Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a judge was wrong to prevent two grandparents adopting their 3-year-old grandson. The court heard that the child’s mother suffered from mental health problems. She had a long history of drug abuse and had criminal convictions for violent offences. She had had no contact with the child since
A woman whose husband died after they had undergone IVF treatment has obtained a parental order for their baby after she was born to a surrogate mother. The couple, who were referred to in court as Mr and Mrs Y, married in 2013. After several unsuccessful IVF treatments, they entered into a surrogacy agreement with
The number of people working from home could double once the Covid-19 crisis is over, according to new research. A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says employers expected a dramatic increase as employees get used to the advantages of home working and not having to commute. CIPD surveyed
The Employment Tribunal failed to properly consider the needs of the employer when dealing with a disability discrimination claim. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving the Department of Work & Pensions and one of its employees, Susan Boyers. Ms Boyers suffered from migraines, stress and panic attacks. She
The Court of Appeal has upheld an injunction preventing a director from revealing confidential information about his former company. The court heard that the company had been owned in equal shares by two directors. Relations between the parties broke down and they entered into a settlement agreement under which one agreed to sell his shares
Two teachers who were made redundant during a school reorganisation programme were unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in a case involving Gwynedd Council v Shelley Barratt & Ors (2020). The teachers had been employed by the council to work at a community secondary school (School 1). Under the Staffing
The ban on private tenant evictions introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic has been extended by a further four weeks to 20th September 2020. This brings the overall moratorium to almost six months. From that date, assuming that there is no further extension, landlords can again take court action to repossess a rented home. Letting
The Family Court has divided a divorcing couple’s marital assets in roughly equal shares, although they had spent so much on their acrimonious dispute that there was very little money left. The couple had been married for nearly 22 years and had three children before separating and embarking on financial remedy proceedings. There had been
A new service has been launched to make Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) safer and easier to use. The new digital ‘Use a lasting power of attorney’ tool has been launched by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which administers LPAs. The online service will help those acting as an attorney to contact organisations
Royal Mail has lost its appeal over the employment status of some of its agency workers. The case involved Mr D Kocur and other workers who were supplied to Royal Mail by Angard Staffing Solutions. The Employment Tribunal heard evidence that Kocur was recruited by Angard as a “flexible resourcing employee” in 2015. His letter