Current Awareness

Whistleblowing – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in news, whistleblowers by sally

“In Parkins v Sodexho Ltd [2002] IRLR 109 the EAT held that an employee can make a protected disclosure about a breach of his own contract of employment. This opened up the possibility that almost any grievance raised by an employee might amount to a protected disclosure. The government has announced that the whistle blowing legislation was not intended to cover alleged breaches of an individual’s own contract of employment and intends to amend the legislation to reverse Parkins ‘when Parliamentary times allows’ (BIS Employment Law Review, Annual Update, March 2012).”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

TUPE Round-Up – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in news, transfer of undertakings by sally

“After a period of relative quiet, there has been a spate of TUPE cases over the last year. This paper looks at those cases, concentrating particularly on the following topics:
(1) Service provision changes
(2) Supply of goods exception
(3) The role of TUPE in insolvency/administration situations
(4) Avoiding TUPE.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Broken promises? Sale and rent back is no answer to a mortgage – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, interest, leases, mortgages, news, repossession, sale of land by sally

“Owner occupiers unable to afford their mortgages have sometimes entered into sale and rent back arrangements (‘SRBs’). Under a SRB, the house is sold, often at a discount, but the vendor remains in occupation under a lease granted by the purchaser. According to a 2008 OFT study, even though SRBs were a relatively new phenomenon there had been about 50,000 of them. At that time the SRB market was unregulated. The FSA began to regulate it in 2009. According to a recent FSA press release, ‘the entire SRB market is temporarily shut’. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many tens of thousands of SRBs must have taken place by now.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 24th May 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Article on Henry v News Group Newspapers Ltd – 4 New Square

Posted June 7th, 2012 in costs, defamation, news, practice directions by sally

“From 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012 the Royal Courts of Justice and the District Registry at Manchester are operating a pilot scheme for Costs Management in Defamation Proceedings (‘the Defamation Proceedings Costs Management Scheme’), as contained in Practice Direction 51D to Part 51 of the Civil Procedure Rules. This scheme provides detailed rules for costs management, including the provision and approval of costs budgets, and is indicative of the approach propounded by Lord Justice Jackson in his Final Report on Civil Litigation Costs.”

Full story (PDF)

4 New Square, 31st May 2012

Source: www.4newsquare.com

Local Government Update – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in disabled persons, news, social services by sally

Local Government Update (PDF)

11 KBW, 6th June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Age Discrimination – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in age discrimination, employment, news by sally

“‘How radical a change are the age discrimination provisions?’ The short answer is, ‘Very’, or, in the light of the two recent Judgments of the Supreme Court to this area of the law, ‘Very, very’.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Changing terms and conditions and redundancies in an economic downturn – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in contract of employment, news, redundancy by sally

“The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics paint a gloomy picture of the UK economy: two successive periods of negative economic growth; in economic terms, a recession. Experts debate the prognosis for the next few years, but it is inevitable that jobs will be lost and employers will be looking at ways to cut costs from their existing workforce. In this paper, I shall examine the law concerning changes to terms and conditions, and highlight recent case law on making redundancies.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

High Court Remedies following Edwards v Chesterfield – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in damages, disciplinary procedures, employment, news by sally

“The decision of the Supreme Court in Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Botham v Minister of Defence [2011] UKSC 58 [2012] ICR 201 (‘Edwards’) represents the latest word from our highest domestic court as to the availability of damages for losses arising following the termination of employment. As has been usual of late, the Justices of the Supreme Court have spoken with several voices. However, the overall effect of the majority decision is to reaffirm and extend the orthodoxy represented by Johnson v Unisys Ltd [2001] ICR 480 (‘Johnson’), notwithstanding that this leads to a number of anomalies, from both the doctrinal and the practical points of view.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Confidential Information – What’s the Latest? – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in confidentiality, employment, news by sally

