An update to the STEP Standard Provisions – Mills & Reeve

Posted January 18th, 2024 in drafting, news, trusts, wills by sally

‘On the 2 November 2023, the Society of Trust Estates and Practitioners (STEP) published the third edition of their standard provisions that can be used when will drafting.’

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Mills & Reeve, 18th January 2024

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

UK appeal court dismisses £1.3m award over share purchase agreement wording – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 15th, 2023 in appeals, damages, drafting, interpretation, news, shareholders by sally

‘A Court of Appeal ruling that overturned a £1.31 million damages award for breach of a share purchase agreement (SPA) demonstrates the importance of careful interpretation of SPA drafting in order to correctly notify and plead breach of warranty claims, according to one legal expert.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 14th November 2023

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

St James’s Oncology v Lendlease: the value of project-specific amendments to JCT contracts – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted January 13th, 2023 in construction industry, contracts, drafting, hospitals, indemnities, news by tracey

‘The recent judgment of the TCC in St James’s Oncology SPC Ltd (Project Co) v Lendlease Construction (Europe) Ltd and another provides a fascinating commentary on the importance of drafting a building contract that is tailored to deliver the needs of the employer and the end-user.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog , 12th January 2023

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Mohamed Moussa: The ‘Absent Word’ Canon and Asymmetrical Sovereignty – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The UK Supreme Court (UKSC) recently issued its unanimous judgment which found the draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill to be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. While the facts of this case are distinctively different from previous Scottish cases, a common theme remains in the Court’s insistence on ‘ordinary meaning of words’ as its ‘general approach to the interpretation of the Scotland Act’. According to such an approach, the Court prioritises ‘the language carefully chosen by the Parliamentary drafter and enacted by Parliament’ as ‘[t]he best way of ensuring a coherent, stable and workable outcome’. The purpose of this blog post is not to explore the facts of this particular case. Rather, it focuses on the UKSC’s repeated stress of textualism. A similarity is found in the Court’s textual interpretation of Section 28(7), which was understood to affirm the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and served as the crux of its previous cases on devolution. The aim of the post is to show the questionable nature of the Court’s textual fidelity and highlight that it runs counter to foundational canons of interpretation. For space constraints, my argument focuses mainly on Section 21 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill Reference (UNCRC Incorporation Bill case) after briefly discussing section 17 of the Scottish Legal Continuity Bill.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th December 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Failure to comply with PD57AC — it can be costly! – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 28th, 2022 in costs, drafting, indemnities, local government, news, practice directions, witnesses by tracey

‘Amba Griffin-Booth examines the lessons to be learned from a recent case concerning compliance with PD57AC.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th October 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Be certain, be specific and be clear: milestone judgment for liquidated damages – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted October 10th, 2022 in construction industry, contracts, damages, delay, drafting, news by tracey

‘Recent case law has shown how careful parties need to be when drafting a liquidated damages (LDs) regime. The case of Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd v Peel L&P Investments and Property Ltd provides yet another example of what can happen if there is any ambiguity in the drafting.’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 5th October 2022

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

The importance of an appropriate Mortgagee Exclusion Clause – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 13th, 2022 in drafting, exclusion clauses, mortgages, news by tracey

‘Claire Waring considers the use of a Mortgagee Exclusion Clause (MEC) and explains why careful drafting is key.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th September 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Poorly drafted long residence rules lead to avoidable litigation – EIN Blog

Posted August 22nd, 2022 in appeals, drafting, immigration, news, statutory interpretation, time limits, visas by tracey

‘R (Iyieke) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 1147 (11 August 2022). The Court of Appeal has held that Mr Victormills Onyekachi Iyieke, who had applied for indefinite leave to remain (“ILR”) on the ground of 10 years’ continuous lawful residence in the UK and who had a period of overstaying in 2014 “book-ended” by periods of leave was not able to rely on paragraph 276B(v) of the Immigration Rules. It is notable that current overstaying and previous overstaying between periods of leave are referred to as “open-ended” and “book-ended” overstaying. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal observed that under paragraph 276B(v) a period of overstaying between periods of leave was disregarded where the previous application was made before 24 November 2016 and within 28 days of the expiry of leave. Mr Iyieke had made an application within 28 days of the expiry of his leave in 2014—that was unsuccessful and he was later granted temporary admission on other grounds. In paragraph 276B(v), “the previous application” could not refer to any unsuccessful application made in a period of book-ended leave before 24 November 2016. The reference was to “the” previous application and not “a” previous application and “the” previous application had to have resulted in a period of leave. Mr Iyieke had a post-study work visa which expired on 9 August 2014. He applied for leave to remain on 2 September 2014, which was within 24 days of the expiry of his post-study work visa.’

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EIN Blog, 18th August 2022

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Courts send different messages to lawyers over witness statements – Legal Futures

Posted May 27th, 2022 in drafting, judges, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘The strengthened rules on witness statements should not be used as a “weapon with which to fillet” essentially insignificant failures to comply, a High Court judge has said.’

