Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
A dyslexic employee who was subjected to disability discrimination at work has been awarded £6,000 compensation. The problem first arose when the man started to find his job increasingly stressful and was placed on a performance improvement plan by his employer. He later developed depression and had to take time off work. He raised a
An elderly woman’s will which left half her estate to her neighbour to the detriment of her family has been rejected by the High Court. The judge held that it was unlikely that the woman fully understood what she was doing at the time when she made such an important decision. She had first made
The Government has launched a new interactive online map to enable people to see the quality of care provided for dementia sufferers in their area. There are 670,000 people in England who suffer with dementia, and the number is likely to double over the next 30 years. A further 21 million people have a close
A company has been told it cannot recover wages that were overpaid to employees by mistake over a six-year period. The case illustrates the need for companies to fully understand their obligations when acquiring other businesses and their employees under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (TUPE). The company had bought another
One in six businesses are turning to pay day loans as an emergency measure to stay afloat. One in four businesses need additional funding to grow yet say they are being starved of credit. Nearly 20% are turning to friends and family for financial support. The alarming findings are from research carried out by One
A landlord has received £4.75m compensation after faulty workmanship and equipment led to “catastrophic” flooding at a block of flats. The damage occurred after a pressurised water system was installed throughout the building. The system enabled water to be pumped to the higher floors in the block, but could also produce an effect known as
The High Court has ruled that a housing development next to a protected wildlife area can go ahead despite protests that the correct procedures were not followed. The developer had received planning permission to build 65 houses, but a local protester claimed the fact that the proposed site was next to an area of special
A company has won its appeal against a £400 fine for late submission of its Employer Annual Return. The directors said they had made genuine attempts to submit their form but had not been able to do so because they didn’t receive an online activation code from the Revenue & Customs commissioners. The company first
The makers of the board game Scrabble have lost a trademark dispute involving an online game named Scramble. Scrabble argued that the use of the word Scramble, and the presentation of the word in the game’s logo, with the ‘M’ turned on its side so as to look like a capital letter B, would cause
When couples separate, emotions can often hinder difficult issues being discussed. Mediation is a process that is designed to help people reach an early agreement, with the minimum of cost, delay and confrontation. It can ease the pain of a family breakdown or separation, encourages people to be open and discuss the implications of their