Employees who want to improve their work-life balance have a legal right to request flexibility in their working hours, and their bosses are obliged to respond reasonably. In a case on point, a seamstress was awarded compensation after her employer refused to give her Fridays
The Government is in long-running default of its obligation to meet EU air quality targets – but to what extent should that unfortunate fact be taken into account by planners? The Court of Appeal considered that issue in a guideline decision. A developer wished to build
Trusts that are intended, but fail, to yield tax advantages are fiendishly difficult to untangle once created – but it can be done with the right legal advice. A businessman who transferred ownership of his home and classic car collection to offshore trusts in the forlorn
The pressure on financial traders means that deals are often struck during telephone calls that last minutes or even seconds, creating an obvious risk of costly misunderstandings, as was shown by a recent High Court case concerning the sale of debt instruments worth millions at
The powerful public interest in rigorous judicial enforcement of commercial arbitration decisions was, in a High Court case, sufficient to outweigh a foreign government’s plea that an award against it of almost $6.6 billion was hugely inflated and penal. The case concerned a gas supply
Making a will is a private matter and you are entitled to play your cards close to your chest. However, as a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) showed, resorting to subterfuge or undue secrecy can sow the seeds of legal dispute after you are gone.
Is a professional cricket ground a business? Or is it merely land with income streams attached? The First-tier Tribunal’s (FTT’s) answer to those questions in a guideline case relieved the former owner of one such facility from a crushing Capital Gains Tax (CGT) bill. The
Public complaints that advertising campaigns are misleading do not go unheeded. A High Court case on point concerned a medical device which was said to achieve numerous therapeutic benefits by electrical stimulation of muscles. After the device was advertised in two national newspapers, a consumer
Open plan office spaces are preferred by many and make good business sense – but they do not suit everyone. An employer found that out to its cost after being ordered to pay substantial damages to an autistic worker who felt overwhelmed by his flexible working
Travellers have particular needs in a society that does not always welcome them, but they can expect firm punishment if they defy planning control. In one case, the High Court came down hard on travellers who created an unlawful encampment on Good Friday, in the
