In a bid to fight the credit crunch, many employers will be considering cutting staffing levels to save on costs. However, expecting the remaining workforce to work longer hours can have serious consequences. A social worker has been...

Buying a business can be a risky undertaking. Even if the normal due diligence work is done with great care, sometimes there can be skeletons in the cupboard, which can emerge to your detriment. It is a particularly risky business when the vendors are less...

Pleural plaques are small, localised areas of pleural thickening on the membrane covering the lungs, caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. Pleural plaques are in themselves benign but their presence is associated with an increased risk of developing...

On 1 October 2007, Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) replaced Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs). Since that date, it has no longer been possible to create a new EPA, although those already in existence remain valid. According to the Office of...

The Government has recently raised the guarantee on deposits to £50,000 (from £35,000), but what does this mean for a business with substantial cash balances? The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is designed to...

Divorce can be a messy business at the best of times but following a recent ruling looks set to become yet even more complex. A couple from Gloucestershire divorced after 11 years of marriage. They had no children. The ex-wife...

When a person is fatally injured, it may be possible to make a claim for compensation under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (FAA). When the accident is the fault of another person, it is also normally possible to claim damages from them. In these cases the...

A rambler who was injured while crossing a bridge on a public footpath has won compensation from the local council. Birgit Green, 63, was crossing the bridge in a nature reserve in East Sussex when part of the wooden planking collapsed....

The Health and Safety Executive has updated its website on managing occupational health risks in the construction industry, providing new information for Construction Design and Management coordinators (CDMs). The website gives information for CDMs,...

Many legal actions involving wills are based on the claim that the person making the will (the ‘testator’ or ‘testatrix’ in legal terminology) was not competent to execute it or on the allegation that that they were under...

A study by accountants BDO Stoy Hayward has found that business fraud is up by over 70 per cent compared with last year and they estimate the cost of business fraud is now more than £700 million a year. Management fraud accounts...

To most people, ‘dwelling’ is just a fancy term for ‘home’ or possibly ‘house’. However, the difference in the meaning of words is a common source of legal dispute, as was illustrated in a recent case that also has...

The widow of a highly-regarded documentary film maker has won a High Court battle against three doctors who failed to diagnose and treat her husband's hypertension. Nick Rossiter, who was 43 when he died, had been a patient at the...

A recent case shows that the courts can come down hard on those who fail to manage their cases efficiently and shows the dangers inherent in 'DIY law'.. The case involved a straightforward claim for damages against a riding school...

Nowadays, it is becoming less and less common for business to be transacted ‘on a handshake’ and a recent case highlights the dangers of failing to get formal documentation in place to confirm the terms of an agreement. The...

If you are buying or selling property, having an 'understanding' of what covenants are meant to mean is no substitute for making sure the covenant is correctly worded  - as a recent case illustrates. The case concerned a property was...

A member of a cycling club has won £11,000 in compensation after a badly designed cycle path caused him to fall off his bicycle. Stuart Bullen, 57, was travelling along the path when it suddenly ended, with no warning, in a raised...

Since the introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the enforced retirement of an employee who is below the age of 65 has generally been unlawful, unless it can be objectively justified. The Regulations provide for a default...

A police mechanic who was exposed to high levels of noise from testing police sirens has been awarded compensation for occupational deafness. The mechanic’s job was to repair police vehicles and as part of this work he was...

In divorce proceedings, it is usual to make a full disclosure of assets and future financial prospects when agreeing the financial settlement. Failing to do so can cause a legal battle, as a recent case illustrates. It involved a couple...

Under EU law, agents have a degree of protection which mere resellers do not. For example, when an agency is lost, the agent is normally entitled to compensation from the principal. This does not apply where the relationship is one of a supplier and...

The family of a Polish man, who died of botulinum poisoning that doctors failed to diagnose, has been awarded more than £200,000 in compensation. The man came to the UK in 2002 to help support his wife and daughter back in Poland....

The Inheritance Tax (IHT) implications of owning a second property should never be forgotten, especially when that property is abroad, when the IHT regime of the other country will also be a consideration. The harshness of the IHT...

A care assistant who injured her back while helping an elderly woman from her bed has been awarded £8,000 in compensation. Mrs Margaret Yates, now 58, worked in a residential care home and was helping to dress the woman when the...

Landlords will breathe a sigh of relief following the recent reversal of the much-reported Scottish and Newcastle v Raguz case. It dealt with the requirement for landlords to serve notices on former tenants on each outstanding payment date...

Robert Gaines-Cooper, a Seychelles-based businessman, has lost his appeal against a decision of the Commissioners of Tax that his  connection to the Uk and numerous visits here were frequent enough for him to be resident here, based on the...

According to a recent report, company receiverships (where a bank appoints a receiver to run a company in order to protect the banks position) are up by more than 150 per cent this quarter compared with the same quarter last year. The result...

HMRC have issued new guidance on nil-rate transfers (transfers of the unused Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil-band to the surviving spouse or civil partner) - which will come as a relief to those caught up in the complexities of the process, which is by...

A tree surgeon who was badly injured in a chainsaw accident has been awarded an undisclosed amount of compensation. The man was using a large, powerful chainsaw to cut a sizeable tree into sections. Although he had received some...

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have always taken a dim view of claiming expenses without complete documentation , so this has been a perennial problem area. However, the reality, as every businessperson knows, is that maintaining complete and...

The Court of Appeal has issued a ruling which will be unwelcome to social landlords that allow tenants in arrears to become ‘tolerated trespassers’, when a possession order is suspended because the tenant is paying off the arrears of rent which...

Motorists who kill while avoidably distracted at the wheel will face prison under new road safety laws which came into force on 18 August 2008. Section 20 of the Road Safety Act 2006 (RSA) creates a new offence of causing death by...

The family of a man who died of a deadly lung cancer has been awarded £205,000 in compensation. The man had been exposed to asbestos as a teenager while laying telephone cables when he worked for a company that was later bought by...

The Government has announced its intention to amend the law so that tips can no longer count towards payment of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). All workers are entitled to receive the minimum hourly wage. However, bars and restaurants...

Thousands of organisations, such as residents’ associations, car-sharing groups and many others, are set up as informal unincorporated associations and many people might consider it an honour to be invited to join, or accept a place on the committee of...

The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 received Royal Assent on 16 October 2008 and will come into force in January 2009. It amends Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and will increase penalties for breaches of health and safety...

Owners of valuable trade marks will need to be quicker off the mark to oppose applications that infringe their trade marks  because of changes which took place on 1 October. The reason for this is that the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has...

Yet another case shows the importance of reading and complying with the terms of your insurance policies.  It involved the owner of a trawler valued at over £120,000 who claimed on his insurance policy when the vessel...

From 1 October, all estate agents dealing with residential property in the UK have been required to belong to a recognised redress scheme . Estate agents in England and Wales who offer Home Information Packs (HIPs) are already required...

A nursery nurse who was injured when she tripped over in the car park at her workplace has been awarded £3,750 in damages. Fiona Denial was walking to her car after work when she fell over a pothole and injured her ankle. She...

A recent ruling by the Court of Appeal has resulted in a fortunate property owner being awarded £1.6 million in compensation for the compulsory purchase of land with an agreed market valuation of only £15,000. Rejecting an...

The law takes different positions on the responsibility of owners for damage caused by their animals, depending on the type of animal and the circumstances under which the damage occurred. A recent case illustrating this dealt with a road traffic accident...

Eight former pupils of a Welsh school, who were victims of sexual abuse by a teacher, have been awarded out of court settlements. The former pupils were assaulted by drama teacher, John Owen, who had worked at the school for 17 years....

On divorce, the valuation of a family business is often a highly emotional and contentious issue, so it was unsurprising when the divorce of a couple after 15 years of marriage led to an acrimonious dispute over the value of their successful restaurant...

The latest round of changes resulting from the Companies Act 2006 came into effect on 1 October 2008. The most important of these are as follows: Every company must have at least one director who is a...

Pleural plaques are a form of scarring of the lungs caused by their being penetrated by asbestos fibres. Since pleural plaques do not themselves cause any physical symptoms, the House of Lords ruled last year that compensation was not payable to people who...

Many employment law rights are only available to those who are employees. For someone to have employee status, they must work under a contract of employment. Protection from unfair dismissal, under the Employment Rights Act 1996, is only afforded to someone...

A production worker has been awarded £220,000 in compensation after an accident at work in which a defective drill broke her arm. Caroline May, 47, was unaware that the drill was broken. When she turned it on, it kicked back and...

When the financial arrangements are being made on divorce, the court must ask itself whether these are fair and do not discriminate against one party bearing in mind all the circumstances. Recently, a woman appealed to the Court of...

The provision of assistance by a company for the purchase of its shares was prohibited until the 1981 Companies Act came into force, when a ‘whitewash’ procedure was introduced which allowed private companies to give financial assistance for...