All I want for Christmas is…a rent review?
Christmas is fast approaching and with all of the distractions of the season it might be easy to forget that a rent review may be due under your lease, particularly…
Willans
Solicitors
Charities and leases – what trustees need to know
Regardless of their legal structure, all charities have to comply with certain requirements when dealing with land. Most of these duties set out in the Charities Act 2011 (the Act),…
Alasdair Garbutt LLB (Hons)
Partner
Duomatic principle throws shareholder consent under spotlight
The Duomatic principle is a long-established common law principle of company law. It allows shareholders of a company to consent to a matter informally, without the need for attending and…
Chris Wills LLB (Hons)
Partner
New protection for businesses against groundless threats
Under intellectual property law, individuals and businesses are protected from threats of legal action for infringing a third party’s intellectual property rights (IPRs) when those threats are groundless and unjustified.…
Paul Gordon LLB
Partner
Equal Pay Day throws gender pay gap into the spotlight
This year, Equal Pay Day falls on Friday 10 November, which signifies the date of the year on which, as the gender pay gap reveals, women effectively stop earning in…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Unexpected liability for contaminated land
You might think that it would be safe to allow a statutory body such as the local authority onto your land to carry out potentially contaminating activities (such as landfill),…
Alasdair Garbutt LLB (Hons)
Partner
Residential care: your legal questions answered
Planning for the future can be daunting, at best. It is therefore sensible to seek legal and financial advice when you are considering taking big steps, such as moving into…
Rachel Sugden LLB (Hons), TEP
Partner
New debt recovery protocol 2017: what do you need to know?
On 1 October, a new debt recovery protocol came into place which should be complied with before proceedings are issued by a creditor. It is designed to reduce the amount…
Megan Bullingham BA (Hons), FCILEx
Associate, chartered legal executive
Navigating the age of ‘Taylor’-made working practices
The modern workplace is increasingly characterised by flexible, ad hoc working as more people become self-employed or work under zero hours contracts. A flexible workforce can benefit businesses that have…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Bringing commercial property up-to-date - factors to consider
Many people see an opportunity in buying a house at a reduced price as it needs refurbishment or complete renovation. Equally, in the commercial sphere, there is scope for tenants…
Alasdair Garbutt LLB (Hons)
Partner
How to incentivise employees in growing businesses
How can small, growing companies incentivise their employees? One way is by putting an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme in place, which can motivate staff to invest their time and…
Willans
Solicitors
Reality rules – business rates on development property
Property owners and occupiers who are developing vacant commercial premises will be delighted with a recent decision of the Supreme Court. Up to now there has been some confusion over…
Nigel Whittaker BA (Hons)
Partner
Giving free professional advice? You may still owe a duty of care
In Lejonvarn v Burgess (2017), the Court of Appeal has confirmed that a person who provides professional services to friends might do so on a “professional basis” and thereby assume…
Willans
Solicitors
What businesses need to know about the proposed E-Privacy Regulation
There has been a lot of talk recently about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but not so much about the new proposed E-Privacy Regulation (EPR), the breach of which…
Willans
Solicitors
Common sense prevails in appeal case
The courts have long been against clauses which limit or exclude a party’s liability and have thus tended to interpret them strictly using a variety of methods, including the contra…
Chris Wills LLB (Hons)
Partner
A step too far? Discriminatory dress codes in the workplace
In December 2015, Nicola Thorp was sent home from her job as an agency receptionist, without pay, for failure to comply with the agency’s dress code. She was wearing flat…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Tribunal confirms voluntary overtime must be included in holiday pay
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed, in the case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts (and others), that employees who receive regular payments for voluntary overtime should have those…
Helen Howes LLM
Senior associate, solicitor
Breaking news - employment tribunal fees scrapped
The Supreme Court has made history today by ruling that fees for bringing an employment tribunal case to court are unlawful. The court found that the fees prevented access to…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Protecting your business in the age of cyber-crime
