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Lucasfilm did not benefit in any way at Tyburn Film Productions Ltd's expense, counsel said to the appeals court there on 3 December 2025, in part because it already possessed rights over Cushing's likeness and an agreement and consent from the Cushing estate to 'resurrect' him as Grand Moff Tarkin. Tyburn contends it earlier made an agreement with the late actor then, at the time, granting the company a veto over any use of his image prior to his 1994 death. That contract concerns a TV series titled 'Heritage of Horror', which never aired. Tyburn further asserts the deal permits it to effectively 'resurrect' Cushing using stand-ins and CGI to ultimately finish the programme then if the actor were to die whilst filming remained in progress...
Irish telecom operator Eircom’s damages lawsuit against BT Group over a public-sector contract must be carefully managed to trial to deal with confidentiality issues and other matters, a UK judge told the parties today. At the High Court in London today, a judge said Eircom’s damages action against BT over a public-sector contract needs tight case management through to trial to address confidentiality and related concerns. Eircom brought the claim after Ofcom in 2020 penalised BT for its behaviour during a tender. Speaking to both sides, Judge Adam Johnson urged them to resolve any confidentiality flashpoints themselves and signalled he had no wish to step in unless it became unavoidable. He also expressed confidence that parties would do everything possible to keep confidential designations to a minimum, noting this was necessary to maintain control over the conduct of the trial. He framed this as the
The following document is attached: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/274 dated 5 February 2026, revising Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1981, establishing a final anti-dumping levy on imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware produced in...
Justice Richard Arnold granted AstraZeneca leave to appeal and permitted lorries carrying about 175,000 packs of Glenmark’s generics to move on to wholesalers, provided they did not reach pharmacy shelves while the case continued at any point during those interim proceedings. In this way, Glenmark could keep its first-to-market advantage, while causing only minimal detriment to AstraZeneca should the Court of Appeal later be persuaded to issue an injunction against supply. The judge said this approach maintained the status quo with the least possible prejudice to Glenmark’s position overall. The hearing was arranged at short notice, just days after the High Court refused AstraZeneca an injunction to block the diabetes generic from sale while the court considered whether the patents supporting the branded medicine were valid in law. Glenmark, Generics (UK) Ltd and Teva Pharmaceuticals have each begun proceedings in the UK to set...
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In this issue: Commercial Competition and state aid Corporate Free movement, immigration and employment Financial services Energy Environment Insurance and reinsurance IP Life sciences Regulatory TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Commercial EU Digital Fairness Act set for early 2026, with consumer protection in focus MLex reports that, in 2026, the European Commission plans to propose the EU Digital Fairness Act ( DFA), an initiative aimed at reinforcing consumer protections in the online environment. Informed by the latest Digital Fitness Check, the DFA is slated to target dark patterns, addictive design, influencer marketing, unfair practices and, potentially, online subscriptions. After wide-ranging evidence-gathering throughout 2025, MLex understands the remit could also broaden to cover dynamic pricing, with an initial draft not expected before early 2026. See News...
At the High Court, Thomas Ogden of 4 New Square, appearing for The Hope Lease Ltd, the company behind Koko, confirmed that the venue had reached a settlement with Arthur J Gallagher ( UK) Ltd, the broker it had alleged was negligent. Ogden said the dispute was now concluded, with nothing outstanding, and that the parties wished to move on. The agreement was finalised in 2022, following a claim brought by the storied Camden, north London, venue—known for hosting artists such as Madonna and Prince—alleging the broker failed to secure suitable insurance to compensate for losses arising from a January 2020 fire......
Zaha Hadid Ltd v The Zaha Hadid Foundation [2024] EWHC 3325 ( Ch) Disagreements between the architect’s foundation and her practice In 2013, the architect, Dame Zaha Hadid (now the Zaha Hadid Foundation), and Zaha Hadid Limited concluded a trade mark licence allowing the company to use the ‘ Zaha Hadid’ brand in return for royalties. Following Dame Zaha’s death, the company sought to end the licence; however, aside from unilateral termination rights vested in the foundation, the agreement had no fixed term and was effectively of indefinite duration......
ON v ON [2024] EWFC 379 What are the practical implications of this case? The standout consequence of this decision is the firm direction it sets on parties’ duties of disclosure within arbitration. Arbitration continues to be appealing (use of specialist arbitrators, a markedly swifter, more bespoke process, etc), and the ruling enables advisers to state unequivocally that the requirement of full and frank disclosure endures up until the arbitral award is turned into a court order. That message carries wide weight, in light of the family courts’ renewed focus on non-court dispute resolution and the growing uptake of arbitration. Its effect will be felt widely, dovetailing with the courts’ focus on non-court routes and arbitration’s rising use across family practice. The decision also underlines the risk of advancing implausible grounds when seeking to set aside an arbitral award. Although the wife...
