It is common for tenants of multiple occupancy buildings to complain about the level of their service charges. Some are lucky enough to have been able to negotiate a fixed or capped service charge, but in many cases tenants feel they are at the mercy of their landlord or managing agent when it comes to service charges. In modern buildings these can often constitute a significant proportion of the costs of occupation...
A recent decision of the European Court of Justice (United Antwerp Maritime Agencies (Unamar) NV v Navigation Maritime Bulgare) has cast doubt on the law which will be applicable to commercial agency agreements where the parties are located in separate EU member states. This has potentially significant implications for the freedom of principals and agents to choose the law which will apply to their agreements, in circumstances where some EU member states grant greater protection to agents than others....
In many disputes between parties based in different jurisdictions, one of the key battles will be over the place in which a dispute should be heard. This tactical battle will involve pragmatic considerations, such as convenience, cost and the presence of assets in a particular jurisdiction against which any subsequent judgment can be enforced. There may also be concerns about whether both parties will receive a fair hearing...
Most companies in the business of selling physical goods of any sort will include a retention of title clause in their terms of business. The purpose of such a clause is to prevent title in the goods passing to the buyer unless and until payment has been received, and to enable the seller to recover the goods if payment is not made...
For over 10 years a succession of cases has made it clear that a failure to engage in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, might lead to negative costs consequences in litigation...
In the recent case of Twinmar Holdings Limited -v- Klarius UK Limited the High Court gave helpful guidance to Tenants on their responsibilities for repairing/replacing glass fibre reinforced polyester roof lights. Roof lights of this type regularly cause difficulties in dilapidations claims and the Twinmar case has already had some publicity as a result of this...
Litigation is sometimes criticised as slow and expensive. The ‘Jackson Reforms`, which came into force earlier this year, are intended to get to grip with these issues...
The Court of Appeal has given its Judgment on a recent case that considered the extent of a solicitor`s duty to his client to formulate a binding settlement agreement resulting from a mediation. The background dispute that gave rise to the current case is worth consideration first....
The English Courts have two parallel systems that determine whether the English Courts have jurisdiction: the EU rules for determining jurisdiction as set out in Regulation 44/2001 (the "Regulation") and English Common Law rules. The Common law rules will only apply when the Regulation does not. As a result, there can be situations where it is unclear which test the Courts should be using and this can have profound consequences for the parties involved....
A recent High Court decision ruled on whether Marks and Spencer had infringed trademarks belonging to Interflora through its use of keyword advertising (Interflora Inc and another v Marks & Spencer plc and another [2013] EWHC 1291 (Ch))....
Over the last four or five years many tenants have tried to operate break clauses in their leases in order to reduce their property outgoings in a difficult commercial climate...
A recent Court of Appeal decision has highlighted the importance of parties to an agency contract choosing which country`s law will govern the contract...
There is no getting round the fact that litigation can be expensive and sometimes disproportionately so. This is a problem with which the Courts have been grappling for many years, particularly since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999...
In a recent decision of the Court of Appeal, the question of when a principal can terminate a commercial agency contract on the grounds of an agent`s misconduct has been considered...
Blogging is a popular way for individuals to express their views and opinions freely to a wide audience on the internet. Internet service providers are generally not themselves regarded as the "publisher" of statements posted by their users, thereby avoiding any liability to pay compensation for any defamatory statements. However, the recent Court of Appeal decision in Tamiz -v- Google Inc [2013] EWCA Civ 68 casts doubt on this position....
In English litigation, it is generally the rule that the losing party will be ordered to pay a proportion of the winning party`s legal costs. However, the Court has very wide powers when making an award of costs, and in certain circumstances can order that a non-party to the proceedings should pay them....
Although it is a general principle under English law that parties should be free to negotiate their own contract terms, the Court may decide that a clause is "unenforceable" in certain circumstances, even where both parties have signed up to it....
Litigation can be a very expensive and time consuming process that can be a real drain on a party`s resources. In some cases, the costs of fighting litigation and recovery of those costs can become as important to a party as winning the claim. Mediation is generally seen as a successful method of resolving disputes cheaply and quickly...
When there is a dispute about the performance of a contract, one of the first issues that must be determined is which law applies to that contract, particularly where the parties to the contract are based in different countries or the contract involves working overseas. For example, which law will apply to a contract between Peruvian and Malaysian companies to transport goods between Nigeria and India? The law applicable to that contract will inevitably impact on the outcome of any dispute that arises from the performance of that contract....
One of the functions of the law is to protect consumers against businesses taking unfair advantage of them. The motor industry is no exception in this regard. There is a considerable amount of consumer legislation that is designed to give consumers a redress when they lose out due to unscrupulous business practices....