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The noise of playing children screaming and shouting is purgatory to some but, in a High Court case, such concerns were not enough to convince a judge that planning permission for an adventure activity lake in the grounds of a historic manor house should...
The consequences of some road traffic accidents are so appalling that no amount of money can ever compensate for them and lawyers can only do their best. In a case on point, a teenager who was aged just two when she suffered life-changing injuries received...
Doctors are obliged to inform their patients of all available treatment options and, if you feel you have been kept in the dark, you should consult a solicitor without delay. In one case, a soldier who was not told that his hearing problems might be...
It makes sense for friends to club together so that they can buy properties they would be unable to afford by themselves. However, a cautionary High Court ruling showed that such arrangements are only wise if lawyers are consulted so that all concerned...
Many low-paid workers who have an essential role in keeping the nation moving are at particularly high risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a ground-breaking decision, the High Court came to their aid in ruling that the Government is obliged under European...
When making a will, most people would wish to provide for loved ones in need. As a High Court case showed , however, means testing of many state benefits creates a very real risk of such good intentions coming to nought and that is one very good reason why...
As a guideline High Court decision emphasised , the greatest advantage of including English arbitration clauses in commercial contracts is that they prevent litigation from proliferating around the world and focus dispute resolution on a single,...
If signs had to be erected to warn against every conceivable risk faced by users of public open spaces, they would form a veritable forest of their own. The point was powerfully made in a High Court case concerning a walker in an urban park who was struck in...
For clinical negligence and personal injury lawyers, hard-nosed negotiating skills can be just as important as advocacy. In a case on point, a seven-figure settlement was negotiated on behalf of a profoundly disabled 12-year-old boy. The boy was alleged to...
Before signing up to a commercial lease, tenants should always take expert legal advice to ensure they truly understand the obligations they are taking on. The point was powerfully made by a case in which the insurance provisions of a lease became the focus...
Through no fault of their own, some parents are simply incapable of providing the care and stability that all children need whilst growing up. As one case showed , however, the approach of family judges is not to condemn but to seek solutions that enable...
When sub-zero conditions hit the road network, it is simply not feasible to grit or salt every yard of every highway and byway. However, in a rare decision, the High Court found that, in failing to respond to a clearly heralded risk of ice, a local authority...
Any organisation that does not have an effective system of succession planning in place must face an uncertain future. As a ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) underlined, however, it is all too easy for such arrangements to be infected...
Family lawyers work hand in hand with local authorities and medical professionals to protect vulnerable people from the controlling and coercive behaviour of others. In a striking case on point, the High Court authorised effective steps to be taken to free...
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are big battalions by anyone's standards, but their word is not law and, with expert legal assistance, they can sometimes be proved wrong. In one case, a couple succeeded in overturning six-figure Capital Gains Tax (CGT)...
Is the capacity to invent an exclusively human quality? Or has the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) rendered that proposition obsolete? Those fundamental issues took centre stage in a unique High Court patents case . A pioneer in the field of AI...
The ill effects of asbestos exposure develop notoriously slowly and can turn out to be mild, fatal or anything in between. However, as a High Court case showed, expert personal injury lawyers do not let uncertainty about the future stand in the way of...
The high reputation of the Commercial Court in London for efficiency and impartiality is such that English jurisdiction clauses are a ubiquitous feature of contracts signed around the world. They can be of crucial significance if disputes arise and, as one...
Obtaining authorisation for construction projects can be extremely demanding, but a combination of persistence and the right legal advice will often win the day. In a case on point, a householder whose hopes of building a garden room were time and again...
Everyone has a right to expect that public services will function efficiently and, if you have been let down and suffered injury as a result, you should see a solicitor without delay. In a case on point, a woman who was traumatised by the late arrival of an...
The question of whether particular services are exempt from VAT is a perennial bone of contention which can have major financial and business consequences. That was certainly so in a case concerning the commercial provision of ultrasound scanning services ...
HM Revenue and Customs have reported a decline in the number of trusts and estates in the UK for the fifth year in a row. Between 2018 and 2019, the total number of trusts and estates in the UK fell by 2 per cent to 151,000. The wealth management vehicles...
Working at height is always potentially hazardous and the consequences of health and safety breaches can be extremely costly in human, financial and reputational terms. That was certainly so in the case of an electrician who received seven-figure...
Those who treat planning rules as a mere inconvenience in the belief that they can breach them with impunity are operating under an illusion . The Court of Appeal made that point in upholding heavy fines imposed on a property company and its sole active...
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic it has become even more popular to seek resolution of financial issues arising from divorce via private arbitration rather than formal court proceedings – but to what extent are arbitration awards binding and enforceable?...
