General

• Franchise dangers

• Franchise dangers

• A costly e-commerce mistake

• E-commerce typo costs hotel dear

• ASA rules that envelopes must be clearly marked to show they contain marketing material

• ASA rules that envelopes must be clearly marked to show they contain marketing material

• Abuse of process: robust case management guidance from Court of Appeal

• In Stuart v Linde and others [2008] EWCA Civ 2 , the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against a decision striking out a claim on the ground that it was an abuse of process. The issue in the case was whether it was an abuse of process to bring a second...

• Abuse of process: robust case management guidance from Court of Appeal

• striking out application was an abuse of process

• Additional Work is at Contracted Rate

• In the building industry it is normal for work to be needed to be done by contractors after the expiry of the original contract. Recently, a case came to court in which a company that had obtained work under tender for Brunel University continued to...

• Agency workers and employment status.

• Agency workers and employment status.

• Assessing liability-direct and consequential losses

• Liability types

• BERR consults on consumer law

• BERR consults on consumer law

• Bank overdraft fees test case

• Bank overdraft fees test case

• Beat the commute and regain the work-life balance

• Flexible working

• Bogus online reviews face ban

• fake reviews and sales to end

• Bonds and guarantees-knowing the difference

• Bonds and guarantees

• Boycott Wal-Mart website allowed

• Boycott Walmart site allowed.

• Business Property Relief - More Traps for the Unwary

• Most business people know that for family businesses there are generous Inheritance Tax (IHT) reliefs, which generally operate to make assets used in the business exempt or partially exempt from IHT. The reliefs take various forms, but are collectively known...

• Capital gains tax reform-Chancellor announces concession for entrepreneurs

• Capital gains tax reform: Chancellor announces concession for entrepreneurs

• Capping liability

• Commerical exclusion of liability clause

• Cash rewards for tax informants

• Cash rewards for grassing on VAT and custom cheats

• Celebrity and privacy

• Privacy laws and celebrities.

• Claiming breach of warranty

• Breach of warranty

• Class action over football shirts

• JJB may be sued by Which? consumer group for unfair pricing cartel costs to customers.

• Collecting Your Debts - a Brief Guide

• If a business cannot recover a debt from a customer after the normal credit control procedures are exhausted then it will need to consider taking further action to recover the sum due. Mediation with the debtor, involving negotiation through a third party,...

• Commercial agency case clarifies calculation of compensation

• Commercial agents commission recalculated

• Companies Act 2006: access to register of members: ICSA guidance

• Register of members-improper access

• Company Formation Checklist

• You may have come across advertisements which make forming a company sound very easy, but before you go ahead there are some serious issues to think through. If you have decided that a company is the best vehicle for your new venture then here is a...

• Compromise agreements-conditional payment terms allowed for clawback

• Compromise agreements-conditional payment terms allowed for clawback

• Considering Outsourcing

• These days more and more processes are being outsourced (run by external contractors under a service agreement) by more and more businesses. It is particularly common to outsource IT functions and telephone call management. Outsourcing can offer many...

• Contract: correction of mistakes

• In KPMG LLP v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd , part of a break clause in a lease executed in 1985 had no obvious meaning and was difficult to construe; comparison with an earlier draft of the lease appended to an agreement for a lease signed in...

• Contractors Are Your Responsibility

• A handbook produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outlines the responsibilities of both the contractor and the client in situations in which work is carried out by contractors rather then employees. It does not apply to circumstances in which...

• Contracts-proposals for overhaul

• Contracts changes proposed.

• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill back on track

• Corporate killing

• Court documents-free for all as pubic access is granted

• Court documents are free

• Court documents-free for all as pubic access is granted

• From 2 October 2006 persons not involved in litigation (non-parties) will be able to obtain copies of all statements of case on the court file-claims and defences-without the need of any prior court permission. This leaves the burden for opposing such...

• Court of Appeal allows franchisor to claim for loss of franchise business

• The Court of Appeal has partly upheld an appeal by a claimant against the High Court's decision to dismiss his claim relating to the loss of his franchisees. The Court of Appeal held that the judge in the High Court was entitled, on the...