“Issues of confidence and confidential information are rarely out of the news. Whether the context is the privacy of celebrities, the disclosure of commercial confidences (in exciting arenas such as formula one racing) or attempts by employees to make use of their former employer’s trade secrets, issues of confidence interest the general public. Similarly, issues of confidence are rarely out of the courts. In the past year, there have been a large number of cases which have considered alleged breaches of duties of confidence. This talk is intended to discuss how some of these cases have developed or explained the law in relation to confidential information focussing on:
(a) the scope of duties of confidence;
(b) procedural issues in claims for breach of confidence;
(c) the application of the principles in confidence claims, to the inadvertent disclosure of
privileged material.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Team Move Update – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in contract of employment, employment, law firms, news by sally

“What developments have there been now that the dust has settled on the Tullett litigation?”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Litigation – FSA Prohibitions and Disciplinary Proceedings – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The first point to note about the Verrier prohibition is that it was based squarely on findings made in litigation which was not criminal proceedings nor related directly to regulated activities. This may have been a ‘first’ for the FSA; it is not unprecedented in other regulated sectors. The FSA’s interest was perhaps predictable on the extreme facts of the Tullett litigation. This talk considers the risks from civil litigation more generally for FSA-regulated firms and persons and how their legal advisers can help to identify and manage those risks.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Litigation – FSA Prohibitions and Disciplinary Proceedings Part II – The FSA Disciplinary and Enforcement Regime – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The FSA issued the Verrier Prohibition under its powers under section 56 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the ‘FSMA’). Section 56 confers power, when ‘it appears to the [FSA] that an individual is not a fit and proper person to perform functions in relation to a regulated activity carried on by an authorised person’ to: ‘…make an order (“a prohibition order”) prohibiting the individual from performing a specified function, any function falling within a specified description or any function’.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Spectator to pay out £5,625 over Rod Liddle’s Stephen Lawrence article – The Guardian

Posted June 7th, 2012 in compensation, fines, media, news, reporting restrictions by sally

“The Spectator has been ordered to pay £5,625 in fines and compensation for breaching reporting restrictions over a Rod Liddle comment piece published during the trial of Stephen Lawrence’s killers.”

Full story

The Guardian, 7th June 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Finance & Divorce May 2012 Update – Family Law Week

Posted June 7th, 2012 in bankruptcy, costs, divorce, financial provision, marriage, news by sally

“Anna Heenan, solicitor and David Salter, Joint Head of Family Law at Mills & Reeve LLP analyse the latest key financial remedies cases.”

Full story

Family Law Week, 6th June 2012

Source: www.familylawweek.com

Regina (KM) v Cambridgeshire County Council – WLR Daily

Posted June 7th, 2012 in disabled persons, law reports, local government, social services, Supreme Court by sally

Regina (KM) v Cambridgeshire County Council [2012] UKSC 23; [2012] WLR (D) 171

“When a local authority was performing its duty under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 and assessing the amount to be awarded to a disabled person, it was not irrational for the authority to use its resource allocation system and its upper banding calculator to arrive at a figure which would enable the disabled person to purchase the necessary services required to meet his eligible needs.”

WLR Daily, 31st May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Cherry Tree Investments Ltd v Landmain Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted June 7th, 2012 in appeals, land registration, law reports, sale of land by sally

Cherry Tree Investments Ltd v Landmain Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 736; [2012] WLR (D) 170

“Where it was alleged that a registered charge included an extended power of sale which was included in a facility agreement but was not referred to in the charge, the correct approach was to bring a properly pleaded and proved claim for rectification of the charge, not to seek to apply a ‘corrective construction’ of the charge by reference to extrinsic material.”

WLR Daily, 31st May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Generics (UK) Ltd v Yeda Research & Development Co Ltd and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 7th, 2012 in appeals, confidentiality, employment, injunctions, law reports, patent attorneys by sally

Generics (UK) Ltd v Yeda Research & Development Co Ltd and another [2012] EWCA Civ 726; [2012] WLR (D) 169

“The principles established in Prince Jefri Bolkiah v KPMG (A firm) [1999] 2 AC 222 were not applicable to a case in which the former employer of a patent attorney now employed within a competitor organisation sought injunctive relief to restrain the current employer from acting by, or otherwise seeking assistance or advice from, the patent attorney in relation to current litigation.”

WLR Daily, 31st May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk