Legal News

US District Judge William Alsup described the agreement as 'fair' and sufficient for preliminary approval, while cautioning that implementing the settlement could bring difficulties. The authors' certified class action alleges Anthropic unlawfully exploited their copyright-protected works to build its flagship large language model, Claude. It sits among numerous lawsuits asserting that LLM makers have violated copyright-protected material to train their systems. The dispute forms part of a broader wave of claims targeting how the technology is trained on protected texts. At a hearing in San Francisco federal court on 25 September 2025, plaintiffs' counsel, Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey LLP, hailed the accord as a 'historic settlement'. Judge Alsup also observed that the deal contains an 'abort clause' if a substantial proportion of the class elects to opt out, adding that the exact threshold is confidential. He floated a...

Infrastructure Services Luxembourg S. A. R. L. v Kingdom of Spain, F. Supp.3d ( D. D. C. 2025) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling has notable consequences domestically and internationally. It confirms that US courts have no remit to reassess either the merits or jurisdiction of ICSID awards, in keeping with the ICSID Convention, thereby entrenching the finality of international arbitration. It also recognises that obligations under international treaties prevail over intra‑ EU disagreements when enforcement is pursued outside the EU. The court determined that conjectural outcomes under foreign law fail to satisfy the stringent foreign sovereign compulsion doctrine, restricting states from invoking overseas regulatory uncertainty as a defence to treaty commitments. Further, the judgment emphasises that by entering investment treaties and arbitration schemes, sovereigns assume obligations that can be enforced, including in foreign courts. In the end, the decision...

Initially, four trials had been set, yet the Trump administration’s Executive Order No 14209, issued in February 2025, temporarily halted FCPA enforcement, causing a short pause for all. Following review, the US DOJ permitted three to move forward. Among them, US v Zaglin—centred on a bribery scheme involving Honduran law enforcement equipment—concluded this month in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. US v Bautista, concerning alleged bribes to obtain Filipino voting equipment contracts, is scheduled to commence in October 2025, likewise in the Southern District of Florida. The case against Charles Hobson—a coal executive accused of bribing Egyptian officials—has been postponed to February 2026 in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. As these matters conclude or near, we reflect on the three FCPA-related trials from 2024 to pinpoint the themes prosecutors used—and are apt to...

Employment Judge David Khan ruled, in a decision issued on 24 September 2025, that Eirini Kaloudi Tsikni’s reliance on Chat GPT did not justify setting aside the finding that Miltiadis Kontis, owner of Alphakon Ltd, sexually harassed her on six occasions during her short stint in 2023. In a reconsideration judgment dated 17 September 2025, the tribunal recorded that Kontis and his company had every chance to probe and challenge Tsikni’s evidence. The judge added that the panel was aware she had used AI tools to help draft her witness statement and factored that into its assessment of the material before it. The tribunal’s original May ruling noted that Tsikni was employed by Alphakon between February and May 2023 as territorial sales manager for England. Judge Khan concluded that Kontis sexually harassed Tsikni by issuing a sequence of...

Polling analysed by Wakefield Research, spanning 5,750 businesses between July 2025 and August 2025, highlighted the intensity of cyberattacks on companies. In total, 30% of participants reported declines in business performance measures—such as share price—after an incident. Meanwhile, 29% of those surveyed said they faced increased expenditure associated with notifying affected customers about the incident. The research indicated that the same proportion also struggled to attract new business in the aftermath of an attack, underscoring the commercial drag that follows. Eddie Lamb, global head of cyber at Hiscox, cautioned that no organisation can afford to underestimate the ramifications of a cyberattack. He stressed that such events do not merely disrupt day‑to‑day operations; they can threaten a company’s very survival......

See Q& A: What are the key points to consider when advising on a new Will for an individual when that individual's spouse has dementia and assets including properties are held jointly by the two of them? When preparing advice on a fresh Will for an individual whose spouse is living with dementia, and where their assets, including properties, are owned by both parties, there are several central considerations that must be taken into account and addressed from the outset. Consult the Will drafting—overview, which brings together Practice Notes and precedents covering a variety of matters across a broad range of issues. The form of co-ownership of any property, i.e. whether they hold as joint tenants or as tenants in common, is a fundamental starting point and should be verified......

Pensions Ombudsman determination: Mr D ( CAS-81940- Z2S8) —26 August 2025 What are the practical implications of this determination? The determination outlines the Ombudsman’s view that, before the Transfer Regulations 2021 ( SI 2021/1237) took effect, trustees of transferring occupational schemes managing statutory transfers under the Pension Schemes Act 1993 ( PSA 1993): had no legislative or regulatory obligation to undertake the due diligence described in TPR’s 2013 Action Pack (‘ Pension liberation fraud: the predators stalking pension transfers’) or to give members TPR’s 2013 Scorpion Leaflet (‘ Predators stalk your pension’); and owed no general duty of care, in tort or equity, to advise members on their scheme rights or the suitability of transferring benefits, nor, by extension, to enquire into the circumstances of a transfer or the nature of the receiving scheme beyond statutory...

