Hot-tubbing meaning

Checklist on expert evidence in Scottish civil litigation This checklist outlines the principal factors for a solicitor contemplating engaging an expert in a civil dispute before the Scottish courts. It should be read alongside Practice Notes: Expert evidence in Scottish civil litigation-general considerations and Leading expert evidence in Scottish civil litigation-rules and procedure. Issue Considerations Assessing the need for an expert witness What kind of dispute is involved (for instance, a professional negligence claim will typically require an expert report before proceedings are commenced)? Is instructing an expert reasonable and proportionate when measured against the value of the claim? Is there a need to instruct more than one expert? Admissibility of the expert evidence Is expert assistance required to enable the court to decide the issues? Does the expert possess the appropriate knowledge and experience? Will the expert remain impartial in their presentation and assessment of the...

Techniques for controlling time and costs in arbitration This Checklist stems from the ICC publication, Techniques for controlling time and costs in arbitration. It targets tribunals, equipping them with approaches for running streamlined proceedings. It is likewise valuable to practitioners preparing for arbitration. Set out below are practitioner-focused pointers drawn from the ICC’s report. Timetable Make every reasonable effort to meet the timetable and seek extensions only when genuinely justified in the circumstances. Consider whether hearings can be dispensed with, or instead conducted by telephone where appropriate. ...

This Checklist This Checklist outlines the key matters to weigh before consenting to or starting witness conferencing (often called ‘hot‑tubbing’) in arbitration: How much notice have you received? To secure a fair chance to present its case, counsel should fully agree core rules for witness conferencing with the arbitral tribunal well before the hearing. Tribunals may sometimes propose witness conferencing after the hearing has begun, and parties can feel under pressure to accept at that late point in proceedings...

In this issue: Taxes management and litigation VAT Real estate taxes Oil and gas taxation Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Taxes management and litigation FTT upholds penalties for invalid BADR claims (Cox and another v HMRC) As outlined below, in Cox and another v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 510 (TC), the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) rejected the taxpayers’ appeals against penalties arising from defective entrepreneurs’ relief claims, now termed business asset disposal relief (BADR). The FTT decided the claimants failed to exercise reasonable care when making the claims, and that HMRC’s choice not to suspend the penalties was not erroneous. See News Analysis: FTT upholds penalties for invalid BADR claims (Cox and another v HMRC). VAT FTT confirms dip pot formed part of single supply of takeaway food subject to VAT (Queenscourt Limited v HMRC) As previously noted in a Tax...

PI & Clinical Negligence weekly highlights—23 January 2025 In this issue: Public authorities and the state Costs and funding LexTalk®PI & Clinical Negligence: a Lexis®Nexis community LexisNexis® Webinars Daily and weekly news alerts Useful information Public authorities and the state The police owe no general duty to shield individuals from criminal harm, and foreseeability on its own does not create such a duty. Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police v Woodcock; HD (by their respective litigation friends) v Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police [2025] EWCA Civ 13 comprised two appeals in the Court of Appeal (Civil Division). Each claim examined whether the police could be liable in damages for not preventing injury inflicted by a third party offender. The appeals were heard together. The Court of Appeal rejected the claims of CJ and others alleging a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and negligence. The police appeal in Ms Woodcock’s case succeeded. There...

New Practice Note—The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023—what Banking & Finance lawyers need to know Consult Practice Note: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023—what Banking & Finance lawyers need to know...

NOTE—to check whether notification thresholds in Vietnam and worldwide are triggered, please consult: Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Vietnamese merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Vietnam? In 2020, Vietnam promulgated Decree 35 on Detailed Regulations for Implementation of the Law on Competition dated 24 March 2020 (Decree 35), which became effective on 15 May 2020. This marked a pivotal step in putting into operation the competition framework envisaged under the Law on Competition dated 12 June 2018 (Competition Law). The body designated under the Competition Law, the Vietnam Competition Committee (VCC), was established on 1 April 2023 and from that date assumed responsibility for the merger control regime. Decree 35 introduced the following clarifications to merger control: Notification thresholds, under which a transaction must be notified where: the total assets or turnover in Vietnam of...

