Insights & News

New legal risks for recruiters: Carla Feakins writes for People Management

Press

08 September 2020

While the recruitment industry is subject to general legal regulation, additional legislation applies in some sectors such as agriculture, food processing and the care sector. This may require recruiters to be licensed and subject to a rigorous compliance regime.

Setting up a competing business

Inbrief

03 September 2020

Many owner-managers and entrepreneurs plan to start new businesses in the same space as their current one. Managing this transition effectively is often the key to success in the new business and getting it wrong can result in the new business failing before it has even started.

Restrictive covenants in the recruitment industry

25 August 2020

Restrictive covenants, also known as post-termination restraints (“PTRs”), are widely used throughout the recruitment industry to protect businesses from the impact of employees leaving to set up or join a competing business.

Coronavirus the impact on post-termination restrictions

12 August 2020

As the Coronavirus lockdown slowly lifts, we’ve seen an increase in employee resignations as well as competitor recruitment activity. Will your post-termination restrictions stand up to the new challenges?

Employees could be caught by aggressive recruitment tactics: Roberta Pasemko and David Samuels comment for Executive Grapevine

Press

20 July 2020

While some businesses have announced mass redundancies and furloughed high numbers of staff, other employers have started to use this uncertain period as a time to pounce on top talent.

Employee competition in the time of remote working

16 July 2020

For many employers recent priorities have focussed on the practicalities of transitioning their workforce to homeworking, taking advantage of the government’s furlough scheme, and making cost savings. Another important consideration is the need to protect businesses from unlawful employee competition during and in the period following the lockdown. We have seen a significant increase in this activity in recent weeks and this article sets out practical steps for employers to follow.

Employee Restrictive Covenants

29 April 2020

For most employers, protecting their businesses against competitive threats is a vital concern. The departure of a key employee to join a competitor, or to set up a rival business of their own, can have extremely damaging consequences. The employer may lose clients, prospects, or other staff, and their valuable confidential information and strategic plans may be put at risk.

Important new case on disclosure, but has anyone noticed?

28 April 2020

Given the dominance of the coronavirus over all aspects of life, including the law, it would be easy to miss the appearance of a new case about one of the basics of litigation.

Legal Professional Privilege Update

21 April 2020

This guide is intended to provide a brief overview of legal professional privilege. It identifies some practical steps which will help to maintain privilege and concludes with a privilege “flowchart” and table of commonly used terms.

Dispute Resolution Update - January 2020

16 January 2020

Welcome to our January 2020 Dispute Resolution Update. We’ve included articles on a range of disputes, including summaries of recent cases and guides on key aspects of dispute resolution. With an increasingly globalised and fast changing environment, disputes are an inevitable part of business. Not only can we help resolve disputes once they arise, we also work with our clients to reduce the risk of litigation. If you have any feedback, comments or queries let us know by contacting Rachel Rooksby.

Restrictive covenants and team moves: three key employee competition cases in 2019

08 January 2020

A significant threat to any business is the risk of employees leaving to set up in competition and misusing confidential information or trade secrets in doing so. We look back at three of the most significant employee competition decisions of 2019 in this constantly evolving area of law.

Vegans protected by the Equality Act - what does it mean for employers?

07 January 2020

Ethical veganism can be a philosophical belief that is protected under the Equality Act, according to an Employment Tribunal (“ET”) in the widely-reported case brought by Jordi Casamitjana. But what does this actually mean in practice for employers?

Privilege lost in otherwise protected documents due to inclusion in settlement agreement

04 December 2019

In a recent case, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) upheld a ruling that documents which would otherwise have attracted “without prejudice” privilege had lost their privileged status because they had been incorporated into a settlement agreement. The documents were therefore disclosable.

“Once privileged, always privileged”

24 October 2019

The Court of Appeal has held that legal advice privilege attaching to communications between a company client and its lawyers survived the dissolution of the company client, even where the Crown had disclaimed its interest in the documents concerned.

Lewis Silkin’s employment litigation team shortlisted for award at Legal Week Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Awards

Press Release

15 October 2019

Lewis Silkin is delighted to announce that its market leading employment litigation team led by Toni Lorenzo and Michael Anderson has been shortlisted for Employment, Pensions and Incentives Litigation Team of the Year at the Legal Week Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Awards.

Dispute Resolution Update - October 2019

10 October 2019

Welcome to our October 2019 Dispute Resolution Update. We’ve included articles on a range of disputes, including summaries of recent cases and guides on key aspects of dispute resolution. With an increasingly globalised and fast changing environment, disputes are an inevitable part of business. Not only can we help resolve disputes once they arise but we also work with our clients to reduce the risk of litigation.

Protecting confidential information and IP with search and seizure orders – who inspects seized documents first?

26 September 2019

One tool in the armoury of any business that suspects its confidential information has been stolen and/or its intellectual property infringed is the “search and seizure order” (“SSO”) – a court order authorising a claimant’s lawyers to enter an opponent’s premises to search for, copy, remove and detain documents relevant to the alleged wrongdoing. In a joint judgment handed down just before the summer recess, the High Court has clarified the circumstances in which a claimant who is granted an SSO will be allowed to inspect seized material before the defendant does.

Employer ordered to disclose privileged material

19 September 2019

In a recent decision, an employer was ordered to disclose comments received from its external solicitor in relation to the dismissal of an employee because it had deliberately disclosed other related privileged documents which were helpful to its case. It could not cherry pick which privileged documents to rely on.

Privilege disapplied: the “iniquity” exception

06 August 2019

In an application brought by a hotel portfolio company (in liquidation) for a declaration that it was entitled to disclose a number of documents within its possession, the High Court has considered when the “iniquity” exception will apply to legal professional privilege. So what is the iniquity exception and what does a party need to establish in order to rely on it?

Protecting confidential information – what steps can a company take when information is disclosed to the wrong person?

05 August 2019

The High Court has entered judgment in default in favour of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in a claim brought to protect its confidential information and privileged material accidentally emailed by an employee to the wrong person. The Court had previously granted the ASA an interim injunction to prevent disclosure of the information by the recipient, pending a hearing of the claim. This case highlights steps employers can take to protect confidential information in these circumstances.