Multinational supermarket chain Aldi recently made headlines when a customer found a live snake coiled inside a pack of shrink-wrapped broccoli which had been purchased from one of their stores. The report sent legal tongues wagging and it has been...
On 29 June 2023, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 completed its journey through Parliament and received Royal Assent. The content of the original bill, which was the subject of much controversy, has changed considerably, but still...
The new NEC4 Engineering and Construction Subcontract (ECSC) is a widely used contract framework in the construction industry. Its clauses provide a structured approach to managing various aspects of a project. One such important addition in the NEC4 ECSC is...
Animal welfare is high on the political agenda, with Trading Standards (a department in your local council, usually the borough or district council) being prompt and thorough to investigate reports of animal welfare breaches. Trading Standards is responsible...
What is laches? Laches operates as a defence to a claim, and it is often understood to mean ‘delay’. In fact, laches is more than simply delay. The recent case of James v Scudamore [2023] EWHC 996 (Ch) sets out four propositions that form...
The Building Safety Act included provisions for the mandatory registration of all buildings inspectors, both Registered Building Inspectors (local authority inspectors) and Registered Building Control Approvers (private sector consultants). The Act was very...
A report commissioned by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (“APIL”) has shown that an estimated 1.6 million people in the UK say they have become a victim of negligence. This means that 30,000 people fall ill or are injured per week. ...
In order for a will to be valid, a testator must have the requisite mental capacity. Capacity is one of the most commonly used grounds for challenging a will. The recent case of Baker v Hewston gives an insight into how judges approach this complex...
Pets are seen by many as part of the family and when a divorce takes place, the questions surrounding who will look after the family pet can add considerable distress to an already stressful time. Often the situation becomes quite fraught, but a specialist...
The issue of dowries in divorce is one which we come across often. There are a number of questions that clients often ask and in the article below we will aim to answer some of them. Can a wife claim back her dowry after divorce? The short answer...
It is normal practice for construction and engineering contracts to allow the client to keep a percentage of each interim payment as a retention. The retention is intended to be used against the client’s losses in the event that the contract defaults....
Last week, Farming Minister Mark Spencer MP announced that the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which has been making its way through Parliament for nearly two years, would be dropped and the measures it contains introduced separately. Our animal welfare...
The Government has published a policy paper setting out various changes it intends to make to the law following Brexit. One of these changes has caught the eye of employment lawyers – they intend to limit the duration of any non-compete clauses...
Construction News has reported that a total of 112 construction companies have gone into administration so far this year. This affects not only those companies, their employees, and their supply chains, but also their clients, whose projects will be delayed...
Draft Regulations have this week been published in respect of the Responsible Actors Scheme – the industry scheme for residential developers arising out of the Building Safety Act 2022. Aim of the scheme Like the Act itself, the purpose of...
Performance bonds and/or PCGs are often required of the contractor in building and engineering projects as a means of securing the purchaser’s position, and limiting their losses, in the event of the contractor’s default. But what’s the...
The JCT standard forms of building contracts have a very simplistic approach to programmes: there’s a start date and an end date, and that’s it. How the contractor wants to do thing in between is up to them provided that...
The Building Safety Pledge The Building Safety Act allowed the government to set up building industry schemes for developers. The idea of the schemes was to get developers and construction products manufacturers to pay for remedial works to buildings...
Livestock worrying by dogs costs British farmers millions of pounds every year and causes an immense amount of distress to farmers and their animals. Most issues are caused by ignorant, irresponsible, or uncaring dog owners who do not know how to control...
All of the standard and model forms of building and engineering contracts contain provisions for advance payments, and for many years they have been little used, but with the continuing materials price rises developers and contractors alike are both turning...
More and more often, the situation is arising where a landowner is approached by a developer who wants to offer them a substantial sum of money to purchase all or part of the agricultural holding. Alternatively, the landowner is looking at ways...
It can make sense for companies to join forces in development projects, with each contributing their expertise, sharing the workload, or allowing to take on jointly projects larger than they could do alone. Whatever the reason, the question is always: what...
The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has circulated a message in relation to the Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot which commenced on Monday 30 January 2023 in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle. Journalists will be able to...
2022 saw an enormous hike in the cost of living. Soaring energy bills, rising interest rates and the increased cost of food and fuel are undoubtedly having a considerable financial impact on people across the country. In relation to the breakdown of a...
Framework agreements sound scary: central Government behemoths for massive projects tying both sides into 25-year deals with Key Performance Indicators, Service Level Agreements and severe penalties. They don’t need to be like that, and probably...
One of the main components in any personal injury claim is to recover compensation for the injury suffered, but it is also important to ensure that there is a provision for the cost of any recommended treatment to aid ongoing recovery. To put this into...
One of the most important pieces of legislation to come out of the Grenfell fire, the new Fires Safety (England) Regulations 2022, comes into force on 23 January 2023. Under the new Regulations, a responsible person – usually a managing agent or...
During a marriage or civil partnership, and while partners are not permanently separated, individuals can transfer assets between themselves without CGT arising. In essence, the other partner is treated as acquiring the assets (or interest in the asset) for...
With the government set to introduce new strike laws, employment lawyer at Roythornes Solicitors, George Miller discusses what this actually means for unions and employers. "Strikes are a public right in the UK and recent industrial action has led...
The first working Monday of the year is known by many as ‘Divorce Day’ because legal practitioners often receive an influx of separation requests, caused by the stresses of Christmas, upon returning to work. Caroline Elliott , partner and family...