What are the practical implications of this case? This notable judgment addresses three discrete themes of particular significance. First, it revisits the Harman undertaking, which prohibits collateral use of documents obtained on disclosure in civil litigation. Deploying materials produced on disclosure in Australian proceedings to support an anti-suit injunction in England constitutes a breach of that obligation. Second, it assesses the duty of full and frank disclosure on without notice and short notice applications, together with the limited circumstances in which the court may properly exercise its discretion not to set aside an order procured in breach of that duty of full and frank disclosure. Finally, the decision offers a considered treatment of the doctrines of actual and ostensible authority, in a scenario where a company seeks to place reliance on engagement letters executed by a separate entity within the same corporate...
Lincoln could hardly have foreseen that by 2025 we would inhabit a world where deepfakes are routine; where communication has shifted—perhaps even slipped—towards symbols; and where we teeter on the edge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, defined by a fusion of technologies, including artificial intelligence, that is dissolving the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological realms, as described in a 2019 UK government policy paper. As has become our yearly custom, we set out our e-discovery predictions for the year ahead. 1. AI provisions will become mandatory in protective orders AI has been adopted more rapidly than any other technology in recorded history, and now appears almost ubiquitous. Such breathless uptake introduces significant dangers. In the discovery context, notable risks include: disclosure to third parties of highly competitive, sensitive and confidential information; the loss of control over that data, including being unable to...
Original news Mr Hyman ( CAS-88359- S7J2)–17 October 2024 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint concerning a scheme opt-out. Both the provider and the employer were found to have complied with their automatic enrolment obligations. The provider had sufficiently explained the opt-out procedure. As the contributions were repaid, the complainant experienced no financial loss. This outcome reinforces that the automatic enrolment framework is highly prescriptive, and its rules must be observed in every instance. What were the facts? Mr Hyman was subcontracted to undertake work for Exact Payroll through his own asset management company......
R (on the application of Allen) v Secretary of State for Justice [2024] EWHC 2370 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? Allen is among only three rulings on the 2023 policy now in force—the ‘ Generic Parole Process Policy Framework 2023’ (‘ GPPPF’) at 5.83—and offers clear guidance on its proper application. The third, concluding factor, the ‘wholly persuasive case’ requirement, is approached as a proof-like threshold: at §54 the question posed is whether the case is ‘wholly persuasive’, as distinct from merely ‘moderately persuasive’. That determination rests with the Secretary of State for Justice and sits beyond the Parole Board’s remit. The suggested method is therefore: having addressed the first two criteria (whether adequate progress has been achieved and the risk of absconding), the Secretary of State should take a step back to judge if, taken as a whole, the matter...
Original news Mr R ( CAS-63400- N0T9) – 21 October 2024. Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman dismissed a grievance concerning a transfer into a pension liberation arrangement. It was considered inappropriate to assess the decision through the lens of hindsight. The 2013 ‘ Scorpion’ guidance post-dated the transfer by two years and therefore did not apply anyway. The Scheme undertook suitable, robust and proportionate due diligence consistent with industry practice at the time. This outcome confirms the Pensions Ombudsman does not make retrospective judgements in such circumstances. What were the facts? Mr R held deferred status as a member in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (the ‘ Scheme’)......
Coastal Housing Group Ltd and others v Mitchell and others [2024] EWHC 2831 ( CH) What are the practical implications of this case? In brief: the impact could be vast. It is now established that contract-holders across both social housing and the private rented sector may suspend rent for any period in which their landlord is not compliant with reg. 6. The court regarded this as a simple and effective lever for contract-holders to prompt swift remedial action by landlords (paras [116]–[117], [201]). A contract-holder who takes this course—so long as they can demonstrate the landlord’s non-compliance—will not be required to reimburse the withheld sums, even after receiving their ECR. What remains unresolved is the situation where a contract-holder continued to pay during non-compliance, perhaps because they were unaware of the right to withhold or for another reason. That reflects the...
BBC World Service cited tests which it claimed showed that 17 products, largely own-brand lines, were likely to include Chinese tomatoes. The supermarkets offering these goods have challenged the BBC’s conclusions. The findings were also showcased in the BBC Panorama episode, ‘ What’s on Your Supermarket Shelves? The Dark Side of the Tomato Trade.’ The investigation reported that China produces about a third of the world’s tomatoes—principally from the Xinjiang region—where production is, it alleged, connected to forced labour involving Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. Chinese officials reject assertions of coercion in the tomato industry and contend that workers’ rights are protected by law. This raises complex issues for UK grocers stocking such items, who may find themselves within the scope of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) as a...
