Insights & News

Nottingham Forest FC loses High Court claims following club’s sale but plans appeal

06 August 2019

The High Court has dismissed claims arising out of the sale of Nottingham Forest Football Club (“the club”) for breaches of indemnities in the share purchase agreement (“the SPA”) and for the alleged misrepresentation of the club’s liabilities.

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.

Parent company’s limited liability. Not quite so limited?

11 July 2019

It is a basic principle of company law that the liability of a shareholder of a limited company is limited to the amount unpaid on the shares it holds in that company. Right? That’s why it’s called a limited company? This is generally true. However, in some cases, a parent company can be considered to have assumed responsibility for the negligent acts of its subsidiary.

Dispute Resolution Update - July 2019

10 July 2019

Welcome to our July 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.

Protection of guests: how far does a hotel’s duty extend?

09 July 2019

For the first time, the High Court has stated that hotels owe a duty to their guests to take reasonable care to protect them from injury caused by the criminal acts of third parties. But how far does that duty go?

Unreasonable non-compete clause could be rescued by severance

03 July 2019

The Supreme Court (“SC”) has given a landmark judgment about the limits of post-termination restrictions (“PTRs”) in employment contracts. It ruled that although a six-month non-compete clause went too far by restricting an employee from holding a minority shareholding in a competing business, the employer could still enforce the key part of the clause.

Contract interpretation: a helpful recap by the Court of Appeal

03 July 2019

At the end of March 2019, the Court of Appeal handed down a decision which provided a helpful reminder of the modern approach to interpreting contracts.

Michael Anderson comments for The Financial Times, The Law Society Gazette & Staffing Industry Analysts: ‘Victory for employers’ as Supreme Court rules in landmark competition case

Press

03 July 2019

Michael Anderson has commented in an articles for The Financial Times, The Law Society Gazette and Staffing Industry Analysts. In all three articles he discusses the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a non-compete restriction today in the first employment competition case to have reached the court and its predecessor in over a century.

Thirteen lawyers listed in Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom

Press Release

28 June 2019

Lewis Silkin is pleased to announce that thirteen of our lawyers have been listed in the Eighth Edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.

Protests against LGBT teaching at Birmingham Primary School

20 June 2019

The Public Sector Equality Duty provides that public authorities have a duty to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation whilst advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who don’t share it. Primary schools in advancing LGBT rights and fostering good relations have been met with protests and demonstrations which Birmingham City Council sought to restrain by injunction.

Lachaux: defamation clients must prove “serious harm”

17 June 2019

Has a statement about you caused you serious harm? That is the question posed by section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013, which has been the subject of a long running defamation claim brought against the publishers of the Evening Standard, the Independent and the Huffington Post. The Supreme Court has now delivered its judgment on the interpretation of section 1, which has significant implications for the media industry.

Pensioner sues Wolverhampton Wanderers over design of logo

13 June 2019

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club have succeeded in defending a copyright claim in which the claimant contended that he designed their distinctive wolf head logo over 40 years ago.

Law Society Report: AI in the Justice System

13 June 2019

The Law Society has now published the final report of its Technology and the Law Commission (the “Commission”) investigation into the use of algorithms in the justice system. It follows a year-long exploration by the Commission of whether algorithms’ use within the justice system should be regulated to protect human rights and trust and, if so, how.

Mark Lim writes for Accountancy Age: Insolvency of LLPs – liability and risk for partners

Press

07 June 2019

In an article for Accountancy Age, Mark Lim outlines what partners need to know in the event of an LLP’s insolvency.

The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc) Regulations 2018, one year on

07 June 2019

The UK implemented legislation on 9 June 2018 bringing into force the EU Trade Secrets Directive. This article looks at the impact this legislation has had in the employment context where a claim for misuse of confidential information may now also include a statutory claim for misuse of trade secrets.

Fail to cooperate at your peril! Court finds that contracting party’s conduct was a repudiatory breach of an implied duty to cooperate

04 June 2019

In a recent case, the court implied a duty to cooperate where close collaboration between the parties was required to perform the contract. The Court also found that one party’s failure to cooperate was a repudiatory breach that the counterparty could rely on in treating the contract as terminated.

Toni Lorenzo, Michael Anderson and David Samuels write for People Management: Mitigating the impact of an unlawful team move

Press

30 May 2019

Can you prevent former employees from competing even in the absence of enforceable restrictive covenants? Toni Lorenzo, Michael Anderson and David Samuels report for People Management in light of a recent Court of Appeal ruling.

Adam Glass comments for The Guardian: Landmarks in law: Sally Bercow and the first major 'Twibel' case

Press

29 May 2019

Adam Glass has commented in an article for The Guardian which discusses how defamation cases used to focus primarily on broadcasters and newspapers – until social media changed everything.

Employee ordered to pay over £500,000 in legal costs in a dispute involving breach of restrictive covenants and data privacy

24 May 2019

Following a trial in the High Court where an employer was successfully awarded final injunctions to prohibit a former employee from breaching post-termination restrictions (“PTRs”), the losing employee was ordered to pay 90% of his former employer’s legal bill.

LSNetminder - Domain Name Management & Dispute Resolution

Inbrief

21 May 2019

It is now very rare to come across a business without any online presence. As a result, domain names have become a crucial aspect of intellectual property and one which requires careful management. Unauthorised third party registrations are now much more prevalent with fraudulent activity such as phishing and cyber squatting.