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Eco-labelling and 'green' claims on food products - what is the current position and are there changes on the horizon?

Rebecca Ironmonger
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There has been a rapid increase in the application and use of eco-labels and claims by businesses that they or their products are environmentally friendly. This has occurred because the environment is becoming increasingly important to the general public,...

Navigating Co-Parenting During the Holidays: Agreeing on Christmas Arrangements for Children

Hayley McCormack
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Co-parenting during the holiday season, particularly Christmas, can be a delicate situation for separated parents. Balancing traditions, expectations, and the desire to create meaningful experiences for children requires open communication and cooperation....

Back-to-back contract chains

Derryn Rolfe
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We often advise main contractors on their sub-contracts, either their standard Ts&Cs or agreements for specific projects, and one of the perennial problems is cascading liabilities down the chain. The industry has had a problem for decades with...

New duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work

George Miller
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A new law has recently been passed that will place a legal duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment at work. The duty will come into force in October 2024, giving employers time to review what they are already...

An overview of Sharia law

Layla Babadi
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Sharia law is the system of religious laws within Islam and is derived from the Qur’an. It deals with all aspects of a Muslim’s life, ranging from family and financial matters to personal hygiene and clothing. It is increasingly used in parallel...

The New Fixed Recoverable Costs Scheme - How will this affect you, our Debt Recovery clients?

Catherine Rickett
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For most claims issued at Court after 1 October 2023, a new fixed recoverable costs regime will apply. The regime will apply to most debt recovery claims with a value of £10,000 up to £100,000. Where claims are valued at £10,000 or less...

Fixed Recoverable Costs and Property Litigation

Nigel Maguire
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On 1 st October 2023 changes to rules on costs came into force that extend the application of fixed recoverable costs into civil litigation.  These changes will not affect all areas of civil litigation practice- this article focuses on  the effect...

Government's response is released in relation to consultations on retained EU Employment Law

Laura Hill
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The Government has confirmed how they intend to deal with various retained EU employment law issues, including: There will be an introduction of “rolled-up” holiday pay, which enables workers who work irregular hours or part time hours to...

Cohabitation Law reform on the horizon?

Caroline  Elliott
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It is a common myth that couples who live together, known as “cohabitees,” are protected under ‘common law marriage’ but this is not the case. There are approximately 3.6 million cohabitating couples in the UK and such family types...

So you want to be a Trustee?

Craig Staten-Spencer
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Many people like the idea of being a charity trustee, and indeed there are many vacancies for trustees across the UK.  But what is a trustee, what are their responsibilities, and how do you start the process of becoming one?   What is a charity...

Are you calculating holiday pay correctly?

Shola Khan
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There has recently been an important case ( Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland v Agnew ) in relation to holiday pay in the Supreme Court.  The case is outlined below but shows that a gap of 3 months between underpayments does not...

Managing Conflicts of Interest in Charities

Craig Staten-Spencer
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The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has recently published its report following its statutory inquiry into the Birmingham Education Trust (the Trust). The inquiry looked into a series of concerns at the Trust...

Predatory Marriage update

Jak Ward
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The Law Commission published an update on its “Wills Project” a couple of weeks ago, building on its initial consultation piece back in 2017. The original consultation made a passing reference to predatory marriage. The supplementary paper has...

What should I do if a Will is challenged?

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It is becoming increasingly common for people, usually disgruntled beneficiaries who are not inheriting as much as they had hoped, to challenge the validity of a Will. If you have been appointed as an Executor of an Estate where a Will is being challenged,...

Divorce myths - uncovered

Layla Babadi
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There are many myths around divorce, but how many of them are true – we’ve taken some of the most common ones below and explained the real situation. Assets are always split 50/50 on divorce. Whilst the starting point in English matrimonial...

Banker is fairly dismissed for trying to claim for partner's sandwich

Laura Hill
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Citibank has successfully defended an unfair dismissal claim by an employee who was dismissed for claiming expenses for sandwiches and coffee for his partner. The Claimant brought his unfair dismissal claim against the bank after he was dismissed for gross...

