Climate Change and Investment Duties: a Prisoner’s Dilemma? – Pensions Barrister

Posted March 1st, 2024 in chambers articles, climate change, fiduciary duty, news, pensions by sally

‘James McCreath of Wilberforce Chambers comments on the recent FMLC report on pension trustees and fiduciary duties.’

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Pensions Barrister, 29th February 2024

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

Case Comment: London Borough of Merton Council v Nuffield Health [2023] UKSC 18 – UKSC Blog

Posted January 4th, 2024 in charities, fiduciary duty, health, local government, news, rates, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this post, Lisa Fox, a senior associate in the litigation team at CMS, comments on the decision by the Supreme Court in London Borough of Merton Council v Nuffield Health [2023] UKSC 18. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether Nuffield Health is entitled to mandatory relief from non-domestic rates in respect of its occupation of its members-only gym under the Local Government Finance Act 1988.’

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UKSC Blog, 3rd January 2024

Source: ukscblog.com

Lord Sales, The Interface Between Contract and Equity – Supreme Court

Posted January 2nd, 2024 in contracts, equity, fiduciary duty, lectures, news by tracey

‘Lord Sales, The Interface Between Contract and Equity – Equity Conference 2023’

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Supreme Court, 19th December 2023

Source: www.supremecourt.uk

McGaughey v USS Ltd – derivative actions against directors of a corporate pension trustee – Pensions Barrister

‘In McGaughey v USS Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 873, two active members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (the “USS”) applied for permission to continue a derivative action on behalf of the corporate trustee of the USS, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited (“USSL”), against its current and former directors. USSL is a company limited by guarantee of which its directors were the members. By the derivative action, the two USS active members sought to cause USSL to sue the corporation’s directors for alleged breaches of the duties owed by the directors to USSL. The Court of Appeal refused to permit the claim to go forward.’

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Pensions Barrister, August 2023

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

Public benefit for the rich?: Merton LBC v Nuffield Health – Law & Religion UK

Posted June 8th, 2023 in charities, fiduciary duty, health, local government, news, rates by tracey

‘Nuffield Health is a registered charity. Its purposes are “to advance, promote and maintain health and healthcare of all descriptions and to prevent, relieve and cure sickness and ill health of any kind, all for the public benefit.” It pursues its purposes primarily through the provision of gym facilities, including the gym at Merton Abbey. It also operates private hospitals and clinics. The facilities at Merton Abbey are mainly restricted to fee-paying members. In April 2019, the standard membership fee was £80 per month. Nuffield also offers certain limited services to non-members of the gym. S.43(5) and (6)(a) Local Government Finance Act 1988 mandates an 80 per cent relief from business rates where “the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity” and the premises are “wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities)”. Nuffield Health claimed the mandatory relief under s.43(5) and (6)(a) from 1 August 2016, when it acquired the Merton Abbey gym.’

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Law & Religion UK, 8th June 2023

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Court rejects £63m claim against PwC over Slater and Gordon deal – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A judge has dismissed a claim that national firm Slater and Gordon was passed confidential information which caused it to chop £63m off the price of an acquisition.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th May 2023

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Bitcoin Security: Should Developers Be Held Liable? – 3PB

Posted March 31st, 2023 in appeals, chambers articles, cryptocurrencies, fiduciary duty, news by sally

‘Most of us have experienced the sense of frustration and helplessness when losing a purse or wallet. Imagine your wallet was digital, and contained $4 billion in assets. Now imagine the device which held your wallet containing $4 billion in assets was hacked, and your assets disappeared into the ether.’

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3PB, 2nd March 2023

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Supreme Court rules on directors duty to act in interests of creditors – OUT-LAW.com

‘Company directors need to remain wary of their duty to consider the interests of creditors in certain circumstances, despite a new UK Supreme Court ruling that they are likely to welcome, experts have said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 10th October 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

New Judgment: BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25 – UKSC Blog

‘This appeal raised questions of considerable importance for company law. It provides the first opportunity for the Supreme Court to consider the existence, content and engagement of the so-called “creditor duty”: the alleged duty of company directors to consider, or to act in accordance with, the interests of the company’s creditors when the company becomes insolvent, or when it approaches, or is at real risk of, insolvency.’

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UKSC Blog, 5th October 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

Fiduciaries and the power of investment: when is an ethical investment not an investment? – Wilberforce Chambers

Posted August 16th, 2022 in charities, environmental protection, fiduciary duty, news, trusts by sally

‘The universe of socially responsible or “ethical” investments has been expanding exponentially in recent years.’

