Latest News

The changes to the 'deemed occupation' period for the granting of private residence relief (PRR) have been well reported and apply to exchanges of contracts on residential properties after 5 April 2014. The changes are relevant where the property has not...

The Central London residential property market is known to have risen to dizzying heights over the last few years, which has led to the victory by residents of a prestige mansion block in their five-year struggle to acquire the building's freehold proving to...

The Legal Ombudsman has published a report calling for the introduction of tougher controls on those who charge for writing wills. Last year, the Ombudsman received more than 1,000 complaints relating to the drafting of wills and the provision of probate...

It is fairly widely known that in a legal dispute some documents can be 'privileged', which means that they cannot be used in evidence. Normally, communications between a solicitor and their client are privileged. However, the right of privilege is not...

In a crucial victory for consumers, the Supreme Court has ruled that a householder who entered into a removals contract with a tradesman who visited his home was entitled both to change his mind and to reclaim his £1,000 deposit. The man had...

When an informal conversation over dinner in a restaurant that included a proposed agreement between a divorcing couple did not lead to a settlement, the court was faced with a decision as to whether matters discussed during the conversation could...

When a couple's relationship broke up, it was unlikely that either of them would have foreseen an argument over who should inherit the proceeds of a life assurance policy that would subsequently lead to an appearance in the Court of Appeal . The...

A company which produces plastic milk bottles – tens of millions of which are used in the UK every day – has landed a strategic blow on a trade rival in the midst of a bitterly-fought patent dispute. Company A had accused company B of infringing...

In an important ruling, the High Court has lifted the threat of compensation payouts awarded to severely disabled victims of negligence being whittled away by the costs of local authority care. When a woman had agreed to settle her clinical negligence...

It is not uncommon for a landlord to want to preserve a 'balance' among the tenants trading in a commercial development and therefore to restrict the number of tenants in a particular trade. A hidden danger inherent in this approach became evident recently...