By Rodney Hylton-Potts The Supreme Court’s decision to order an oil tycoon to hand over assets held by his companies to his former wife has been hailed as a victory for fairness and justice by lawyers. But lawyers are divided on the implications of judgment in Prest v Petrodel Resources Limited. The court used trust rather than company law to resolve the matter, declaring that the seven disputed properties were, in the particular circumstances of the case, held on trust for the husband and could therefore be passed to his wife. Some lawyers feel that the court had ‘parted the…
Rodney Hylton-Potts writes On 24 May 2913 the High Court decided that the Speaker’s wife, Mrs. Bercow’s tweet carried a defamatory meaning. McAlpine v Bercow is the first case to really tackle the peculiar nature of this social media genre and could mark a key moment in social media use. Seven deadly words The Judge had just seven words to deal with, two of which read as a descriptive ‘emoticon’: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*’. In interpreting the meaning of the tweet the court looked at the fairly unique nature of the audience to which it was published.…
Charles Saatchi was cautioned by police, for an offence of Common Assault. He accepted a caution, so he stated, because it was “better than the alternative, of this hanging over all of us for months“. 1. By accepting a caution, Mr Saatchi accepted that he was guilty A caution cannot be administered unless there is an admission of guilt. Additionally, when a caution is ‘administered’ by the police, the suspect must sign a form which makes it clear that they have accepted their guilt. 2. By accepting a caution, the offending admitted by Mr Saatchi must have been (relatively) serious…
The Unfair Dismissal Variation of Qualifying Period) Order 2012 came into force on 6 April 2012. It increased the minimum qualifying period of continuous employment necessary to claim unfair dismissal, and entitlement to written reasons for dismissal, from one to two years. This means employers could have two classes of employees with differing rights to claim unfair dismissal. This is because these changes do not affect employees whose period of continuous employment began before 6 April 2012. Employers need to be aware of this distinction and, in particular, consider if an employee may be able to claim the period of…
Rodeny Hylton-Potts, Lawyer I own a chain of boutiques. Our store is recognisable by its bright blue and pink stripy interior, which we use for our packaging. It has come to our attention that an online swimwear distributor’s website is using our unique colour combination in the same get up and fashion. The company could easily be confused for the online arm of our boutique. Can we contest this? Your lawyer should write to the distributor threatening “passing off” proceedings and you should be prepared to start them if your warning or any subsequent correspondence does not persuade them to…
Rodney Hylton-Potts, Lawyer I discovered that a hire at my company included false information on his CV. It turns out he was dismissed from his last role following a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct. He told me he was made redundant. He has been in my employment for two months. Do I have grounds to dismiss him? If you are confident that your information about the finding of this gross misconduct is correct (and you have evidence of this), you can proceed to dismissal. As he has only been with you for two months, he does not have the qualifying…
Rodney Hylton-Potts, Lawyer Since 1 April 2013, the family courts have had the power to make a legal services order, which is a new form of interim order compelling one spouse to make provision for the other’s legal costs. Historical position The new provisions go beyond the family courts’ power to make a costs allowance within a maintenance pending suit. Since the decision of Holman J in A v A (maintenance pending suit: provision for legal fees) [2001], the definition of ‘maintenance’ was interpreted to be wide enough to include a monthly provision for the payment of legal fees. The…
First published in the Solicitors Journal and reproduced with their permission. Jill Lorimer considers changes to the necessity of arrest, 17-year-olds in custody and police retention of data Defence practitioners have long struggled to persuade police officers that the “necessity” test for arrest in section 24(4) Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) has not been met in circumstances where a suspect is able and willing to be interviewed under caution on a voluntary basis. On 12 November 2012, Code G to PACE was amended with the effect that it is now much more difficult for the police to justify…
First published in the Solicitors Journal and reproduced with their permission. Lawyers have a lot to consider when advising the company director asked to sign a guarantee, says Jonathan Silverman Solicitors can find themselves facing a difficult dilemma when advising companies and their directors if a situation arises when the business’s bank or landlord, a supplier or factor suddenly demand personal guarantees to support the company’s obligations. As a general rule the first step should be to explore with the clients any possibility of avoiding giving guarantees at all by looking for potential collateral within the business, such as a…
I run a building company and we recently took on an apprentice electrician. At first, this young man was doing quite well but it soon became clear that he had little or no interest in the work. Inevitably, he started to become more trouble than he was worth, and after about four months I told him it was not working. I have now received a letter from a solicitor saying that I didn’t fulfil my obligations to provide him with a good training, and threatening to take me to an employment tribunal. Can he do so? There are currently two…
