Two-tier contracts delayed – Bar Council response – The Bar Council

Posted November 17th, 2015 in barristers, contracts, delay, press releases by tracey

‘Chairman of the Bar Alistair MacDonald QC said:”The Bar Council has always opposed the two-tier scheme and has consistently asked the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Aid Agency to re-consider these plans. We therefore welcome today’s decision to postpone the implementation of the scheme in the light of the legal challenges which have been brought.”‘

Full press release

The Bar Council. 13th November 2015

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

The chips are down for Barry Beavis – but what does it mean for the penalty rule? – Technology Law Update

Posted November 9th, 2015 in appeals, consumer protection, contracts, fees, news, parking, penalties, Supreme Court by sally

‘This week the UK Supreme Court gave a single decision on a pair of wildly different cases. They involved a chip shop owner overstaying in a retail car park and the heavily negotiated sale of a substantial Middle Eastern advertising group. (Cavendish Square v El Makdessi and ParkingEye v Beavis) Why? Because they both concerned the idea of a penalty clause – very roughly, a clause that is unenforceable because it imposes an exorbitant obligation to pay on a party that breaches a contract.’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 6th November 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

UK courts to define ‘grossly unfair’ payment terms, says government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 28th, 2015 in consultations, contracts, EC law, news, small businesses by sally

‘Difficult questions around whether supply chain payment terms and practices are “grossly unfair” should ultimately be settled by the courts or the new Small Business Commissioner, the UK government has said.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th October 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Insurance Act 2015: changes to conditions precedent – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 23rd, 2015 in contracts, insurance, news by sally

‘From next year, insurers will not be able refuse policyholder claims on the grounds that they breached an irrelevant term in their policy.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 22nd October 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Audit clauses – Radiohead caught between a rock and a hard place – Technology Law Update

Posted October 19th, 2015 in accounts, contracts, drafting, news, performing arts by sally

‘A recent unreported decision over a royalties and audit clause shows that the court’s interpretation will not necessarily harmonise with what the contract draftsman intended.’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 16th October 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

The Consumer Rights Act 2015: Unfair Terms – Henderson Chambers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in consumer protection, contracts, news, unfair contract terms by sally

‘Consumers are ‘asked’ to agree to a deluge of contractual terms on an ever more frequent basis. If they do not agree, they are often told to lump it or leave it. However, consumers have, for some time, been protected against being bound by ‘unfair terms’ by virtue of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR). From 1 October 2015 that statutory protection will change; Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act (the Act) will replace UCTA (to the extent that it relates to business to consumer contracts) and the UTCCRs (in their entirety) respectively.’

Full story

Henderson Chambers, 16th September 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

The Consumer Rights Act 2015: New rules for digital content – Henderson Chambers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in consumer protection, contracts, electronic commerce, news, sale of goods by sally

‘The bulk of existing consumer rights legislation was enacted before the rise of the internet. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that it is silent in relation to defective digital products. As the law stands, the legal status of digital content, particularly whether it can amount to “goods” within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, is unclear. With the advent of theConsumer Rights Act 2015 this will all change – the Act introduces a new category of sales contract, namely contracts between a trader and consumer in relation to ‘digital content’ (as distinct from goods or services). The rights and remedies for digital content are found in Part 3 of the Act.’

Full story

Henderson Chambers, 10th September 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

The Consumer Rights Act 2015: Financial Services & Consumer Credit – Henderson Chambers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in consumer credit, consumer protection, contracts, enforcement, news by sally

‘The Consumer Rights Act 2015 comes into force on 1 October 2015. In anticipation, Henderson Chambers is publishing a series of Alerters reviewing the key provisions. In this final article in the series, Rachel Tandy considers the impact of the legislation on the financial services sector.’

Full story

Henderson Chambers, 28th September 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Time Limits in Commercial Contracts – Ignore Them at Your Peril! – No. 5 Chambers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in contracts, news, sport, time limits by sally

‘The recent media storm concerning the collapse of Manchester United’s transfer deal for its goalkeeper David de Gea apparently as a result of a two minutes delay in submitting the requisite paperwork caused me reflect on the potential effects of missing deadlines in commercial contracts. Man U’s problem did not, of course, arise from any term in the transfer agreement itself, but rather from its failure to register the player into the new club through FIFA in accordance with the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which postulate a strictly prescribed “registration period” or transfer window in media parlance.’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 11th September 2015

Source: www.no5.com

London borough secures lifting of suspension of award of CCTV contract – Local Government Lawyer

‘A London borough has successfully applied to the High Court to have lifted an automatic suspension under procurement regulations of the award of a contract for a road traffic CCTV system.’
Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 30th September 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Ex-UN consultants jailed for bribes over drugs supplied to ‘starving Africans’ – The Guardian

Posted September 24th, 2015 in bribery, contracts, corruption, medicines, news, sentencing by tracey

‘Two former UN consultants have been jailed by a UK court for receiving bribes to rig contracts worth £66m to supply life-saving drugs to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Guido Bakker, 41, and Sijbrandus Scheffer, 63, took payments totalling £650,000 from a Danish pharmaceutical company called Missionpharma in return for helping them win lucrative contracts.’