Electronic Wills update

Ranulf Gull
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On 5 October 2023, the Law Commission published an update on its wills project in the form of a supplementary consultation to its initial consultation (which was published as far back as 2017), this time with a particular focus on electronic wills. Given...

Renters Reform Bill - What is it and what does it mean for Landlords?

Kelly Willows
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The Renters Reform Bill sets out reasonable circumstances where the landlord can evict a tenant. What are the changes? The Renters' (Reform) Bill outlines plans to abolish Section 21 notices, strengthen the grounds under Section 8 of the...

Allergen Series (4) Top 5 Tips for preventing an allergen incident in your food business

Rebecca Ironmonger
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Last week, we discussed what to look out for in terms of potential breaches of the allergen requirements and a case study to illustrate that. In this blog, we have condensed our advice into five top tips to help you prevent an allergen incident in your food...

Design liability and sub-contracting

Derryn Rolfe
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It’s not news that most design expertise in the building industry lies not with main contractors but with consultants and specialist sub-contractors. Often the expertise is such that the main contractor does little except procure and co-ordinate the...

Allergen Series (3) Allergen incidents - What to do and look out for

Rebecca Ironmonger
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One of the most common breaches of the Food Hygiene Regulations is in respect of incidents involving allergens. In this blog, our Food Regulatory Team discusses the law, what to look for in your business and what to do if you have an allergen incident. Food...

Charity Commission launches new quiz for Charity Trustees

Craig Staten-Spencer
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All charities are overseen by their trustees. They give up their time, energy and expertise on a voluntary basis and are responsible for the governance, strategy and overall operation of the charity.  The Charity Commission, the independent regulator...

The Sagrada Familia nears completion

Derryn Rolfe
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Today the fourth tower of the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s iconic cathedral in Barcelona, was completed. It’s a mere 141 years since the building of the cathedral started, which puts the delayed (and, also as of today) partly cancelled HS2 into...

Allergen Series (2) Natasha's Law Two Years On

Rebecca Ironmonger
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The 1 st of October 2023 marked two years since Natasha’s Law came into force. This legislation, officially known as the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, made it mandatory for food which is pre-packed for direct sale to include...

Biodiversity Net Gain: Legal issues for farmers

Julie Robinson
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Julie Robinson, Agriculture Partner at Roythornes Solicitors, explains why putting land into a biodiversity net gain project is not a walk in the park for farmers. Following the Government’s announcement on 27 September, we now have confirmation...

6 things to watch out for in Corporate Finance documents

Beth Wallace
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I’ve read a fair few corporate finance documents over the last few weeks. A work stream that I’ve found myself enjoying more and more. However, all too often I’m told by property colleagues “the client doesn’t want advising on...

Allergen Series (1) Precautionary allergen labelling

Rebecca Ironmonger
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Allergen labelling is a hot topic and continues to be one of the most common breaches of food law. It is a legal requirement for all food business operators (“FBOs”) to declare the presence of any of the 14 major allergens (celery, cereals...

Can an 'illegitimate' child inherit from their parent's estate?

Leah Merrifield
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It is not unusual for people to have children from different relationships and ‘illegitimate’ children born outside of marriage. Whilst blended families are increasingly common and often have positive relationships, unfortunately, there can...

Charity Commission issues new guidance on the use of social media

Craig Staten-Spencer
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We all live in an increasingly digital world and social media forms a large part of this for many people.  For charities it has opened new ways of engaging with service users, attracting volunteers and raising much needed funds.  As with most...

The new small abattoir support fund - what do we know so far?

Rebecca Ironmonger
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This week, the Government announced it will open a £4million fund to support small abattoirs at the end of 2023. Here, Rebecca Ironmonger of our Regulatory Team discusses what we know so far about the fund and considers what else might be needed to...

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