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What is Commercial Awareness? This is a question asked by many prospective trainee solicitors – they know it is something they need to demonstrate, but often don’t understand exactly what it means. Our managing partner, Mark Pelopida, considers commerciality to be one of the most important skills in a future trainee solicitor, and it is
Creditors of the Café Nero chain have been granted the right to an expedited trial to enable them to recover full compensation for unpaid rents. The case involved several commercial landlords who were challenging the validity of the way Nero had entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) after being adversely affected by the Covid-19
The Supreme Court has ruled that Uber drivers should be classed as workers rather than as self-employed. The distinction is crucial as it means drivers gain significant employments rights such as entitlement to the minimum wage and holiday pay. The court’s decision marks the end of a four-year legal battle between Uber and two of
Two partners in a failed business have been told that the liquidator can call upon them to pay nearly £600,000 between them for the partnership’s liabilities and the expenses of the winding-up. The issue arose after the liquidators had applied for a call order under the Insolvency Act 1986. The order provided that the liquidators
A company has been told that it is two years too late to apply to rescind a winding up order against it. The fact that the delay had been caused by a shareholder negotiating to pay its debts was not a good reason for breach of the time limit. The case involved Sarjanda Ltd and
The government has introduced its new Model Tenancy Agreement making it easier for tenants with well-behaved pets to secure leases. It means that landlords will no longer be able to issue blanket bans on pets. Instead, consent will be the default position, and landlords will have to object in writing within 28 days of a
An office manager who was made to pick up dog mess and had the boss’ son throw a ball at her head has won her case of unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. Eleanor Stevenson, who had once been a contestant on the BBC’s The Apprentice, began working for environmental services company Edenbeck in June 2016.
The High Court set out the principles that should apply when sharing family property in a divorce settlement. The case involved a couple who had been married for 33 years and had three adult children, who were independent. Both the wife and the husband had been independently wealthy before the marriage. The wife had non-matrimonial
The Treasury has agreed to make changes to the administration of Inheritance Tax following complaints from the public that it is too complex, old fashioned and needs to be simplified. The announcement comes after more than 3,500 people responded to a public consultation carried out by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) on behalf of
Two major home builders have been told to remove contract terms that mean leaseholders have to pay ground rents that double every 10 or 15 years. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched enforcement action against 4 housing developers in September 2020. These included Countryside Properties and Taylor Wimpey, for using possibly unfair contract terms,