Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
Often when a team of people decide to do business together they do so with people known to them whether it be family members, colleagues or friends. It is common to feel that formalising the business relationship legally is unnecessary as parties often find it difficult to imagine that these seemingly positive relationships could deteriorate
The number of firms going out of business or facing serious financial distress has risen sharply this year, according to the latest figures. The Insolvency Service says there were 5,629 corporate insolvencies in Q2, an increase of 12.7% compared to Q1’s figures of 4,995, and an increase of 81.3% compared to Q2 2021 (3,105). Meanwhile,
The government has launched a scheme to tackle dementia and doubled research funding in memory of the late Barbara Windsor. It comes after Dame Barbara’s husband, Scott Mitchell, met Boris Johnson at Downing Street and outlined the significant suffering caused by dementia and the slow process of finding treatments and cures. This led to the
The government is being urged to introduce reforms to provide better legal protection for cohabiting couples if their relationship breaks down. The number of cohabiting couples has more than doubled in the past generation with 1.5m in 1996, compared to 3.6m in 2021. The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee says there is a
Constructive dismissal is where an employer has committed a serious breach of contract that the employee’s only option is to resign in response to the employer’s conduct. In order to bring a successful claim, the employee will need to show that: Their employer was in repudiatory breach of their employment contract; They resigned in response
I have less than two years’ employment. Can my employer dismiss me without a reason? Employees can only usually claim unfair dismissal against an employer if they have a minimum of two years’ service. However, there are exceptions to this rule. If an employee is able to establish an automatically unfair or discriminatory reason for
The new ‘No-Fault Divorce’ legislation came into effect from April 2022, but what does this mean and what has changed for separating couples? Thomas Palmer, a solicitor in the Machins Family Team has some FAQs! What was the old divorce law? Under the old law, those starting the divorce process would have to prove their
Victims of domestic abuse will no longer be cross-examined by their attackers in family and civil courts under new measures which have now come into force. The change is part of the government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021). It places a legal bar on parties cross-examining each other where there is evidence of abuse. It follows
A fashion designer in her early fifties who was passed over for promotion has been awarded £96,000 after making an age discrimination claim. The case involved Rachel Sunderland, who had worked as a knitwear specialist for Superdry since 2015. Sunderland had 30 years’ experience in the industry and had worked for well-known brands such as Fang Bros
A new insurance scheme has been developed to enable people living in high-rise buildings to sell their homes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. Following the fire in 2017, mortgage lenders became reluctant to lend to buyers of flats in high-rise buildings, and sales dropped rapidly. To provide assurance, a building industry