• Court of Appeal considers rule in Pinnel s case and finds triable issue of promissory estoppel

• Court of Appeal considers rule in Pinnel s case and finds triable issue of promissory estoppel

• Court of Appeal considers rule in Pinnel s case and finds triable issue of promissory estoppel

• Court of Appeal considers rule in Pinnel s case and finds triable issue of promissory estoppel

• Customers beat the banks

• Customers beat the banks for unfair charges

• Data Protection breaches-custodial sentences promised

• Data protection abuse-prison promised

• Data protection law protects illegal downloaders

• Illegal downloaders helped by data protection laws.

• Database belongs to sales agent

• Database rights beolng to agents

• Director not liable for procuring breach of contract

• Director not personally liable for company wrong

• Directors Who Compete Face Court Wrath

• The courts have again shown that they will crack down on directors who put their own interests before their fiduciary duties as directors of the company, to the extent of causing it detriment. In the case of British Midland Tool Ltd. v Midland...

• Directors procuring breach of contract

• Directors procuring breach of contract

• Directors' Duties Under the 2006 Companies Act

• The Companies Act 2006 was designed to modernise British company law, making it fit for purpose for the 21 st Century. In particular, there are several changes which affect directors. As of 1 October 2007, the duties of directors are, for the...

• Diversion of telephone numbers amount to unlawful interference with business

• Telephone line diversion

• Does the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 apply to paper records?

• Data protection for paper records.

• Doorstep selling laws step closer

• The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is consulting on the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work Etc. Regulations 2008. The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded Away from...

• Email Received is Document Delivered

• A recent case in the Commercial Court has confirmed that the receipt of an email will be taken as delivery of the email even if it is not opened and read. Furthermore, delivery will be regarded as valid even if the email address is no longer used, if it has...

• Email and Copyright

• Copyright is a right which exists without any specific steps having to be taken. It applies whenever there is a work created which contains original skill or labour. It applies to written material and that includes email, as a recent High Court ruling has...

• Email marketing abuse is rampant

• Email abuse of marketing.

• Employee Fraud

• Fraud is estimated to cost the UK economy between 13 billion and 16 billion a year and fraud by employees accounts for sixty per cent of all frauds committed against business. In a study by Leicester University, over seventy per cent of employees admitted...

• Employee Fraud Update

• Employee fraud continues to rise -however, the Fraud Act 2006, convictions for fraud are more easily obtained than they were under the predecessor legislation. Under the old legislation, obtaining a conviction for fraud was difficult and depended on...

• Employee share ownership hit by CGT reform

• SAYE shares hit by Capital Gains Tax Reforms

• Environmental liability insurance extent of cover

• Clean up costs uninsured

• FSB calls for government to consider small and micro businesses more

• FSB calls on government to reform.

• Failure of supply: frustration

• Frustration of contract

• Financial Fraud - What Not to Do!

• With recent surveys showing that instances of employee fraud are still on the increase, and HMRC showing regrettable lack of ability to safeguard personal data, eliminating poor security practices which make fraud easier is becoming even more important. ...

• Franchisee gets no help from the Data Protection Act

• Franchisee and data protection

• Franchisee gets no help from the Data Protection Act

• Franchisee and data protection-who owns the data?

• GLA revokes record number of gangmasters' licences

• The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) , which was set up in 2005 to protect the rights of workers in various industries, including agriculture and horticulture, has reported that in the first quarter of the 2008-2009 financial year, it has...

• Google in breach of copyright

• Google in breach of copyright.

• Gowers Review-the first concrete development-new copyright powers for Trading Standards Officers

• Gowers review gives Trading Standards new powers.

• Guidance On Distance Selling Regulations

• Distance Selling

• High Court considers dispute over WORLD CUP WILLIE trade marks

• FA beats Jules Rimet Cup to win 1966 mascot. The High Court has found that the Football Association (FA) could prevent applications by Jules Rimet Cup Ltd (JRCL) to register as trade marks WORLD CUP WILLIE (the mark), and a device mark combining the...

• High Court construes clause excluding liability for indirect or consequential loss

• High Court construes clause excluding liability for indirect or consequential loss

• High Court continues interim injunction in customer list case

• High Court continues interim injunction in customer list case

• High Court orders speedy trial in dispute over rights to computer program

• Computer program rights and IP injunction refused

• High Court refuses to imply assignment into software development contract

• Software ownership would not be assigned

• High Court rules ex-employees infringed database right by copying electronic files

• ex-employees who copied and retained various documents belonging to their ex-employer, such as customer contact details and sales figures

• Home Office action on illegal working

• Home Office announces new plans on immigration and illegal working.

• Home business trends for 2007.

• Home working trends for 2007.

