Legal Briefing

One, two, three: proposals for a Scottish competition authority | Brodies

This article reviews the Scottish Government’s proposals to establish a Scottish Competition Authority in the event of a vote for Scottish independence in September’s referendum. It also identifies some of the potential implications of the proposals for business in Scotland as well as the many unanswered questions that remain. In many ways the Scottish Government …

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Landlord’s disrepair claims: essential guidance for tenants | Falcon Chambers

In a difficult lettings market, the 
expiry of a lease presents the landlord with 
the possibility of an income void lasting many months. It is unsurprising, therefore, that unscrupulous landlords sometimes regard a terminal dilapidations claim as a means of offsetting the leaner times ahead. What can a tenant – faced with a costly and …

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Collective actions in Europe | Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Collective actions can significantly increase litigation exposure for businesses. Progressively, collective action rules are being proposed and introduced in more jurisdictions. The last few months have seen steps at both European and national level towards the adoption of new legislation designed to facilitate actions for collective redress. Sarah Croft, of Shook Hardy & Bacon International, …

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Changes to the Immigration Rules | Magrath Sheldrick LLP

In April 2014, the government made a package of changes to points-based system (PBS) work routes to improve flexibility for applicants and help boost economic growth. The changes include amendments across all tiers of the PBS and some minor changes to the rules on family and private life with updates to the minimum salaries and …

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Revised EU competition rules for technology licensing agreements took effect on 1 May 2014 | Arnold & Porter (UK) LLP

Companies involved in licensing agreements concerning patents, know-how and most types of copyrights that affect Europe have to comply with EU competition law rules on technology licensing agreements. The European Commission (the Commission) revised these rules on 27 March 2014 by publishing new versions of (i) the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER), which shields …

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Environmental compliance moving up the corporate agenda: new sentencing guideline | Burges Salmon

On 26 February 2014 the Sentencing Council published a new guideline for judges and magistrates on sentencing environmental offences. This guideline 
will take effect from 1 July 2014 and will apply to all individual offenders aged 18 or older and organisations that are sentenced on or after 1 July 2014, regardless of the date of …

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Damages for repudiatory breach of contract: don’t assume the worst | Cooley

When a party with which you have contracted informs you that they no longer intend to perform their obligations, this will amount to a repudiatory breach entitling you to terminate the agreement and seek damages. In such a case, you should be entitled to recover the amount that would put you in the same position …

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Directors in Scotland: it’s getting more personal than England | Brodies

A recent decision of the Outer House of the Scottish Court of Session, Campbell v Peter Gordon Joiners Ltd & ors [2013], has introduced a distinction between Scotland and England as to when a director may face personal liability in a civil action for breach of statutory duty. The statute in question was the Employers’ …

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Healthcare apps: comparing the US and UK approaches | Shook, Hardy & Bacon

The life sciences sector in the UK has proved economically robust over recent years, growing in strength and diversity. In particular, healthcare technology has seen the largest growth with turnover reaching £17.6bn in 2013.1 Within this has come an exponential rise in mobile medical applications, known as ‘healthcare apps’ or ‘medical apps’, which focus on …

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Court of Appeal clarifies application of TUPE in administration proceedings | Druces LLP

An important decision of the Court of Appeal in November 2013 has overturned the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of employees made redundant by the administrator of a football club prior to its sale. The decision is relevant to purchasers of business and assets from companies in administration. The club was …

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