Isle of Wight NHS Trust v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1114 ( TC) Item 5 exempts the provision of a deputy for an individual entered on the register of medical practitioners. The supplies comprised a supply by Holt Doctors Ltd and a supply by Resuscitate Medical Services Ltd, respectively. In this matter, Holt Doctors Ltd and Resuscitate Medical Services Ltd each made supplies to the Appellant. Both entities furnished the Appellant with a locum medical practitioner and applied VAT to those supplies. The locum doctors were recorded in the General Medical Council’s register. The Appellant approached HMRC regarding the VAT treatment of the supplies. In doing so, it acted on behalf of other recipients of supplies of locums, including 13 NHS Trusts......

The Department for Education’s response to the consultation sets out the particulars of these proposals. From this point, the government will refer to the sector as ‘non-school alternative provision’. Looking forward, ministers intend the role of non-school alternative provision to be time-limited and to ‘supplement learning delivered in school, re-engage children with the school system and provide the skills and confidence needed to move successfully into education, training or employment after leaving school’. The consultation response notes that, in many local authorities, there are already arrangements in place to quality assure the non-school alternative provision those LAs commission. The government wishes to build upon that good practice, while remaining worried that ‘some already vulnerable children are placed for indefinite periods in non-school alternative provision with adequate child safeguarding measures, health and safety checks or attendance monitoring’. The onus will fall on local...

In May 2025, Golfweek stated that Spanish golfer Jon Rahm hit a supporter with a golf ball during the 2025 PGA Championship. That episode was said to be the third occasion on which this player had inadvertently struck a spectator with a shot. On the earlier instance, in 2022, the injured onlooker — a news presenter — was reported to have sustained injuries to the face. While there is extensive case law on the duty of care owed between participants in sport, what is the legal position when a spectator, or an employee carrying out duties at a match, is hurt by a golf ball, football, ice hockey puck, vehicle, horse or even a player who unintentionally leaves the field of play? Although it might feel reasonable that they should be able to recover damages from the organiser of the event, or even the...

In a 26 September 2025 opinion, US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth found it inequitable to let Venezuela keep prolonging the matter, as the Exxon Mobil affiliates’ prospects of recovering what they are owed shrink with each passing day. He referenced concurrent Delaware proceedings intended to satisfy Venezuela’s creditors, observing that the affiliates’ window to join that process is narrowing. The opinion explains that setting aside Venezuela’s default to force a merits fight would have the parties 'beat a dead horse' and, meanwhile, prejudice the petitioners by slowing their chance to join the race among judgment debtors for Venezuela’s limited foreign assets. He further underscored that every postponement compounds the harm, as opportunities to recover shrink while others press ahead in Delaware, leaving the affiliates increasingly sidelined in the competition for scarce assets. Relying on circuit authority in Valores Mundiales SL et al v...

City Blinds Scotland Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1100 ( TC) Complete Solutions Europe Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1116 ( TC) In City Blinds Scotland Ltd, the FTT endorsed HMRC’s determination seeking repayment of CJRS sums that had been paid in excess. The business, which manufactures and supplies blinds, had lodged five claims for support covering the span from March 2020 through to March 2021. It was accepted by both sides that the workforce in question were fixed-rate employees and that the payroll figures applied in the calculations were accurate. The live dispute comprised two principal questions. The first focused on how to derive 80% of each employee’s reference salary. In its assessment, HMRC translated the monthly remuneration into a daily figure by applying a seven‑day weekly denominator. The company maintained that, because staff worked a five‑day week, the correct divisor should have been five...

What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling reiterates that damages-based agreements ( DBAs) are permissible only where the claimant seeks damages, or another financial remedy, flowing directly from the claim itself. If that criterion is not met, the DBA is unenforceable and no fees incurred under it are recoverable. Accordingly, in proceedings such as these, where declaratory relief is pursued, any consequential financial advantage arises outside the litigation and does not constitute sums recovered for DBA purposes. The judgment also demonstrates that DBAs can be an effective mechanism for funding disputes and facilitating access to justice, but careful drafting is vital to ensure compliance with the regulatory framework and to preserve enforceability. The courts are plainly reluctant to sever offending provisions within a retainer and will apply the regulations strictly, even if that produces a result that may appear unduly...