• Home workers have higher levels of health, wealth and happiness.

• Happy home workers are more content.

• How To Do Strategic Review

• Most businesses have some sort of business plan, even if it is only or a few lines on one sheet of paper. Larger businesses may have a formal business plan, which charts out the expected development of the business over the next few years in a systematic and...

• ICO orders Leeds to disclose

• ICO orders leeds Council to release questionnaire information.

• ICO statement on proposed government communications database

• ICO statement on proposed government communications database

• IPO publishes booklet on licensing IP

• IPO publishes booklet on licensing IP

• Inappropriate interview questions

• Poor interviewing brings law claims to businesses.

• Intellectual Property: Who Owns It

• One of the biggest sources of disputes in industries based on innovation is a difference of opinion about who owns the intellectual property (IP) created in terms of designs, software, processes and systems. This is a general guide for businesses to the ...

• Is Your Website Disability-Friendly?

• The British Standards Institution has published (at 30) new guidance on making sure that your website is disability-friendly. Under the Disability Discrimination Act , it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by...

• Is the role of the company secretary now redundant?

• Despite fierce opposition from the ICSA Part 12 of the Companies Act 2006 was enacted to allow private limited companies formed after 6 April 2008 to dispense with the services of a dedicated company secretary-whether this is prudent is another question...

• It Wasn't in the Contract

• A common problem in contract disputes is that matters that create disagreement are sometimes not referred to specifically in the contract. However, as well as the express terms of a contract, there are also terms that are implied that is, they apply without...

• Key features of Company Law Reform Bill

• Company law reform bill

• L'Oreal wins trade mark appeal

• L Oreal wins trade mark appeal The cosmetics giant won its appeal to the Court Of Appeal(CA) towards the end of last year when the court overturned an earlier decision by the High Court that had sent shockwaves-no pun intended-through...

• Letters of Intent - Getting Them Right

• What Is a Letter of Intent? Letters of intent, commonly referred to as heads of agreement , are used to indicate the terms under which two or more people intend to enter into a contractual relationship when doing business together. The term ...

• Loan Guarantee Scheme - How it Works

• 1 December 2005 saw a relaxation of the rules for qualification for the Government s Small Firm Loan Guarantee scheme (SFLG), aimed at giving further assistance to small- and medium-sized firms in overcoming obstacles to obtaining finance. To qualify for...

• Lying in your CV

• Lying in your CV brings legal dangers.

• Ministerial guidance on directors' duties

• Duties of a director under Comapnies Act 2006.

• Misuse of weblog by advertiser

• Weblog was misleading advertising.

• Money Laundering Regulations

• Money laundering is the process by which criminals turn their 'dirty' income which is usually earned in cash into 'clean' money, by undertaking transactions which hide the original source of the cash and/or turn the cash into 'legitimate assets'. ...

• More trouble for Google-MTV attack YouTube

• More trouble for Google-MTV attack YouTube

• Muslim radiographer dismissed for failing to comply with NHS dress code

• A Muslim radiographer has been dismissed from an NHS hospital after refusing to comply with a new policy requiring staff to have their arms bare below the elbow. The policy was introduced in January in an effort to combat the spread of superbugs such as...

• New Contract, New Danger

• Every business needs customers, but every customer, especially a new one, represents a risk to your business. It is a very serious issue but there are many things you can do to make sure that you increase your chances of getting paid. Clearly, the...

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part I

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part I

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part II-misleading commercial practices

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part II-misleading commercial practices

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part III-aggressively commercial practices

• New Unfair Trading Law Explained-Part III-aggressively commercial practices

• New consumer protection regulations in force

• New consumer protection regulations in force

• New illegal immigration law

• Illegal immigrant working guidance.

• Non-compete clause can be enforceable

• Non-compete clause can be enforceable

• Non-compete clause is reasonable court concludes

• Reasonable restrictive covenant clause prevents MD working for competitor.

• OFT statement on bank charges test case

• OFT statement on bank charges test case

• Officer wins claim for unpaid salary

• RAF officer wins claim for unpaid salary

• Officer wins claim for unpaid salary

• RAF officer wins claim for unpaid salary

• One in five bullied at work

• Bullying at work is rampant says report.

• Online advertisers use online video gamers to boost sales.

• Online gaming boost for advertisers.

• Online shopping boosts retailers.

• Growth in online selling brings Christmas cheer.

• Outsourcing Outcasts in India

• Outsourcing outcasts in India.

