In a guideline case, two Middle Eastern princes who are facing claims in an unfair prejudice petition under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 have failed to convince the Court of Appeal that they enjoy sovereign immunity from suit on the basis that they
In a case which highlighted the difficult balance to be struck between child protection and the rights of the individual, a police force has been criticised by the High Court for its ‘blinkered’ treatment of a teacher who was acquitted of sexually touching four of
In a ruling of enormous significance to family and commercial practitioners, the Supreme Court has ruled in the context of a ‘big money’ divorce case that it is in certain very limited circumstances legitimate for family judges to ‘pierce the corporate veil’ in order to
The Open University (OU) is due a £21 million tax rebate, plus interest, after the First-Tier Tribunal accepted that payments it made to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over a 16-year period should have been treated as exempt from VAT on the basis that services
In resolving a dispute as to the ownership of intellectual property rights in respect of software that formed the ‘crown jewels’ of a highly successful investment business, the High Court has ruled that authorship does not necessarily equate to copyright. A husband and wife had
In dismissing an action in respect of alleged unregistered design rights in a range of plastic microwave containers, the Patents County Court has emphasised that such rights are territorial in nature and that a claim of primary infringement in relation to goods manufactured outside the
In a stern warning to litigants that they will rarely win the day by sitting on their hands, a recruitment consultant forfeited her right to defend herself, and was left facing a damages bill in excess of £700,000, after failing adequately to engage in proceedings
The wisdom of taking professional advice prior to entering into commercial relations has been underlined by a case in which the ‘somewhat vague’ terms of an agreement between residential property developers gave rise to a costly High Court dispute in respect of the division of
In a ruling of interest to properly landlords and tax advisers, the Honourable Society of Middle Temple has failed to convince the Upper Tribunal (UT) that cold water it supplies to barristers’ chambers through a centuries-old network of pipes should be treated as a separate
In the context of a residential property transaction, a firm of solicitors that released £200,000 in bank funds without authority after falling victim to a sophisticated fraud has been excused from any potential liability to Banco Santander by the High Court on the basis that
