London has gained a reputation as 'the divorce capital of the world' because settlements reached are, by international standards, very generous towards women. It is no surprise, therefore, that the courts in this country are a very popular choice of…
Land or buildings that have long been used for recreational purposes by local people can be registered as assets of community value under the Localism Act 2011 – but what happens if that use consists of acts of trespass? The…
Following the Grenfell disaster in 2017, cladding has come under close scrutiny with surveys being carried out as a priority in buildings across the UK. The failure to comply with Building Regulations (Part L1A 2010), which provides a framework for…
Relationships that start on the Internet are already leading to some interesting situations. A recent family case involved a British woman who had met a Pakistani man online and married him in the USA, where the couple had two children.…
On our densely populated island, there is a pressing need for available land to be put to sensible use and, where restrictive covenants lurking in title deeds prevent that happening, they can be modified. In a case on point, a…
Oral assurances are all well and good but, if they are not recorded in a professionally drafted document, how can it be proved that they were ever given? A farmer's son faced exactly that difficulty in a High Court dispute…
If landowners allow vegetation to grow so that it affects visibility on adjacent highways, should they be held liable if accidents occur? In a decision that broke new legal ground, the Court of Appeal has answered that question with a…
The usual course of events on divorce is that there is a financial settlement which divides up the family assets as they are at that point in time. This takes into account the expected future income and need for income…
In Reading Borough Council v James, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the temporal scope of a pay comparison in proceedings based on equal pay for work of equal value brought under the Equal Pay Act 1970. This, together with…
Is it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee whose misconduct falls short of being gross misconduct? In a guideline decision, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has answered that question with a resounding 'no' (Quintiles Commercial UK Limited v Barongo). The…