Cyber-crime has made many headlines recently and it is more important than ever to guard your business against this ever-evolving threat. The potential consequences of a cyber-attack may include: the…
Nick Southwell BA (Hons)
Partner
ICO view on Virgin’s release of Jeremy Corbyn train footage
You may recall a while ago Jeremy Corbyn’s public criticism of a “ram-packed” Virgin train, in which he released a video showing him sitting on the carriage floor. Virgin Trains…
Willans
Solicitors
Playing fair in the ‘gig’ economy – advice for employers
In a recent report, former work and pensions committee chair Frank Field MP has warned that the government must intervene in order to prevent exploitation of ‘gig economy’ workers. A…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Requirements for reporting on payment practices for large companies and LLPs
Large companies and large limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are now required to report on their payment practices and policies in relation to certain specified contracts, according to The Reporting on…
Willans
Solicitors
The GDPR is coming – guidance to date
There has been much in the press lately relating to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is due to be implemented on 25 May 2018. There will be hefty…
Chris Wills LLB (Hons)
Partner
New regulations surrounding changes to PSC registers
Since 6 April 2016, companies and LLPs have needed to keep a register of individuals or legal entities that have significant control over them. This is known as a PSC…
Willans
Solicitors
Value of inheritance tax receipts has reached a record level
A recent government report has shown that the value of inheritance tax receipts collected by HMRC has reached its highest point since the current system was introduced in the 1980s.…
Simon Cook LLB (Hons), TEP
Partner
New partner for our commercial property team
We are pleased to announce that we have appointed Alasdair Garbutt as partner in our commercial property team. Alasdair began his legal career with City firm Nabarro LLP and joined us…
Alasdair Garbutt LLB (Hons)
Partner
Prescriptive rights – whose land is it anyway?
For prescriptive rights to arise over land, they have to have been exercised without force, secrecy or permission of the landowner. Winterburn v Bennet In the case of Winterburn v Bennett, the…
Robin Beckley MA (Oxon)
Consultant, solicitor
What kind of ‘endeavours’ should one agree to?
Obligations set out in a contract are normally absolute and failure to satisfy an obligation will be a breach of contract. The parties to a contract may therefore want to…
Willans
Solicitors
Pitfalls of ‘agreements to agree’ – why it pays to be specific
In order to create a legally binding contract, the terms agreed between the parties to an agreement must be sufficiently certain. Sometimes, contracts are written in which particular terms are…
Willans
Solicitors
Lessons to be learned from charity commission inquiry
The Earl of Chester’s Fund is a grant-making trust within the county of Cheshire. The Charity Commission opened a compliance case after receiving a complaint that the charity made a…
Willans
Solicitors
A night to remember?
How do you find accommodation when you are travelling to a new town for a few nights? Do you look for a reliable hotel chain or a homely bed and…
Nick Cox LLB (Hons)
Consultant, solicitor
An overview of current issues surrounding data protection
Data protection issues continue to gather increasing prominence with the introduction of forthcoming new legislation from Europe (which is still likely to affect the UK, despite Brexit) and several key…
Matthew Clayton MA LLM (Cantab), CIPP/E
Partner
Why LPAs are a valuable insurance for business owners
Unexpected incapacity of a business owner can cause financial and operational difficulties for a business. It could, for example, result in no-one having authority to control the business account. Lasting…
Laura Stone LLB (Hons), TEP
Partner
Weigh up risks before suing for damages – a cautionary tale
In the recent case of Marathon Asset Management LLP v Seddon, Marathon brought a claim against Mr Seddon and Mr Bridgeman after they left the business, claiming damages estimated at…
Paul Gordon LLB
Partner
Corporate governance reform to ‘restore trust in British business’
Last year, the business behaviour of Sir Phillip Green of BHS and Mike Ashley of Sports Direct put them in the centre of a media storm. Their very high profile…
Chris Wills LLB (Hons)
Partner
Employee or not employee? That is the question
The days when working relationships were that of ‘master and servant’ have all but disappeared, and we are now left with a rich tapestry made up of the self-employed, employees,…
Jenny Hawrot LLB (Hons)
Partner
