Compensation awards to clinical negligence victims may seem generous, but long lives and the escalating costs of care mean that they are no larger than needed. That was certainly so in the case of a seriously disabled 11-year-old girl whose lawyers succeeded in negotiating a
The careful scrutiny given to trade mark applications applies to multinationals with just the same rigour as it does to modest businesses. In a High Court case on point, a small company successfully blocked Jaguar Land Rover Limited’s bid to establish exclusive use of a
Confidential information is the very lifeblood of many businesses and, if it is removed without authority by untrustworthy employees, it can be very hard to retrieve. As one case showed, however, judges have a range of emergency powers that can be used to ensure that
Do the common parts of an apartment building include the airspace above it and the subsoil beneath? In an important ruling in the context of leasehold enfranchisement, a tribunal has answered that question in the affirmative. A majority of residential tenants in a block of
The existence of oral agreements is easily asserted but very hard to prove, and that is one good reason why important deals should be in writing and professionally drafted by a lawyer. In a case on point, a businessman received nothing following the multi-million-pound stock
Where a trustee in bankruptcy disclaims any right to a bankrupt’s property, in the belief that it is of no or negative value, what happens if that belief turns out to be mistaken? The High Court considered that issue in a guideline decision. The case
One of the reasons why divorcing couples should always seek professional advice is that children also feel the consequences of marital breakdown. That was certainly so in one case in which a former couple’s decision to split a 3,000-acre family estate between them left their
The community infrastructure levy (CIL) is a charge that local authorities can impose on new developments as a means of funding local infrastructure. The sums involved can be very substantial and a High Court ruling in a guideline case will help to dispel doubts over
