Legal News

Company A 1st Plaintiff Company B 2nd Plaintiff and Compny C Defendant [2024] HKCFI 3505 What are the practical implications of this case? In suitable cases, the Hong Kong Court’s readiness to order injunctions under section 45 Cap 609 to maintain the status quo until the final arbitral award highlights the Court’s pro-arbitration support for proceedings conducted outside Hong Kong. The ruling assures international participants that, when confronted by an uncooperative counterparty, their positions will be safeguarded by the Hong Kong Court throughout the arbitration. Judge Mimmie Chan’s judgment stresses the need to facilitate the arbitral process and to ensure that the defendant’s non-compliance and delay do not erode the plaintiffs’ prospects of obtaining effective relief. Her reasoning demonstrates a careful equilibrium between the court’s jurisdiction and the doctrine of minimal curial intervention in arbitration. Although the court granted the plaintiffs the interim relief sought, it also...

Advanced Security Alarm Protection Ltd v UK Protection Ltd (transcript) [2024] EWHC 3111 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision underscores the evidential onus on any party presenting a winding‑up petition where the asserted debt is in dispute. It is a clear warning that the insolvency regime is not a shortcut where there is a live controversy about liability. Overlooking a genuine dispute, and failing to address it properly, risks the petition being struck out and the petitioner facing adverse costs consequences. Where the dispute underlying the petition has a real prospect of success, the correct course is to pursue recovery through civil litigation in the ordinary courts rather than via insolvency processes. Petitioners should assess and evidence the nature of the dispute before turning to the insolvency jurisdiction. Advisers to prospective...

A You Gov poll for the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, published on 23 January 2025, makes clear that the legal profession ranks joint third among 12 sectors paying interns nothing, or less than the national minimum wage of £11.44 per hour for people aged 21 and over. Only real estate and construction are positioned below the legal industry. Nick Harrison, the Sutton Trust’s chief executive, said it is shocking that, in this day and age, so many employers still pay interns under the minimum wage, or worse, nothing at all, and that they should be ashamed. The charity has called for an outright ban on unpaid internships lasting more than four weeks, alongside tougher enforcement of current minimum wage legislation. As outlined clearly by the survey, In......

This article is the second instalment in a two-part look at the landmark Supreme Court decision of Paul and another ( Appellants) v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust ( Respondent) [2024] UKSC 1 (called ‘ Paul’ here). As outlined in part one, the requirement for a Paul ‘accident’ creates distinct problems for secondary victim claims arising out of clinical negligence. Yet do the court’s observations on duty of care in Paul make these claims even more difficult? Secondary victims are individuals who suffer psychiatric harm from witnessing injury, or the threat of injury, to a loved one, the so‑called primary victim. The criteria for a successful secondary victim action are demanding. Concerns of public policy about opening the floodgates to litigation have curtailed earlier efforts to broaden the law, arguably to the detriment of people with devastating psychological trauma. In Alcock v Chief...

The guide has formed part of the FCA’s Handbook of Rules and Guidance since 2011, and the FCA is keen to keep it a practical source for firms, both now and in future. The aim of the revisions is to help businesses grasp the regulator’s expectations, judge whether their financial crime systems and controls are adequate, and remedy any issues uncovered during that review. As its title implies, the guide offers guidance only, not binding rules. It sets out clear, overarching direction on what a rounded, holistic approach to compliance should look like, followed by chapter-by-chapter detail closely aligned to specific financial crime prevention legislation and regulatory expectations. Key changes Sanctions systems and controls Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the FCA carried out wide-ranging reviews of firms’ sanctions systems and controls, and has revised the relevant chapter to capture those insights. Respondents welcomed...

Bates v Rubython and Business F1 Magazine [2024] EWHC 2706 ( KB) What are the practical implications of the case? The court first addressed applications to excise passages from the first defendant’s witness statement and from the defence, on the footing that they strayed beyond matters relevant to the pleaded positions on pre‑existing poor reputation and serious harm. The bid to strike out those passages succeeded. The application also prompted analysis of Burstein particulars—background matters directly tied to the defamatory sting which, if proved, may mitigate damages. The ruling underscores that such particulars must be tightly focused, directly relevant, and within the publishees’ knowledge to be relied upon. In addition, a defendant who does not plead truth cannot, save under the Burstein rule, adduce evidence tending to the truth of the libel. On serious harm and alleged bad reputation, the judge considered a...

