When a subsidiary in a group does something, what is the legal position of the holding company that owns it? In some circumstances, the courts might hold the parent company responsible for the actions of the subsidiary – especially if…
Many arrangements with carers are informal and it is easy to forget that this does not mean that ‘anything goes’. Where a carer is paid, an employer/employee relationship will normally arise. This carries implications as regards – for example –…
In a case which raised new issues on the inter-relationship between insolvency rules and the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), the Court of Appeal has dismissed the unfair dismissal claims of four employees who lost their…
The pitfalls of not getting documentation exactly right have become all too clear for a lender following a recent Court of Appeal hearing. The case arose because the lender wished to rely on the guarantees given over a debt by…
A school janitor from Inverclyde who lost his job after he suffered leg and back injuries when he slipped on a frozen surface at work has been awarded £30,000 in damages. Stephen McKeown, 61, was covering for a colleague at…
If you are concerned about the future mental capacity of a relative or any other person with whom you have a joint bank account, it makes sense to consider setting up the appropriate power(s) of attorney. The British Bankers’ Association’s…
In a bitter example of how an innocent party can be left to carry the financial can following a corporate failure, the owner of a hotel who paid £110,000 for diesel powered generating equipment has received judicial sympathy but ended…
The widely reported case concerning an elderly couple who signed each other’s wills by mistake has reached the Supreme Court. The case sparked outrage because the incorrect signing of the wills was an obvious error but the ruling of the…
In a ruling that underlines that the wishes and feelings of children can be decisive in even the most intractable family cases, a father has won a seven-year battle to have more contact with his daughter. The ‘doggedly persistent’ father…
In a dispute over the supply of children’s clothing to a major high street retailer, the High Court has ruled that a breakdown in effective communication between the parties justified early termination of the agreement and that the notice period…