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

BSB jumps out of cab-rank rule frying pan and into fire of LSB probe – Legal Futures

Posted September 18th, 2015 in barristers, contracts, legal services, news by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has been discharged from an undertaking it gave nearly two years ago to deal with concerns over the way it dealt with changes to the cab-rank rule. But in doing so, the Legal Services Board said it had continuing misgivings that have “directed our attention towards the BSB’s approach to regulation more broadly”.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th September 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

High Court expedites hearing of contract dispute between Cornwall and BT – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 3rd, 2015 in contracting out, contracts, local government, news, telecommunications, trials by sally

The High Court will in December hold an expedited hearing of a dispute between Cornwall Council and BT over whether the local authority was entitled to terminate a major contract for material breach.

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 2nd September 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Does a Repudiatory Breach Discharge an LLP Member’s Agreement? – Littleton Chambers

Posted August 28th, 2015 in contracts, limited liability partnerships, news, retirement by sally

‘The recent Judgment of Mr. Justice Henderson in Flanagan v Liontrust Investment Partners LLP and others [2015] EWHC 2171, 24th July 2015, has addressed the vexed question of whether the Common Law doctrine of repudiatory breach applies to LLP members’ agreements. It has long been settled law that the doctrine did not apply to traditional partnerships, Hurst v Bryk [2002] 1 AC 185 (HL), but the position under LLP agreements has been the subject of continuing debate. In particular it has been argued, by the author amongst others, that the doctrine applied and that the effect of a repudiatory breach was to enable a member to accept the breach and assert that the default provisions under the Limited Liabilities Partnership Act 2000 applied. In Liontrust Mr. Justice Henderson rejects that argument, save possibly in the case of a two member LLP.’

Full story

Littleton Chambers, 27th July 2015

Source: www.littletonchambers.com

Fitness for purpose clauses in construction contracts – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted August 27th, 2015 in appeals, construction industry, contracts, foreign jurisdictions, news by sally

‘Despite heightened focus on fitness for purpose clauses following the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in MT Hojgaard A/S v E.ON Climate and Renewables UK Robin Rigg East Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 407 (“Robin Rigg”), such clauses are not new and have been used in construction contracts for a number of years.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 11th August 2015

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Consumer rights rules will not apply where personal data, not money, is exchanged for digital content – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 12th, 2015 in consumer protection, contracts, data protection, EC law, internet, news, privacy by sally

‘Businesses selling or licensing digital content will not have to honour most “rights and remedies” that consumers will have under new UK consumer protection laws where those consumers exchange access to their personal data rather than money in return for that content, a UK regulator has said.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 7th August 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Ofcom investigates Sky over complaints of ignored cancellation requests – The Guardian

Posted August 7th, 2015 in contracts, internet, media, news, regulations, telecommunications by tracey

‘The broadcasting watchdog Ofcom is investigating Sky over concerns that customers’ attempts to cancel their contracts are being ignored.’

Full story

The Guardian, 6th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judge orders damages and not award of contract after flawed tender – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 30th, 2015 in contracts, damages, local government, news, tenders by sally

‘A High Court judge has decided that a council which ran a “fundamentally flawed” tender evaluation process should be required to pay the claimant damages rather award it the contract.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 28th July 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

First Libor, then Forex… the future of banking litigation – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted July 25th, 2015 in banking, contracts, estoppel, interest, news by sally

‘For the immediate future, it is not difficult to identify likely, and plentiful, areas for banking litigation, especially with the ever growing presence of litigation funding making its mark. We identify a few below.’

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, June 2015

Source: www.11sb.com

Businesses team up to battle English laws on penalties dating back to Magna Carta – The Independent

Posted July 24th, 2015 in contracts, fines, news, parking, penalties, Supreme Court by sally

‘Lawyers are in a legal slug-fest in the Supreme Court trying to determine if the English law on penalties has any place in the modern commercial world.’

Full story

The Independent, 23rd July 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk