Amidst the white heat of competition that pervades public contract procurement exercises, tenderers sometimes put in over-ambitious bids which later come back to bite them. In one case, the High Court found that a company’s tender in respect of a local authority waste treatment contract
Many of the UK’s most prosperous and modern businesses are partnerships, but the laws which govern them date back to the Victorian era. The High Court made that observation in considering whether a solicitors’ partnership had or had not been dissolved. A solicitor who had
Joint ventures with larger organisations can provide the branding, financial muscle and expertise necessary to get small businesses off the ground. As a High Court case concerning three failed opticians’ shops showed, however, it is vital to obtain independent professional advice before putting your money
Distinguishing between legitimate clients and money launderers is a major challenge for many businesses, but they ultimately bear legal responsibility for doing so. In a High Court case on point, a company was almost put out of business after its bank formed the view that
Those intent on changing jobs can easily have their heads turned by glittering offers of remuneration and benefits made over lunch and a handshake. However, as one case strikingly showed, it is written terms of engagement that really matter, and taking expert advice is the
Even the most carefully drafted contractual clauses may be capable of bearing more than one meaning. However, as a Court of Appeal ruling showed, the intention of the parties and business common sense are the touchstones to which judges turn. A mining company had agreed
Partnership agreements commonly set out the percentage of profits and losses to be respectively enjoyed and borne by each partner. Such terms can subsequently be varied by conduct but, as a High Court case showed, written documents will generally prevail in the absence of compelling
Business dealings that are based on oral contracts are built on sand. The point was resoundingly proved by a High Court case in which a high-value deal was alleged to have been struck during a chat in a restaurant, and subsequently recorded literally on the
Those who engage in joint ventures necessarily submit to an element of communal decision-making and must take the rough with the smooth if things go wrong. The Court of Appeal made that point in apportioning financial responsibility for a £68 million deficit in an employee
Non-solicitation and non-compete covenants in employment contracts impinge on workers’ personal freedoms and, as a High Court case showed, examples that are unclear or too broad in their effect are highly likely to be declared unenforceable. That is one very good reason why professional drafting
