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It is perfectly legitimate and lawful for landlords of empty commercial premises to enter into business rates mitigation schemes. However, as a High Court case showed, judges are adept at spotting sham arrangements which have rates avoidance as their sole purpose. A landlord of a number of empty offices entered…

Hospitals are inevitably the scene of tragic events but, if patients suffer as a result of clinical negligence, it is only right that they should be compensated. In one case, a teenager who was two old days when he was accidentally smothered by his comatose mother received millions of pounds…

Many business owners lie awake at night worrying that senior employees may leave to set up rival operations, taking clients and confidential information with them. Such conduct is, however, highly likely to be unlawful and, as one case showed, specialist lawyers can very swiftly take steps to nip it in…

Where a couple’s wealth is more than sufficient to meet their reasonable needs, one might have thought that there would be greater scope for compromise when it comes to dividing up assets in the event of divorce. As a Court of Appeal decision showed, however, that is sadly by no…

The importance to world trade of regulations designed to prevent collisions between sea-going vessels can hardly be over-emphasised. The Supreme Court made that point in a test case concerning a collision between a large container vessel and an even larger crude oil carrier close to a Middle Eastern port. The…

Almost every business owner understands that feeling of desperation arising from cash-flow problems. As a case concerning VAT due on a commercial property sale showed, however, treating tax liabilities as a can to be kicked down the road is never a sensible way out of such difficulties. On its sale…

Few would quarrel with the COVID-19 pandemic being described as ‘a plague’ in the Biblical sense – but it is not ‘plague’ in the narrower medical sense of the word. That fine distinction proved decisive in defeating a business interruption insurance claim brought by a hotel and golf resort hit…

When individuals challenge planning decisions of national importance, they may feel that they are playing the part of David to the government’s Goliath. As a High Court ruling showed, however, ordinary members of the public can, with the backing of specialist lawyers, succeed on a positively biblical scale. The case…

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £65 billion plan aimed at providing support for jobs and businesses as the UK emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. In his Spring 2021 Budget, the Chancellor unveiled extensions to the furlough scheme, along with continuing self-employed support, business grants, loans and VAT cuts.…

Vulnerable accident victims who receive large compensation awards are sometimes prone to poor financial decision-making and, as an Upper Tribunal (UT) decision underlined, they are amongst those most in need of professional assistance. The case concerned a woman who received £300,000 in compensation following an accident in which she was…