What does the Market Standards Trend Report cover? Click to download the complete report in Shorthand format here. The Market Standards Trend Report delivers detailed analysis of the 55 firm offers, 51 possible offers, and 15 notices of formal sale processes, private sale processes and/or strategic reviews, announced in 2024 by Main Market and AIM companies that are subject to the Takeover Code (the Code). It offers perspective on UK public M& A patterns and what we, alongside specialists from Addleshaw Goddard, Ashurst, Bird & Bird, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Macfarlanes, Paul Weiss and White & Case, anticipate emerging in 2025 and the years thereafter......

Market studies CMA publishes provisional findings in cloud services market investigation; recommends new digital markets investigation The CMA has issued provisional conclusions from its market investigation into the provision of public cloud infrastructure services in the UK. The authority made a market investigation reference in October 2023, following a market study of the sector. In that study, the CMA judged there were reasonable grounds to suspect that a feature, or a combination of features, in the market for the UK supply of public cloud infrastructure services may prevent, restrict, or distort competition. It has provisionally determined that high levels of overall concentration, together with barriers to entry and expansion, have conferred significant unilateral market power on Amazon Web Services ( AWS) and Microsoft across the UK cloud services market. The CMA also provisionally considers this market power to be further reinforced by various...

Barrowfen Properties Ltd v Girish Dahyabhai Patel and others [2025] EWCA Civ 39 What are the practical implications of this case? The decision confirms that the authorities on mitigation, covering both losses and gains, apply just as much to damages claims for breach of fiduciary duty as they do in negligence, across the board. It also underscores that, in damages claims, causation is paramount, and the function of an award in contract or tort is ordinarily to make good the claimant’s loss caused by the breach—no more and no less in practice. When a claimant takes reasonable steps to mitigate and, in so doing, incurs additional losses or secures benefits, those further losses or benefits should generally be brought into account when assessing the compensation payable. However, once mitigation has concluded, any subsequent costs or losses arising from the claimant’s own...

Court of Justice rules on German reference, confirming sawmills’ right to consolidate antitrust claims The Court of Justice has delivered its judgment in Case C‑253/23 ASG 2, a reference from Germany assessing whether national rules that prohibit assigning antitrust damages claims to legal service providers are compatible with Article 101 TFEU, Directive 2014/104/ EU, and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Background In 2009, the Federal Cartel Office ( FCO) adopted a commitment decision under German law and Article 101 TFEU regarding the Land of North Rhine‑ Westphalia and other Länder involved in marketing roundwood (the 2009 commitment decision). In 2012, the FCO commenced a new investigation into market conditions concerning the Land of Baden‑ Württemberg. Relying on that inquiry, the FCO annulled the 2009 commitment decision and issued a prohibitory injunction. The Federal Court of Justice...

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, announced a review in a letter dated 23 January 2025. It will examine barriers people face when seeking agreement with HMRC on the loan charge, which taxes outstanding loans as income and often leads to higher rates. The work will be headed by Ray Mc Cann, a past president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He previously served as a partner at the law firm Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP. Writing to Mc Cann on 23 January 2025, Murray said HM Treasury wants 'the review to bring the loan charge to a close for those people who still owe substantial amounts of money but can see no way to resolve their debts'. He also emphasised that the government is currently in a 'very challenging fiscal situation'......

Bryan Robson Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 56 ( TC) Bryan Robson Ltd functioned as the personal service company for the former Manchester United and England footballer, Bryan Robson. For many years he served as club ambassador under a succession of agreements. It was accepted before the FTT that the only issue in dispute concerned the 2019 agreement between the club and the company; earlier deals had been made between the club and Mr Robson personally. Under the 2019 agreement, the club was granted a licence to use and exploit Mr Robson’s image worldwide, for any purpose. The agreement also obliged the company to ensure that Mr Robson undertook personal appearances on no fewer than 35 days in each six‑month period. These duties covered hosting at matches and attending events held by the club’s sponsors. The company was paid a flat fee. The...

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the asset freeze and transport sanctions imposed on Anzhelika Khan, a British national born in Russia and spouse of billionaire German Khan, should remain in force. She argued she has never engaged in politics nor backed Vladimir Putin. Delivering the judgment for a three-judge panel, Justice Rabinder Singh stated the High Court was right to find that any softer alternative would dilute the purpose of the sanctions regime—signalling that the UK will not tolerate conduct that endangers Ukraine’s sovereignty. He added: Even had I considered the judge’s approach mistaken, my own proportionality analysis would lead me to the same result, following a proportionality evaluation carried out personally in light of the circumstances......

