An engineering firm has narrowly escaped substantial liability for a serious flood that struck a newly completed block of prestige central London flats after a high-speed surge through its cold water supply caused pipes to dramatically burst asunder. The freeholders of the 206-apartment block had
In a dramatic example of European free trade laws being put into practical effect, a local authority is facing a £1.5 million damages claim after taking the ‘moral and political’ – but hasty and legally unwise – decision to close the Port of Ramsgate to
In a classic example of an incident that lasted just seconds giving rise to international litigation on a grand scale, a mishap in which an 87-tonne wind turbine fell off a lorry and embedded itself in an Irish peat bog gave rise to two sets
In a case which will strike fear into the hearts of manufacturers and creators of novel products, leading designer Rob Law suffered a crushing blow when the Court of Appeal exposed his phenomenally successful Trunki ride-on children’s suitcase to a deluge of competition from a
In an embarrassing decision for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), it has been found guilty of sex discrimination against a female employee whose permission to work part of the week at home in order to look after her children was revoked. The woman worked as
Litigants will have noted the recent toughening of the judicial approach to compliance with directions and case management orders. However, a High Court decision has underlined that a slavish deference to deadlines can itself cause delay and harm the interests of justice. The owners and
A woman who says that she has been plagued for years by anti-social behaviour and noise emanating from a basketball court next to her home has failed to convince the High Court that it was irrational of planners to allow the facility’s use at all
Britain’s Freemasons will be deeply disappointed by a tax tribunal’s ruling that their governing Grand Lodge is not sufficiently ‘philosophical’ or ‘philanthropic’ to qualify for a VAT exemption potentially worth millions. The United Grand Lodge of England represents about 250,000 Masons, belonging to around 8,000
In a case which illustrated the impact of years of recession on commercial rents in some parts of the country, the High Court has rejected tenants’ arguments that they should have their rent on shop premises reduced to levels that were first agreed in the
Falls from height remain one of the biggest causes of serious workplace injury in the UK, with more than 40 people killed and 4,000 suffering major injuries every year. As part of the Government’s drive to save businesses time and money by eliminating unnecessary red
