Employee retirement is a sensitive issue that needs extremely careful handling in the light of age discrimination laws. The point was underlined by one case in which a veteran solicitor claimed that he had been forced to resign after being frozen out by his younger
The fairness of public contract tendering is rigorously enforced and the award of any such contract is automatically suspended if a dispute arises. However, in one case, the High Court ruled that the continuation of such a hiatus was not in the public interest. A
What constitutes the ‘setting’ of a heritage asset? The High Court considered that burning issue in overturning planning permission for a development of 400 new homes on a site less than two miles away from a Grade I-listed stately home. The neo-classical property was viewed
Vast investment in nurturing public recognition of trade marks is almost equalled by the resources that go into protecting them against misuse. In one case, motor manufacturing giant BMW triumphed in infringement proceedings against a small company that repaired and maintained its vehicles. The company
Commercial landlords usually bear the burden of arranging building insurance and any failure to do so can expose all concerned to the risk of catastrophic loss. In one case, a landlord who failed in that duty received a stiff fine for breaching a High Court
Disappointed tenderers for public contracts are often placed in a difficult position, in that they know that they have lost but they do not know why. That was certainly so in one High Court case concerning a multi-million-pound contract for the provision of a new
Personality clashes at work are sadly anything but rare, but employers are under a duty to take reasonable steps to resolve such issues before they get out of hand. In one case where that signally failed to happen, a veteran teacher won the right to
The potential liabilities of freeholders under the Defective Premises Act 1972 came under the spotlight in a Court of Appeal test case, arising from a tragic accident in which a tourist on honeymoon was fatally injured in a fall down stairs. The tourist was staying
Departed employees often retain confidential information in their heads that would be of use to a competitor and such memories can be protected in just the same way as hard documents or data. The High Court strikingly made that point in holding a senior executive
Almost every motorist has suffered the annoyance of not having the right change to put into a ticket machine. It may, however, be a comfort for that nameless multitude to know that a car park operator has been refused a six-figure VAT rebate in respect