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Wilberforce Chambers, 18th July 2022

Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk

Case Comment: Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila Advisory Ltd [2021] UKSC 49 – UKSC Blog

‘In this post, Amy Wilkinson, a senior associate in CMS’ financial crime team, comments on the decision of the UK Supreme Court in Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila Advisory Ltd [2021] UKSC 49. On 3 November 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal and ruled in favour of Aquila Advisory Ltd. The decision concerns attribution of directors’ criminal actions and who should have priority over assets derived from their criminal schemes.’

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UKSC Blog, 4th May 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

The (Rebuttable) Presumption of Honesty – Hailsham Chambers

Posted November 2nd, 2021 in causation, fiduciary duty, loss of chance, negligence, news, set-off, solicitors by sally

‘The claim related to an opportunity to develop a Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) dealership in Wolverhampton (the Wolverhampton Opportunity), which the claimants alleged was lost due to the negligence of the defendant solicitors.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 8th October 2021

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Who manages the managers? – Tribunal appointed manager behaving badly – Nearly Legal

Posted August 31st, 2021 in agency, fiduciary duty, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘A cautionary tale of a Tribunal appointed manager behaving badly and a reminder that the appointed manager’s duty is to carry out what is in the order appointing them, and that they answer to the Tribunal as an officer of the Tribunal.’

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Nearly Legal, 30th August 2021

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Fiduciary duties beyond the fiduciary relationship – no clean break for directors – Littleton Chambers

‘In Burnell v Trans-Tag Ltd & Anor [2021] EWHC 1457 (Ch) Mr Greenbank (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court) was asked to determine whether, and if so to what extent, a director’s fiduciary duties survive the termination of the directorship. The essential part of the judgment on this point is at paragraph 391 to 410. The Defendants in this case were represented by Richard Leiper QC and Charlotte Davies, instructed by Clyde & Co LLP.’

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Littleton Chambers, 24th June 2021

Source: littletonchambers.com

Court refuses to approve tainted fiduciary decision making (Schumacher v Clarke) – New Square Chambers

Posted February 18th, 2021 in charities, conflict of interest, fiduciary duty, news, trusts, wills by sally

‘The court was faced with a category 2 and 3 Public Trustee v Cooper application principally for the approval of a momentous decision. The court was initially asked to approve the entirety of a settlement reached between four trustees split into two camps but later asked to approve only the dispositive elements of the settlement. The settlement unusually resolved disputes between the trustees rather than between trustees and beneficiaries or third parties. The court was concerned with mutual allegations of inappropriate action as fiduciaries and the failure of both sides to manage conflicts of interest in arriving at a settlement. After stressing that such factors could impair the decision reached and which the court was asked to approve, the court refused its approval of part of the settlement. Written by James Saunders, barrister, at New Square Chambers.’

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New Square Chambers, 11th February 2021

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

Court of Appeal: Expert was not under “fiduciary duty” to client – Litigation Futures

Posted January 14th, 2021 in conflict of interest, contracts, expert witnesses, fiduciary duty, news by tracey

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned the first decision in England and Wales to hold that an expert witness owed a fiduciary duty to their client.’

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Litigation Futures, 13th January 2021

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Professional liability update: 2020 year in review – 4 New Square

‘In this review of the year, Helen Evans, Ben Smiley, Pippa Manby, and Ian McDonald of 4 New Square explain what the 2020 cases tell us, how the various strands of development interact, and what to watch out for as we go into 2021.’

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4 New Square, 5th January 2021

Source: www.4newsquare.com

High Court refuses to strike out solicitor’s surveillance harassment claim – Legal Futures

‘The High Court has refused to strike out claims of harassment brought by a solicitor and his wife over surveillance of them carried out at the instruction of a former client.’

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Legal Futures, 30th November 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Belsner v Cam Legal Services Ltd – Hailsham Chambers

‘In Belsner v Cam Legal Services Ltd [2020] EWHC 2755, Lavender J (“the Judge”) has held that a client (“C”) did not give informed consent to the recovery from her of a sum by her solicitors (“solicitor”) over and above the costs recovered from the defendant in litigation (“D”). As a result, the solicitors were limited to the fixed costs which they recovered from D.’

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Hailsham Chambers, 23rd October 2020

Source: www.hailshamchambers.com

Court orders costs repayment after client did not consent to deduction – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Fee-recovery lawyers say millions of clients could stand to benefit from a court judgment which reduced legal fees deducted from compensation.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 19th October 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk