Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
New legislation to prevent company bosses misusing Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for former employees has been announced by the government. Ministers say that while NDAs can be used by businesses for several legitimate reasons, there are occasions where they are being abused and those who sign them not made aware of their rights. There have been cases
The Tenant Fees Act 2019, which came into force on 1st June 2019, bans so-called ‘hidden fees’ that are charged to tenants throughout the course of tenancies. Previously, some tenants found they were being charged costly fees in addition to their rent and deposit such as administrative fees and credit check fees. These additional fees
The law surrounding gas safety certificates has been problematic for landlords, agents and property lawyers for some time now. Property lawyers are hoping that that the recent case of Trecarrell House Ltd v Rouncefield (unreported, 13 February 2019), due to go to the Court of Appeal in the next year, will add some clarity to
The government is planning to ease the cash flow burden on small firms by making the boards of large companies accountable for late payments to suppliers. It is part of an ongoing effort to tackle the issue of late payment, which can be the difference between success and failure for many SMEs. Large companies could
A dispute between a property owner and builder has been settled by the High Court, with the owner ordered to pay for work completed, even though he was not happy with it and the job was cancelled. The parties had entered into a JCT minor works building contract for work to be done on the
The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a transport worker was discriminated against because of his ‘lack of command’ of the English language. Mr A Khawaja, from Pakistan, worked for Transport for London (TfL) but was overlooked for development opportunities such as training and conference calls. The office held conference calls twice a day and the
A High Court ruling has enabled a company to remove a director who had become estranged from the business following a dispute over alleged breach of duties. The company had two members and four directors. Three of the directors, including the majority shareholder, believed that the fourth director, Mr Christopher Stephen Jones, who was the
An estate agent has been fined £3,000 for not being a member of all the required redress schemes for the services it covered. The case arose following a complaint from a tenant who lived in a block of flats managed by the agent. The local authority discovered the agent was a member of a redress
The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally found that four pharmaceutical companies broke the law by agreeing not to compete in the supply of an anti-nausea drug in the UK. It alleges that, between 2013 and 2018, Alliance, Focus, Lexon and Medreich agreed not to compete for the supply of Prochlorperazine tablets to the NHS.
A company has been compensated for a breach of warranty after it bought an insurance firm. The case involved a firm that sold policies related to motor or household insurance. When it was sold in 2014, the seller provided warranties that the company accounts were accurate and a fair representation of the company’s financial situation.