Antitrust CMA recommends replacement of assimilated EU TTBER with new UK TTBEO The CMA issued advice to the Secretary of State on replacing the assimilated EU Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation ( Regulation 316/2014) ( TTBER), which will expire on 30 April 2026. Background The CMA recommends substituting the TTBER with a UK Technology Transfer Block Exemption Order ( TTBEO) lasting 12 years, under which the same classes of technology transfer agreements would be exempt as under the TTBER, albeit with certain variations as proposed......

Wikimedia Foundation (a charitable foundation registered in the United States of America) and another v Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology [2025] EWHC 2086 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The court accepted Wikimedia’s submissions that Wikipedia (the online encyclopaedia it hosts) makes an important contribution to free speech and expression, and that any decision seriously restricting Wikipedia’s ability to function would probably be unlawful for conflicting with the HRA 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR). A major flaw in Wikimedia’s case, however, was that Ofcom has not yet decided whether Wikipedia qualifies as a Category 1 service; Wikimedia advanced its challenge on the assumption it would be so designated, an assumption the court rejected. Consequently, the claim failed on both grounds alleging breaches of the HRA 1998 and the ECHR, because Wikimedia could not...

Re DSTBTD Ltd [2025] EWHC 2366 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision confirms that the Part 26A restructuring plan ( Plan) continues to be available to SMEs. It demonstrates that a Plan can be deployed instead of a CVA where HMRC approval to a CVA is improbable. Here, the Plan secured a reduction of HMRC’s Preferential claim to roughly 34.6% of the amount originally owed. Engaging with HMRC early maximises the prospects of consent and also evidences to the court that HMRC have had adequate time to assess the Plan if they refuse and are to be crammed down. Despite HMRC’s participation, a winding-up petition may still be issued and must be managed during the Plan process, since there is no automatic moratorium when proposing a Plan. What was the background? A bold and expensive growth strategy left the Company with...

Cook and another v No Defendant [2025] EWHC 2128 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? A Benjamin order is traditionally granted where a legatee named in a Will cannot be located. It gives personal representatives the shelter of a judicial direction when administering the estate on specified presumptions and distributing accordingly; if those presumptions later prove wrong, the personal representatives are not personally liable. In this matter, the same safeguard was extended to personal representatives holding the proceeds of a life assurance policy settled by the deceased, yet lacking any copy of the trust deed. The alternative, which the court regarded as unsatisfactory, was to pay the fund into court. The application named no defendant and was dealt with on the papers, supported by the opinion of suitably qualified counsel, and proceeded without any hearing. What was the...

J Mac Safety Systems Ltd v Q Deck Safety Systems Ltd [2025] EWHC 2241 ( Pat) What are the practical implications of this case? Practitioners should frame pleadings and assemble proof on originality squarely around the ‘designer’s intellectual creation’ criterion. Pleadings and evidence should be tightly aligned with that yardstick. Infringement, viewed in the same way, turns on whether that intellectual creation has been taken; it is the taking of the creative contribution that renders a product infringing. Copying purely commonplace or trite elements will rarely breach a design right. That does not mean uninventive aspects are irrelevant. Originality can lie in the constellation of features. And, even where originality resides elsewhere, matching unoriginal elements sitting beside original ones can bolster an inference that copying occurred. Practitioners must also consider how to meet the intellectual creation standard where the claimant cannot reach the...

Lifestyle Equities v Sports Direct.com Retail [2025] EWHC 1417 ( Ch) Background This dispute arises from protracted litigation pitching Lifestyle Equities CV (owner of the marks) and its exclusive licensee, Lifestyle Licensing BV, against Sports Direct. In 2018, the High Court held Sports Direct responsible for infringement and for inducing a breach of a licence agreement, thereby opening the door to an inquiry into damages... Summary judgment application Sports Direct applied for summary judgment aiming to bar from the damages inquiry any losses claimed by trade mark sub-licensees, contending that: the sub-licensees had not been added as parties to the claim— Sports Direct relied upon section 30(6A) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 ( TMA 1994), which states that where the proprietor of a registered trade mark issues infringement proceedings, a licensee who has suffered loss may intervene in those proceedings to obtain...

Ministry of Justice ( Mo J) statistics – 25 September 2025 Official statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that open matters in the magistrates' courts were up 6% on the previous quarter and 25% year-on-year, reaching a peak of 361,027. In parallel, the Crown Courts backlog climbed to a record 78,329 cases by the end of June 2025, extending the upward pattern evident since the first quarter of 2023. Between April and June 2025, more than 30,000 cases entered the Crown Court, the highest tally recorded since 2016. The open caseload increased by 2% from the prior quarter, when it was 76,811, and by 10% compared with a year earlier, up from 70,893. The figures also show a record 19,164 cases had been open for a year or more, making up 26% of all Crown Court open cases......