• Outsourcing the Processing of Personal Information - Guidance

• The Information Commissioner s Office has issued a good practice note giving guidance on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when you outsource the processing of personal information, such as your payroll function or customer mailing...

• Overview: Changes under the 2006 Act of relevance to IP&IT

• Overview: Changes under the 2006 Act of relevance to IP&IT

• Partnership-a duty to disclose material matters

• Conlon Another v Simms is a recent case that demonstrates that partners owe a duty of good faith not only to existing partners but to prospective partners who are negotiating entry into the partnership. Accordingly when a partner deliberately and...

• Pre-contract negotiations do not help deciding terms of agreement

• Pre-contract negotiations

• Preferred Supplier Status-what does this mean?

• Prefrred supplier status

• Protection of Harassment Act 1997 makes employers vicariously liable for harassment acts of employees

• Protection Of Harassment Act

• REC launches Agency Work Commission

• REC launches Agency Work Commission

• Real Estate Investment Trusts

• The Government recently published its draft legislation on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which will be companies listed on the stock exchange which carry out a qualifying property letting business . Already, in his latest budget, the Chancellor has...

• Remedies for Breach of Contract

• Having the right contract is always a good idea, but no matter how much protection it offers, no contract can prevent a breach of contract by the other party. If you enter into a contract and it is breached, there are several possible remedies available to...

• Report finds number of women in certain senior roles in decline

• Report finds number of women in certain senior roles in decline

• Responses to Green Paper on attachment of bank accounts

• Responses to Green Paper on attachment of bank accounts

• Retirement Planning and Your Business

• It is arguable that the whole point of any business should be to enable the owners to retire when they want and with the lifestyle they want on retirement. Of course, enjoying it as you go along is a good idea too, but retirement comes to most of us...

• Skipton Financial Services in breach of data laws

• ICO accepts undertaking from financial services company for breach of DPA

• Slamming the door on doorstep selling- government confirms scope of new doorstep selling regulations

• New doorstep selling law

• Spicy Spicy not so Nicey

• Google sued for trade mark infringement

• Summary judgment granted in deceit claim

• Summary judgment granted in deceit claim

• Summary judgment granted in deceit claim

• judgement granted in deceit claim

• Supply: Simplification of consumer remedies for faulty goods

• Supply: Simplification of consumer remedies for faulty goods

• The "right" to work from home

• Rights of homeworkers

• The Court of Appeal allows conduct evidence in determining oral contracts

• Oral contracts and conduct evidence

• The Court of Appeal allows conduct evidence in determining oral contracts

• Conduct evidence allowed in interpreting contract

• The Economist fails to obtain transfer of theeconomist.com

• The Economist fails to obtain transfer of theeconomist.com

• The Occupational Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2006

• pension scheme consultation

• The legal future is digital

• The future of the UK legal profession is digital declares an EU Lawyers group. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) has adopted draft guidelines which means chip and pin ID cards...

• Third party disclosure

• Obtaining documents from third parties.

• Tom Cruise beats cybersquatter for TomCruise.com

• Tom Cruise beats cybersquatter

• Tribunal to rule on application of TUPE to transfer of client accounts between law firms

• Tribunal to rule on application of TUPE to transfer of client accounts between law firms

• Two cows, a cat and no hey diddle diddle

• Domain name cannot be owned by pet/animal.

• Unfair terms: reasonableness of exclusion clause

• Business to business exclusion clauses

• Vexatious requests for FOIA

• Freedom Of Information Act and vexatious requests.

• Vexatious requests for FoIA

• Freedom Of Information Act and vexatious requests.

• WEEE Regulations - Take Back Scheme

• Since 1 April 2007, producers of electrical goods have been required to mark them in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006. The appropriate mark, which features a crossed out wheelie bin, must be affixed...

• Wasted costs order refused

• Wasted costs order refused

• Watch out for bogus websites

• Copying websites-criminals-real danger.

• Wayne Rooney scores in domain name dispute

• Wayne Rooney beats cybersquatter

• What "reasonable" and "best" endeavours mean

• Reasonable endeavours and best endeavours-meanings are clarified-are not the same-difference costs £15m in this case.

• Work and Families Act

• Work and Families Act

• Your Home Office - The Legalities

• If you run your own business, working from home, there are legal ramifications which need to be considered. There are few regulations that apply to 'normal' businesses that do not apply to 'home' businesses: you are not exempt just because you operate...