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The Court of Appeal has ruled that a film company's claim for unjust enrichment against two companies involved in making Rogue One: A Star Wars Story should be struck out, overturning earlier rulings that the claim should proceed to trial. The actor Peter...
A recent case in which the Court of Appeal confirmed that a farmer was entitled to buy out his brother's interest in a family farming partnership illustrates the wisdom of having a partnership agreement in place which specifically details the rights and...
The Family Court has ruled in financial remedy proceedings that a departure from an equal division of assets was appropriate in view of the fact that riskier and less liquid business assets would be retained by the husband. The husband and wife had met in...
The government has updated the timetable for implementing key changes in the Employment Rights Act 2025 . A number of measures relating to trade unions and industrial action, including protections against dismissal for taking industrial action, came into...
An 83-year-old woman has obtained compensation for injuries she suffered when she was hit by a large sign outside a supermarket. The sign was caught by a gust of wind and hit her legs as she was leaving the supermarket. She suffered lacerations to her...
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a mixed-use premises was a 'dwelling' , as defined in Section 38 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 , and the tenants therefore benefited from the controls over the levying of service charges in the Act. The tenants...
In a case concerning a taxpayer who was not domiciled in the UK, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld a decision that transfers from his overseas bank accounts to UK bank accounts of non-relevant persons amounted to taxable remittances under Section 809L of...
The High Court has ruled that a will made by a man who was suffering from delusions caused by late-onset schizophrenia was invalid for want of testamentary capacity. In late 2013, the man had become concerned that someone was trying to break into his home...
Compensation has been obtained for a concierge who was seriously injured when a heavy parcel tipped over and fell onto her leg. The woman worked in a block of apartments. She was organising residents' parcels in the building's store room when the accident...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides guidance for the public on data protection and information rights on its website. Guidance is available on the following topics: making a Subject Access Request to find out if an organisation is...
The Supreme Court has ruled that a hotel company could not deduct input VAT on professional fees relating to the sale of a subsidiary company. The company received management fees from a wholly owned subsidiary which operated a luxury hotel in Birmingham....
A man who was injured while using a table saw has secured compensation from the online retailer he bought it from. After sustaining the injury, which resulted in part of his index finger being amputated, he warned the retailer about the issue, but the...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has allowed a woman's appeal against a decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET) that she was not entitled to compensation for unfair dismissal because, had the employer followed a fair procedure, she would have been...
A woman has obtained compensation after experiencing anaesthesia awareness following surgery. After the surgery had been completed, she was not given the correct reversal drug. As a result she regained consciousness but was unable to move to move or speak...
When disagreements arise between neighbours about the ownership of land, it is invariably best to try to reach an amicable solution rather than engage in litigation. In an unusual case concerning the ownership of a driveway , the Upper Tribunal (UT)...
A compensation settlement has been obtained for a 10-year-old boy who was injured in a road accident. He was riding his e-scooter along the road when a car came round the corner at high speed and collided with him. He suffered a broken leg, which required...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to the Post Office following a data breach in which it published the personal data of postmasters involved in group litigation relating to the Horizon IT scandal. In April 2024, it was...
In a recent ruling on a wife's application for a financial remedy order , the Family Court accepted that her caring responsibilities for the couple's son justified a departure from the sharing principle. The Court handed down its judgment as an indication...
Damages have been secured for a man who died of mesothelioma decades after being exposed to asbestos in the dockyard where he worked. He started working as an apprentice shipwright when he was 15. He was exposed to asbestos in the insulation of submarines...
The government has announced that the allowance for Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will be £2.5 million when it is introduced on 6 April 2026, rather than £1 million as originally proposed. The government...
A man has obtained compensation for injuries he sustained on a package holiday in Cape Verde when a member of staff at the hotel where he was staying kneed him in the back of the leg. The incident, which was described by the hotel operator as 'a misguided...
A man who illegally acted as a company director while bankrupt has been handed a suspended sentence. He had been declared bankrupt in October 2021. However, investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed that he had operated as a director of four...
The law affords testators a high degree of freedom to pass on their estates to whomever they wish, and the fact that the terms of a will may seem unfair to relatives is not enough to successfully challenge it. This point was illustrated by a recent case in...
