contractual representations are taken to have induced the recipient into entering a contract. Timothy Fancourt QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, held that positive evidence that the representee …
Charities and philanthropy continue to have important roles in commercial and public life. Charitable organisations are now used to undertaking a wide array of services and activities that historically would not have been immediately associated with the charities sector. In Scotland, we are nearing the end of the first decade of having in place a …
The Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998 enshrines various rights derived from the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the law of England and Wales. For defendants facing a claim for possession, the rights under Article 8 of the Convention may offer a possible defence. Whether such an argument can …
‘Jurisdiction’ is the power of a court to entertain an action or other proceeding. When parties enter into a transaction they usually include a ‘jurisdiction clause’ alongside a ‘governing law clause’ to determine where and subject to which country’s laws, any future issues should be determined.
As daily news heralds the emergence of the British economy from the worst recession since the 1930s it may seem a strange time to suggest that companies should consider acquiring businesses from companies which go into an insolvency process. However, looking back at past recessions shows that, apart from a spike of insolvencies when the …
Continue reading “Buying businesses from administrators: now is the time to prepare”
Heraclitus was probably right when he said in 500BC that ‘the only constant in life is change’. However, if he was living or working in the UK today as an overseas national, he would probably rephrase this by saying that the only constant is UK immigration law, judging by the frequency with which it changes.