Insights & News
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Compulsory mediation?
11 January 2018In October 2017 the Civil Justice Council (CJC) published its interim report on the future role of alternative approaches to dispute resolution (ADR). The report makes various recommendations as well as inviting responses. It follows input from a working group tasked in January 2017 to examine uptake of ADR in civil justice. The primary purpose of the report is to find ways to encourage its use.
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AIM becomes SME Growth Market – the implications for AIM companies
10 January 2018AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies, was registered as an SME Growth Market on 3 January 2018.
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Employment Appeal Tribunal confirms that an employer’s attempt to bypass collective bargaining was unlawful
10 January 2018A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that offers made directly by an employer to its employees risk amounting to unlawful attempts to bypass collective bargaining contrary to s145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This was a costly exercise for the employer as they were ordered to pay penalties of more than £400,000.
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Disclosure in English litigation: a sea change is coming
09 January 2018English rules on disclosure (‘discovery’ in many jurisdictions) are set for a major overhaul. Draft rules were published in November 2017. Once approved by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the resulting draft is intended to be introduced as part of a pilot scheme lasting 2 years, potentially beginning in April 2018 and running in the Business and Property Courts. This will cover virtually all High Court litigation. It will not be optional.
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Changes to continuous residence rule for ILR applicants
08 January 2018From 11 January 2018 new provisions are coming into force that will affect how the Home Office assesses continuous residence for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) applications.
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Erosion of privilege – Law Society seeks to intervene
08 January 2018The Law Society is applying to intervene in the upcoming appeal of the landmark privilege decision in Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”).
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Tech Predictions for 2018
08 January 2018Following on from our 2017 Tech Predictions (link below), here are our top ten favourite tech predictions for 2018. It’s set to be another exciting year as the use of technology becomes ever more pervading, influential and business critical.
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The year in employment law
08 January 2018The UK’s political landscape continues to be dominated by the shock 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union. Following a surprise General Election in June 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May unexpectedly lost her parliamentary majority amid deep divisions about how the UK should “Brexit”. Against that backdrop, the Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU began in 2017 and will continue into 2018. This has meant that, as with many other areas, employment policy reform has taken something of a backseat. Nevertheless, employment law continues to change at pace.
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Discrimination based on perceived disability is unlawful
29 December 2017The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that it is unlawful to discriminate against an employee because of a perceived disability, even where that employee is not actually disabled under the relevant legal test.
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Enforcement of gender pay gap reporting – the EHRC gets involved
21 December 2017The Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘EHRC’) has published a consultation on its plans for enforcing the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulations (‘GPG Regulations’).
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From the pub to the court room
19 December 2017It is not uncommon for commercial deals to be agreed with a handshake in an informal setting (often a bar, restaurant or other social venue). If agreed, parties usually then move the matter on to their lawyers to document the terms. But what if terms are never documented? How much reliance can be placed on commercial terms that are agreed orally?
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Rogue employees and no-fault liability
14 December 2017A recent High Court judgment has illustrated how employers can potentially be held liable for wrongful disclosure of personal data by their employees.
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Avoiding the Hedonic Treadmill: designing a sustainable employee engagement strategy
14 December 2017The concept of the “Hedonic Treadmill” is well established amongst psychologists, but what lessons can HR draw from it in relation to improving employee engagement and productivity?
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Ask About... Retail, Fashion & Hospitality
12 December 2017Many of our clients in the retail, fashion and hospitality sector face similar HR issues. Each month one of the members of our team will identify an issue, ask how you would deal with it and provide our advice. This month we asked Laura...
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Changes to Immigration Rules
12 December 2017In UK immigration law circles, we have grown used to a statement of changes, announcing significant alteration of the existing laws, at least three times a year. Usually, the end of year change occurs in November but this year the announcement is unsurprisingly later than usual and less eventful. Presumably because the Government have found themselves a little busy the last few months...
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Use of disclosed documents to threaten new proceedings was a breach of court rules and may amount to a contempt of court by the solicitor and client
12 December 2017The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) provide that using documents disclosed in existing proceedings (except for the specific purposes allowed) breach the rules. CPR 31.22 provides various exceptions to when a document disclosed in a set of proceedings may be used. Any use outside of the rules could also amount to a contempt of court. Both the client who relied on the solicitor’s advice and the solicitor may be equally vulnerable to the contempt proceedings where there is no evidence of deliberate or reckless misconduct by the solicitor.
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The Art of the Brexit Deal
11 December 2017On Friday the UK Government and the European Commission issued a joint report on the rights of EU citizens and their family members in the UK following the conclusion of the first stage of Brexit negotiations.
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Chaos at the Christmas party - how to avoid an HR headache
08 December 2017The festive season is almost upon us, bringing with it the long-awaited office Christmas party - a chance for colleagues to let their hair down and enjoy themselves in a relaxed setting.
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The legal sector and #metoo – clarification from the Law Society
07 December 2017The Law Society has provided some important clarification in relation to the recent joint statement made by its presidents on sexual harassment in the legal profession.
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Morrisons held vicariously liable for employee data leak
04 December 2017The High Court has found Morrisons to be vicariously liable for the actions of a rogue employee who intentionally disclosed the personal details of over 100,000 staff at Morrisons. The judgment will be of interest to data controllers and to customers and employees whose personal data is compromised by data breaches. It is the first group litigation in respect of a data breach to be decided by the English courts.