Maximilian Schrems v Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd , Case C-446/21 What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling in Schrems v Meta Platforms Ireland arrives 14 months after the Court of Justice, in Meta vs Bundeskartellamt ( Case C‑252/21), concluded that merely accessing a site or app does not, in itself, make a user’s personal data manifestly public—thereby eliminating reliance by a social network on Article 9(1)(e) of Regulation ( EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation ( EU GDPR). Schrems v Meta Platforms Ireland narrows the scope for processing special category data on social platforms and offers significant clarification on handling data that has been manifestly made public (and where explicit consent is invoked). Notably, it emphasises the nexus between a person issuing a public statement—which can render particular information manifestly public—and a platform’s deployment of pixels and cookies to track online...

2024 witnessed another rise in enforcement of consumer protection rules at both national level and across the EU, lending tangible force to the suite of reforms rolled out under the EU’s New Deal for Consumers (including, for instance, the Sale of Goods Directive, the Digital Services Directive, and the Omnibus Directive), as a whole. In this article, we: explore the changing enforcement strategy and methodology of the CCPC, alongside the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (the CPC Network), in particular spotlight the principal enforcement priorities in 2024—such as price transparency and, more broadly, unfair and misleading commercial practices consider where regulators are expected to concentrate their attention over the coming year in practice Evidence of a shift in the CCPC approach to enforcement? The CCPC’s method for enforcing consumer protection law is generally guided by four overarching...

In December 2024, the Central Bank of Ireland ( Central Bank) issued guidance ( Mi CAR Guidance) outlining its expectations on authorisation and ongoing supervision for firms applying to offer crypto-asset services under the EU Markets in Crypto- Assets Regulation ( Mi CAR). Mi CAR took full effect on 30 December 2024. The Mi CAR Guidance covers issuers of Asset- Referenced Tokens ( ARTs), issuers of Electronic Money Tokens ( EMTs), and firms seeking approval as a crypto-asset service provider ( CASP). It also highlights supervisory expectations that will apply to authorised entities on an ongoing basis. Cross sectoral guidance The Mi CAR Guidance should be read alongside the Central Bank’s Guidance on expectations for applicant firms seeking authorisation to operate as a regulated firm ( Cross Sectoral Guidance) published in November 2024. For more detail on the Cross Sectoral Guidance, please see our article...

Subsidy control The Subsidy Advice Unit has issued its final report giving advice to Derry City and Strabane District Council regarding the proposed subsidy for CODA ( Operations) Limited—see the further report Note— For all decisions referred to the Subsidy Advice Unit under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, see the UK subsidy control—ongoing cases tracker Upcoming dates For dates of forthcoming UK competition developments, see the UK Competition calendar......

Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad ( England and Wales) Presidential Guidance: Taking Oral Evidence by Video of Telephone from Persons Located Abroad ( Scotland) What are the practical implications? There is a change of emphasis and procedure in the revised guidance for England and Wales. The guidance documents are significant both for the reforms they introduce and for the growing procedural divergence between employment tribunals in England and Wales and those in Scotland when oral evidence is taken from witnesses overseas. The onus now lies with the parties—rather than the tribunals or HMCTS—to investigate a foreign state’s stance on permitting evidence to be given from within its territory, and the guidance differentiates between states that are parties to the 1970 Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Hague...

The Bar Standards Board ( BSB) imposed a penalty on John Mc Lanachan after he conceded to giving false information to two judges and putting forward ‘meritless’ grounds. Judge Janet Waddicor, who chaired the five-member panel, warned that practitioners pressing immigration claims they know are ‘wholly without merit’ risk eroding public trust in the profession. “ Members of the public are rightly concerned about cases being dragged on without merit in immigration appeals, often spanning many years,” she said. The damage to confidence is “serious because inevitably other cases, some of which undoubtedly have merit, are not able to be heard”, she added. Mc Lanachan, formerly of the now-closed Cadogan Chambers, admitted seven misconduct charges ahead of the hearing, which went ahead without him. Philip Stott of QEB Hollis Whiteman, acting for the BSB, explained the allegations stemmed from three separate hearings before the Upper...

Hirachand ( Appellant) v Hirachand and another ( Respondents) [2024] UKSC 43 What are the practical implications of this case? Applications under the I( PFD) A 1975 are frequently issued by individuals requiring financial support. On that basis, numerous claimants lack the funds to meet continuing legal expenses personally from their own pockets. As a result, CFAs are commonly adopted and relied upon. In addition, determining a maintenance award involves evaluating a person’s financial position and requirements in detail. Success fees cannot be recovered from the opposing party under section 58A of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. Yet they remain a monetary obligation of a winning claimant. Prior to this ruling, the success fee could be factored in when assessing financial need and, in turn, when fixing the substantive award. That approach no longer applies, so successful parties must satisfy the success fee from their own...