Antitrust Commission sends supplementary Statement of Objections to Lufthansa indicating its intention to impose interim measures to prevent harm to Frankfurt- New York air passengers The Commission stated it has issued a supplementary Statement of Objections ( SO) to Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( Lufthansa), signalling intention to adopt interim steps, pursuant to Article 8(1) of Regulation 1/2003, obliging the carrier to restore Condor’s access to Lufthansa’s feeder traffic serving Frankfurt airport, inbound and outbound......
Private actions CAT publishes judgment setting out reasons for approving terms of settlement agreed with WWL/ EUKOR and K- Line defendants in maritime car carrier companies cartel The CAT has handed down its judgment in Mark Mc Laren Class Representative Limited v MOL ( Europe Africa) Ltd and Others, setting out why it approved the collective settlement terms agreed between the Class Representative and, respectively, the WWL/ EUKOR and K- Line defendants in Maritime Car Carriers ( AT.40009). This is a damages action brought by Mr Mark Mc Laren, as the Class Representative, under section 47( B) of the Competition Act 1998, against various maritime car carrier companies, alleging that those operators infringed Article 101 TFEU by taking part in a cartel alleged therein......
See Q& A: How does abatement apply where a testator has left £50,000 to trustees on discretionary trusts and £50,000 to a family member, but there are insufficient funds to settle the legacies in their entirety? Whether abatement operates hinges on how the legacies are characterised, which itself follows from the construction of the Will in question. Legacies fall into three classes: general, specific, and demonstrative. A general legacy is......
The government made clear that it would tailor AI oversight to serve the UK's needs and set up a new AI champion for financial services to work alongside the state on this agenda. Recognising that regulatory models vary worldwide, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said in a speech delivered at University College London, where he referred to the UK's post- Brexit freedom from EU legacy rules, that the country can steer its own regulatory path. He added that, in setting rules for AI affecting financial services and other industries, the nation will back innovation while ensuring the framework is right and carefully and tightly designed. Before imposing regulation, he said, the UK will test and learn about AI in practice so that any measures are proportionate and firmly rooted in science. The government will appoint AI champions in......
Mc Leish and another v The Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and another [2024] EWCA Civ 1562 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment carries real practical weight by clarifying that the ‘conclusive evidence’ rule in WCA 1981, s 56(1) and the evidential presumption against altering a definitive map or statement function at distinct stages and stem from different legal bases. It underlines that these are separate concepts: one concerns conclusive status at a given time, while the other addresses the burden when contemplating change. The judgment also makes plain that a decision‑maker would adopt a flawed approach if they attempted to rely on WCA 1981, s 56(1) in the context of an application to modify the definitive map or statement. In such proceedings, invoking s 56(1) is misconceived and leads to error in the...
News Analysis: Construction law—the year 2024 so far In August 2024, we issued News Analysis: Construction law—the year 2024 so far, a review of the principal construction law developments arising since January. In this sequel, we reflect on the news, milestones and shifts from the latter part of 2024, and cast an eye towards what we anticipate in 2025. The closing months of 2024 brought no easing in momentum, with activity spanning policy, contracts and case law. In September 2024, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry handed down its second and final report, examining the failings that culminated in the Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017 and pointing to the need for further building safety reform. The Joint Contracts Tribunal ( JCT) pressed on with its 2024 suite, issuing updated editions of significant standard forms, and publishing new versions of several major forms of...
Prosecuting oligarchs Prosecuting oligarchs is only one gauge of how effective Britain’s sanctions regime has been, which has made their lives ‘more difficult in the UK’, according to Celestino Calabrese, the deputy head of illicit finance at the National Crime Agency ( NCA). Action for sanctions breaches has taken time to bite, notably, yet curbs on finance have stripped oligarchs of wealth and mobility while stopping their facilitators from moving assets beyond the authorities’ reach, Calabrese told Law360 in an interview. Britain’s success in tracing holdings and securing cooperation from the regulated sector overall is ‘why there seems to be a relatively low level of criminal enforcement activity’. As a result, indeed, it is ‘extremely difficult for designated parties to circumvent financial sanctions controls’, Calabrese said. ‘ The people that we’re looking at are very serious, and they’re looking at us and what we’re doing’, here, he...
Senior US District Judge Loretta A. Preska has also approved long-awaited enforcement applications by respondents in Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, who had initially initiated arbitration in 2006 following a default on US$100m Eurobonds issued by Lakah Funding, operated by brothers Michel and Ramy Lakah. This represents the final chapter in the brothers' efforts to resist being held personally liable under the arbitration provisions contained in the bond documentation governing the transaction, and to elude the corporate veil-piercing remedies available under the laws of New York, where the arbitration was seated. In this piece, we set out the dispute's background and analyse the court's conclusions and their implications. Background On 8 June 2006, UBS AG, Exporters Insurance Co, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Oman and Arab Banking Corp formally began an arbitration against the Lakah brothers and other related...
Mergers The Commission approved the takeover, thereby granting EP Group, a.s. sole control of International Distribution Services Plc...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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