A woman whose health was significantly affected by damp and mould in her home has obtained damages. Her local authority landlord failed to keep the property in good repair, and as a result she was exposed to damp and mould for a number of years. The...
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) that a man who volunteered as a coastguard with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) was a 'worker' for the purposes of Section 230(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 ...
As announced in the Autumn Budget 2025, the van benefit charge and the car and van fuel benefit charges will increase from 6 April 2026, in line with the Consumer Price Index. The van benefit charge applies where an employer provides an employee with a...
The courts are alert to the risk of divorcing couples being less than honest about their assets and liabilities in financial remedy proceedings. Recently, the Family Court rejected a husband's assertion that he owed £1.6 million to a company owned by...
Compensation has been secured for a boy who suffered life-changing injuries as a baby due to a lack of oxygen supply to his brain. The boy contracted bronchiolitis when he was just five weeks old. He was admitted to hospital and had to be intubated. The...
The Court of Appeal has allowed a local planning authority's appeal against an award of costs made against it by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government after it withdrew its support for a planning application. A developer had...
Under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 , landlords may evict tenants who have an assured shorthold tenancy which is a periodic tenancy or a fixed-term tenancy that has expired by giving at least two months' notice. However, a Section 21 notice cannot be...
A pensioner who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a car has received substantial compensation. She was out walking her dog when the car suddenly mounted the pavement and hit her. Her dog was killed and she was left unconscious. She...
A woman who was subjected to defamatory posts on Facebook has succeeded in having them removed after taking legal advice. The woman and her husband had started to feed and look after a cat that had been coming into her garden. The cat subsequently...
Under Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 , employers that are proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less must consult appropriate representatives...
A retired personal assistant who was seriously injured while attending an eye examination has obtained compensation. As she got up from the bench after the initial tests had been completed, she caught her foot on a table leg. She hit her head on the wall...
The Family Court recently granted a local authority permission to withdraw an application for a care order in respect of a two-year-old girl, after the local authority concluded that, in the light of the medical evidence, it would not be able to meet the...
When seeking investment, businesses should ensure that any information a prospective investor might rely on when deciding to invest is accurate. Recently, the Court of Appeal dismissed a company director's appeal against an award of damages to two...
People have a great level of freedom to leave their estates as they choose and disappointed relatives must overcome a high hurdle to successfully challenge a will. Recently, the daughter of a woman who made a will leaving her entire estate to one of her sons...
An armed forces veteran has secured compensation for damage to his hearing. During his service in the Army, he was exposed to noise from guns being fired, as well as from helicopters and other vehicles. Initially, he was only provided with sponge ear plugs....
Rule 22 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal (UT) refuses permission to appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) or gives only limited permission, it must give reasons for its...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on ill health and injuries in the workplace for the year 2024/25. The number of employees who reported suffering from work-related ill health was 1.9 million. This is an increase from...
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has found that a repayment of Income Tax due to a taxpayer who had died during the relevant tax year formed part of her estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes. The taxpayer had died on 18 December 2020. Her son, who was...
The government has announced the new rates of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and parental leave pay that will apply from 6 April 2026. The rate of SSP will increase from £118.75 per week to £123.25 per week. The rates of Statutory Maternity Pay,...
Interim payments have been secured for a man who suffered a devastating stroke after failings by an NHS trust. The man was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation after being admitted to hospital with COVID-19. However, he was not treated with blood thinners and...
A guide to issues relating to property boundaries is available on the government's website. The guide notes that, in England and Wales, there is usually no record of the exact boundary between two properties or the ownership of boundary features between...
A manufacturing company has been fined after an apprentice suffered serious injuries in a workplace accident. The 18-year-old apprentice had been working for the company for less than a year and was still learning how to operate machinery. His shirt became...
The Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill, which was announced by the government in the King's Speech following the last general election, was introduced to Parliament on 12 November 2025. The Bill will reform and add to the ...
The Family Court has rejected a husband's application to set aside a financial remedy order made in his absence after he ceased to participate in the final hearing. The husband and wife had separated in 2022 after 15 years of marriage. On the first day of...