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Legal Futures, 27th May 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The CJEU casts doubt on England’s new post-Brexit divorce jurisdiction law – Family Law

‘A recent decision of the CJEU has addressed the definition of habitual residence for divorce jurisdiction under Art 3 of BIIA. It confirms the interpretation hitherto held in England that a party can have only one habitual residence at one time. But it has also given a strong indication that habitual residence has to be continuous for the requisite period before the date of issuing of proceedings and not just on the date of issue. This has been a controversy in English case law over many years, with the majority of professional opinion allegedly being that habitual residence was only necessary on the date of issue and merely residence for the requisite preceding period. The Ministry of Justice relied on this interpretation in drafting England’s new post Brexit divorce jurisdictional law, on the basis of following EU law. Now, seemingly, that is not so. What will now be the position in England dealing with cases involving EU Member States? In any event what is the position with transitional cases?’

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Family Law, 12th May 2022

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

New English court witness statement rules have positive early effect – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 8th, 2022 in drafting, evidence, news, practice directions, witnesses by sally

‘Last year, important new rules were introduced governing how witness statements are drafted and used in the Business and Property Courts (BPC) of England and Wales.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 7th February 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Option agreements: court’s role not to ‘rewrite bad bargain’, says English judge – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 24th, 2022 in construction industry, contracts, drafting, news, planning by tracey

‘It is not the role of the courts to “re-write a bad bargain” between commercial parties, an English judge has said, in a dispute over the wording of an option agreement.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 21st January 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Company Law: How do the courts interpret the articles of association? – Bloomsbury Professional Law Online Blog

Posted December 1st, 2021 in company law, contracts, drafting, interpretation, limitations, news by sally

‘A common problem with the articles of association is the addition of poorly drafted precedents with unambiguous terms. The court is often asked to make judgments on such provisions and to interpret the true meaning of the words used. To instigate the process of establishing the intention of the parties, it is important to consider firstly the articles in terms of their contractual obligations.’

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Bloomsbury Professional Law Online Blog, 22nd November 2021

Source: law.bloomsburyprofessional.com

Remote Hearings and the Future of the Financial Remedy Court: What We Learned from the Farquhar Report – Parts 1 and 2 – Parklane Plowden

Posted November 2nd, 2021 in case management, drafting, family courts, news, remote hearings, reports by sally

‘The Farquhar report, authored by His Honour Judge Stuart Farquhar, was commissioned by Mostyn J (the National Lead of the Financial Remedies Court) to consider the future of the FRC and the role that remote hearings should play.’

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Parklane Plowden Chambers, 1st November 2021

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

High Court rules out 28 identical divorce petitions – Law & Religion UK

Posted October 14th, 2021 in divorce, drafting, evidence, news by sally

‘On 10 September 2021, Mr Justice Moor handed down the judgment Yorston & Ors, Re (Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: Improper Petitions) [2021] EWFC 80 concerning 28 petitions to the High Court. In each case, the allegations of unreasonable behaviour were absolutely identical.’

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Law & Religion UK, 13th October 2021

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Not sharing Covid risks would threaten viability of construction projects – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 2nd, 2021 in construction industry, contracts, coronavirus, drafting, news by sally

‘The construction industry faces many challenges related to Covid-19, and if it doesn’t take a co-operative approach and share risks then it could make the situation even worse.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 1st September 2021

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Defensive Advising Strategies 1: What you learn from practising in the field of professional negligence – Wilberforce Chambers

‘Relatively speaking, barristers usually have rather broad practices. Even if (like me) a significant part of their practice is concerned with advisory work and drafting, barristers are often also engaged on various litigious matters relating to their underlying area of expertise, including professional negligence claims. By contrast, despite exposure to a variety of areas of practice whilst training, the organisation of many firms of solicitors can often have the effect that private client solicitors know little of litigation. For example, I once saw a draft witness statement prepared by a private client solicitor, where the parties in the heading were referred to separately in each capacity – as with a deed. And it is particularly problematic that private client lawyers often do not know very much about the field of professional negligence.’

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Wilberforce Chambers, 13th May 2021

Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk

Judge blasts “lamentable” applications and non-compliant skeletons – Litigation Futures

Posted May 4th, 2021 in case management, drafting, news, skeleton arguments by tracey

‘A deputy High Court judge has hit out at the “lamentable” way applications before him were prepared, including non-compliant and late skeleton arguments from counsel.’

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Litigation Futures, 4th May 2021

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Firm’s breach over counterparty’s name caused no loss, rules High Court – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 16th, 2021 in compensation, drafting, fees, law firms, negligence, news, solicitors by tracey

‘A firm’s drafting mistake in a standstill agreement was a breach of its duty but caused no loss to the client, a judge has ruled.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th April 2021

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Budget variation application failed promptness test, master rules – Litigation Futures

Posted April 15th, 2021 in budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, drafting, negligence, news by sally

‘A High Court master has sent out a strong message on the need to seek budget variations promptly after refusing a bid to increase two claimants’ budgets by £1.3m.’

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Litigation Futures, 13th April 2021

Source: www.litigationfutures.com