Osborne Clarke is about to open another European base, this time in Amsterdam. It adds to its recent investments into its Paris and Brussels offices and confirms the trend that mid-sized UK law firms cannot afford to ignore the Continent. Osborne Clarke to set up shop in Amsterdam Osborne Clarke beefs up offices in Paris and […]
Nabarro has been hit with a £130m professional negligence claim by a former client disgruntled over the way it conducted a High Court battle. The dispute was sparked in 2006 when Nabarro defended a company against allegations of wrongful diversion of a business opportunity and centres on the shares and IP rights of now defunct […]
Akin Gump has been slammed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after two US-based partners refused to appear in court as witnesses in the $67m corruption case being pursued against businessman Victor Dahdaleh, contributing to the collapse of the case. The finger-pointing means the heat has been taken off Dahdaleh’s former counsel, Allen & Overy, which […]
DLA Piper has named Ian Brierley UK real estate head just two years after Simon Cookson was brought into the role from Ashurst. Brierley took over as head of the real estate practice at DLA in October, with Cookson transferring to a purely fee earning role. Cookson joined DLA as London and group real estate […]
Freeth Cartwright has announced the opening of a Leeds office, some six months after first looking at expanding into the city. The firm’s Leeds base will open on 6 January 2014, led by corporate defence head Paul Burnley. Burnley joined the firm earlier this year from DLA Piper’s Sheffield office. He will work alongside litigator […]
No wonder the world’s top firms have been bulking up in litigation and arbitration. Since 2011 the total revenue generated by the top 50 litigation firms has grown by $1.5bn (£900m) – a rise of 14 per cent over the period. Since 2008, when we began tracking global litigation revenue, the total has grown by […]
By Niall Murphy and Tom Wilde Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his Autumn Statement 2013. The following is a summary of the main tax points of interest with draft legislation enacting the proposed changes to be published on 10 December 2013. Corporation tax: as previously announced, the main rate for corporation tax will fall from […]
We have written previously about the discussions between the Association of Property and Fixed Charge Receivers (NARA) and HMRC concerning the duty of LPA receivers to account for VAT and, in particular, whether it is permissible for LPA receivers to set off input VAT. Following those discussions HMRC has updated Notice 700/56 (the Notice), sections 2 […]
The relief is available at the discretion of the relevant local authority under the powers granted to it at section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The qualifying criteria are as follows: the property must be an unoccupied, non-domestic property comprised wholly or mainly of qualifying new structures; and the construction of the […]
‘Conversion’ consists of an act of deliberately dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights to use the goods, thereby depriving the owner of those rights. It is not necessary for the offence to have been committed deliberately, only for the act of dealing with those goods to have been deliberate. Officeholders, […]
We reported in our last newsletter that the High Court has granted permission in the Games Station administration on the question of the circumstances in which rent and service charges are to be treated as an expense of an administration. The current position, following Goldacre and Luminar, is that rent and service charges payable in advance and which […]
By Laura Davidson In P and Q v Surrey County Council & Others [2011] EWCA Civ 190, the Court of Appeal approved Parker J’s suggested new ‘relative normality’ test for assessing whether or not someone was being deprived of their liberty. If someone’s disabilities and difficulties necessitate assistance which is a significant interference in their […]