Commercial

Articles

28 Apr 2009

Striking a balance

The conflict between the need to comply with the new practice direction on pre-action conduct and the duty to serve clients' best interests could make efficient dispute resolution more difficult to achieve, says James Maton

28 Apr 2009

Proceeding with care

The changing scope of cost recovery outside of court proceedings has important implications for legal defence insurers, says Jennette Newman

7 Apr 2009

Update: competition

Lesley Davey reviews the European Commission's policy on abuse of dominant position, block exemptions, the application of State aid rules in the context of the economic crisis, and the OFT's new leniency guidance

7 Apr 2009

Double grovel, toil and trouble

My bank has just bounced one of my client account cheques. Just a few words but the consequences are horrific. Why did they do this? In 31 years of practice no client account cheque of mine has ever been dishonoured. At the time that the cheque was not met I had in the region of one million pounds in the client account. So why was the bank behaving in this very curious fashion? We live in strange times but surely some things remain sacred?

31 Mar 2009

The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007

Awareness of the damage that forced marriage can cause to individuals has grown in recent years, and now the Forced Marriages Act recognises for the first time the abuse of power by those enforcing their wishes against family members. Cris McCurley reports

31 Mar 2009

Update: local government

Justin Bates discusses the strained relations between local authorities and government over the move towards unitary authorities, and disputes between authorities over provision of services to asylum seekers

31 Mar 2009

David Oldham on the erosion of the civil justice system

David Oldham has a mission, he says in the notes accompanying the news of his appointment as president of the association of district judges. “It is to persuade the government to return to funding our civil courts to a realistic level.”

24 Mar 2009

Update: commercial

Sara Partington considers liability for conversion, the dangers of including an arbitration clause in standard terms and conditions, vexatious litigants and the risk of incurring interest on invoices