A compensation settlement has been agreed for a woman whose leg had to be amputated after she was involved in a head-on collision. Her car was hit by another vehicle which was trying to overtake traffic. She was airlifted to hospital and spent more than two...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) recently set aside a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) upholding prohibition orders in respect of 15 flats, finding that the FTT had erred in accepting the local authority's calculation of the risk posed by the lack of space...
The best way to minimise the risk of a successful challenge to your will is to have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor. Recently, a woman's challenge to her elderly father's final will was rejected by the High Court . The man had made the will in March...
Damages have been obtained for a shop assistant who tripped over some shopping bags in the department store where she worked. The 23-year-old shop assistant was working behind the tills when she tripped over the bags, which had been left on the floor, and...
Can an employee who brings a claim for unfair dismissal on the basis of having made protected disclosures also bring a detriment claim where the alleged detriment is the dismissal itself? The Court of Appeal has reluctantly answered that question in the...
A six-figure compensation settlement has been secured for the widow of a man who died of mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in the workplace. The man had worked for a firm of builders in the early 1970s. His colleagues regularly used to cut...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined plans to reform the mortgage market, which could make it easier for first-time buyers and self-employed people to purchase properties. The reforms also aim to help homeowners access housing wealth in later...
A company that was incorporated by members of an insurance broking partnership and acquired the partnership's business has failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that amortisation of the goodwill it acquired was deductible for Corporation Tax...
Compensation has been obtained for a baby girl who developed bacterial meningitis in hospital when she was four months old. She had undergone a biopsy which led to bacteria in her bloodstream, and developed bacterial meningitis after the infection was...
A recent High Court decision concerning whether a man and woman who planned to open a hotel in France were in partnership illustrates the wisdom of formally documenting agreements to set up in business and of taking appropriate legal advice. In June 2018,...
Compensation has been obtained for a cyclist who was injured when his bicycle hit a pothole. After going for a ride with his cycling club, he was cycling home when he ran into a deep pothole and came off his bicycle, suffering injuries to his hip and...
When patients lack capacity to decide whether to undergo medical treatment, the Court of Protection is often called upon to decide what is in their best interests. Recently, the Court ruled that it was in the best interests of a young man to undergo surgery...
The High Court has refused a mother's application for her five-year-old daughter's return to Dubai , instead granting an application by the girl's father for her to remain in England. The mother and father had married in 2019 and moved to Dubai, where the...
The Employment Rights Bill has now received Royal Assent, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025 . The changes will be introduced in phases over a two-year period, ensuring that employees and employers have time to plan and prepare. The majority of the...
A woman has been awarded compensation after contracting salmonella poisoning during a cruise. She began to feel ill within two days after the cruise began, suffering from symptoms including vomiting and abdominal cramps. She was diagnosed with salmonella...
If a UK domain name owned by someone else is similar to a business's own name or trading style, the business can seek to have the domain name transferred to it by making a complaint to Nominet UK through its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). To succeed in a...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted a landowner's application to modify a restrictive covenant to allow a small bungalow to be constructed in place of a workshop. The landowner had sold land near his house to a local developer in 1999. The developer built...
A man who was injured in a chemical explosion at his place of work has received a settlement from his employer. He had been told that the chemical compound he was mixing was completely safe. However, when he returned to his workstation after overseeing...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the High Court's rejection of a challenge to a grant of planning permission for an energy recovery facility, finding that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government had complied...
The manager of a care home has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for forging the will of an elderly woman who lived in the home. The woman had moved into the home in 2020 after becoming ill. She was described by the judge as 'particularly...
Compensation has been obtained for a motorcyclist who was seriously injured in a road traffic accident involving two separate vehicles. After a van turned into his path, he was unable to avoid a collision and was knocked from his motorbike. The traffic came...
A taxpayer has successfully argued before the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that a company's purchase of shares he owned in it was wholly or mainly for the purpose of benefiting its trade under Section 1033 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 . The consideration...
The government is seeking responses to a working paper on options for reform of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. According to previous analysis, around 5 million employees in Great Britain work under contracts that contains non-compete clauses,...