Follow the link below to download the presentation. Contents Updates to APR/BPR Transfer between spouses Reasons asset targeting falls short APR/BPR trust clause Funding the trust Case study Case study solution Anti‑fragmentation Administration checklist Client communications Pitfalls and risks Summary These PowerPoint slides are designed as a foundation for a training session on Agricultural and Business Property Relief for the relevant fee earners. The presenter can tailor them—by trimming or expanding the points—to match the audience. How to use these slides Allow around two minutes per slide, and use the case study for a 20‑minute breakout. If more depth is required, the content can be delivered over two or three separate training sessions. Further reading Autumn Budget 2024—Private Client analysis Hot topic—the reform of business property relief and agricultural property relief Change in the approach to IHT planning for farmers Tax—Finance Act 2026...

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in the Netherlands and across the globe are met, see further: Where to Notify 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Dutch merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues with the ACM? Media Following the Authority for Consumers and Market’s (ACM) prohibition of RTL’s proposed purchase of Talpa (two players in the Dutch television media market) on 30 January 2023, DPG Media announced plans to acquire RTL and filed the deal with the ACM. On 17 May 2024, the ACM concluded that the transaction merited deeper scrutiny and therefore referred the matter to the second (‘licence’) phase. On 18 July 2024, the parties submitted their application for the requisite licence. On 27 June 2025, the ACM issued conditional clearance for the merger in its DPG/RTL decision, imposing stringent behavioural commitments. Notably, the ACM factored media plurality into its competition analysis—an innovative development in Dutch merger control practice...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: Potential changes to Wills Act 1837 The Law Commission’s review of wills culminated in a final report on 16 May 2025. Volume II contains a Draft Bill proposing replacement of the Wills Act 1837. For details of these proposals, including the published draft legislation, see Practice Note: Hot topic—modernising Wills and Modernising wills: Final Report Volume II: Draft Bill for a new Wills Act. STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime The Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, implements the abolition of the remittance basis and introduces a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 makes residence, rather than domicile, the main determinant of liability to inheritance tax. changes to the rules defining excluded property status; removal of protected settlements status for offshore trusts; and modifications to overseas workday relief. For further information, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: Potential changes to Wills Act 1837 On 16 May 2025, the Law Commission’s review of Wills published its final report, formally setting out its conclusions, with Volume II containing a draft Bill intended to supersede the Wills Act 1837. For details of these proposals, including the published draft legislation, consult Practice Note: Hot topic—modernising Wills and Modernising wills: Final Report Volume II: draft Bill for a new Wills Act. STOP PRESS: Ending the non-dom regime and moving to a residence-based IHT regime. The Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which obtained Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, enacts legislation for the removal of the remittance basis of taxation and substitutes a residence-based system commencing on 6 April 2025. It also displaces domicile as the principal determinant of inheritance tax (IHT) liability for individuals. Further measures cover revisions to the rules for excluded property status, the removal of protected settlements status for offshore trusts, and alterations to overseas workday relief as applicable. For more on these reforms, see...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: Potential changes to Wills Act 1837 The Law Commission’s review of wills published its final report on 16 May 2025, with Volume II setting out a draft Bill aimed at replacing the Wills Act 1837. For details of these proposals, including the published draft legislation, see Practice Note: Hot topic—modernising Wills and Modernising wills: Final Report Volume II: draft Bill for a new Wills Act. 1 Revocation I [ full name of testator ] of [ address of testator ] cancel all earlier testamentary dispositions made by me [ but only in so far as they concern my property of every description within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ] and state that this is my last Will. [ I also cancel any prior appointments of guardians of my minor children made by me before the date of this Will. ]...

Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords of specified residential tenancies are required, among other duties, to keep the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water in good repair and proper working order. A tenancy might also impose express duties on a landlord concerning provision of heating and hot water. See Practice Note: Residential tenancies—landlord’s implied covenant of fitness for human habitation and statutory obligation to repair. Where...