Insights & News
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Private sector needs to operate new IR35 rules for contractors from April 2020
30 October 2018The Chancellor has confirmed that with effect from 6 April 2020 businesses in the private sector which engage contractors - individuals who supply their services via their own company or partnership (“Intermediary”) - will be responsible for determining whether the IR35 rules apply. If the business considers that IR35 applies, the person paying the Intermediary will be responsible for operating PAYE and NICs on the fees it pays to the Intermediary.
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Don't be caught out by the new data protection fee!
30 October 2018The ICO has recently announced that it is actively taking enforcement action against organisations for failing to pay the new data protection fee. This article intends to provide a quick recap of the fee to help ensure your organisation does not get caught out!
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Alex Kelham comments for City A.M: 'Why has Colin Kaepernick filed a trade mark of his image?'
30 October 2018In an article for City A.M, Alex Kelham comments on former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick seeking to protect his assets by filing a trade mark in the US and discusses athletes' efforts to protect their personal brands.
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Professional Representation before the EUIPO in a Post-Brexit World
30 October 2018Whilst the status of, and procedures affecting, EUTMs and other EU IP rights in a post-Brexit world are a concern for brand-owners, UK trade mark professionals face an additional headache in that there is a significant risk that their ability to represent clients before the EUIPO may shortly be lost. This is an important issue, as acting on matters before the EUIPO will account for over half of trade mark and design related revenue for many firms.
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Budget 2018. What a wonderful surprise! No really, you shouldn’t have!
30 October 2018It was my birthday recently, so I was delighted when the Chancellor told me he had got me a present. A Budget! It was a little late, distinctly homemade, and wrapped in a spreadsheet (natch) - but I was fascinated to find out what was inside. In other words, here is a selection of key tax changes for business that were announced in the Budget.
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Unexplained Wealth Orders
29 October 2018The English courts have handed down their first judgment concerning Unexplained Wealth Orders. As a result of the judgment the wife of a foreign ex-banker faces losing UK property worth millions of pounds unless she can explain the source of her wealth. Set out below is an introduction to Unexplained Wealth Orders, how such orders can be resisted and the recent judgment handed down by the High Court. We also identify some key issues concerning Unexplained Wealth Orders which remain unresolved.
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Tribunal time limit calculator
25 October 2018We have created a free calculator which will automatically calculate Employment Tribunal time limits.
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Corporate Governance and Insolvency reforms
25 October 2018The UK Government is implementing measures to strengthen corporate governance and insolvency laws. The aim is to increase accountability, improve creditor protection and promote company rescue. This note comments on a selection of the proposals which were published at the end of the summer.
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Non-disclosure agreement injunction granted by Court of Appeal
25 October 2018The Court of Appeal (“CA”) has upheld a set of non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) and granted an interim injunction which prevents the Daily Telegraph newspaper from publishing details about allegations of “discreditable conduct” by a business executive towards five employees.
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Court of Appeal holds employer liable for wrongful disclosure of personal data by ‘rogue’ employee
24 October 2018The supermarket chain Morrisons had an internal auditor who went rogue. Aggrieved at an internal disciplinary process, he disclosed payroll data on the internet relating to about 100,000 of his colleagues. He was tracked down, charged and sentenced to eight years in prison. But was Morrisons liable to the employees whose information he had leaked?
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Company held liable for managing director’s violent conduct
18 October 2018The Court of Appeal (“CA”) has ruled that a company was vicariously liable for the violent conduct of its managing director in physically attacking one of his employees at a Christmas party, leaving him severely disabled.
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Ethnicity pay reporting: why it's not that simple
18 October 2018The Government says it is “time to move to mandatory ethnicity pay reporting”. Last week it launched a consultation on a possible new law.
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Two wrongs don’t make a right: Court of Appeal decides illegality is no defence to professional negligence claim
16 October 2018For public policy reasons, the Court of Appeal has held that the defence of illegality was not available to a firm of solicitors that failed to register a property transfer to a client involved in mortgage fraud. The court decided that there was no risk that enforcing the client’s negligence claim would undermine the integrity of the justice system and she was entitled to damages, in spite of the fraud.
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Refusal to provide cake supporting gay marriage was not direct sexual orientation discrimination
11 October 2018The Supreme Court (“SC”) has ruled that a bakery did not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation when it refused to provide a cake for a customer bearing the words “support gay marriage”. The bakery’s refusal was based on the owner’s Christian beliefs that the only form of marriage acceptable to God was between one man and one woman.
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Promoting mental health awareness in the workplace
10 October 2018Today is World Mental Health Day, an appropriate time for employers to reflect on how this issue impacts the workplace and consider measures they can adopt to promote mental health and support their employees.
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SFO v ENRC landmark privilege case: no appeal but the story continues…
10 October 2018The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it will not appeal the Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling that documents created during an internal investigation by Eurasion Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were protected by litigation privilege and do not have to be disclosed to the SFO. However, the story does not end there because in a new twist, ENRC has applied for a judicial review of the SFO’s investigation into criminal allegations of corruption and financial wrongdoing by ENRC.
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Heathrow fined over data breach
09 October 2018The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) has made a civil monetary penalty order for the sum of £120,000 against Heathrow Airport Ltd (“HAL”) after a lost data stick containing the sensitive personal information of a number of staff members was found by a member of the public.
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Launch event for Lewis Silkin's Ireland office shines light on Brexit opportunities for the country
04 October 2018In an article, Irish Legal News has covered the upcoming Lewis Silkin Ireland office opening and discussed the post-Brexit opportunities for Ireland.
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“Settled Status” and supporting employees through Brexit
04 October 2018Following the Government’s announcement of its plan for EU migrants following Brexit, many UK employers are struggling to understand the potential effects of its proposal on employees who are EEA nationals or family members of EEA nationals.
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Sports Q&A - Are clubs allowed to ban their players from using social media?
27 September 2018This month’s question was inspired by comments from Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, about his first choice left back, Benjamin Mendy. During a press conference over the summer, Guardiola suggested that Mendy should, “forget a little bit the social media and improve a few things”. Mendy, who has a huge following on both Instagram and Twitter, vowed to “listen to the manager”...though he remains incredibly active online.