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Legal Developments in the The Legal 500 United Kingdom 2012

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Getting the breaks

May 2013 - Public Law. Legal Developments by Falcon Chambers.

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Shook, Hardy & Bacon currently authors the Insurance section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

In the context of any company restructuring or reorganisation, the presence of a break clause in one of the company’s leases is a valuable thing indeed. This will enable the tenant to move out of unwanted or over rented space. At the very least, if the premises are over rented, the presence of a break clause will give the tenant a negotiating platform to seek a variation of the existing lease.


Product liability and dietary supplements

May 2013 - Insurance. Legal Developments by Shook, Hardy & Bacon International LLP.

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Shook, Hardy & Bacon currently authors the Insurance section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

The market for dietary supplements in 2012 was estimated to be worth approximately £385m in the UK alone and is worth billions of dollars globally.1 Sarah Croft, of Shook Hardy & Bacon International, assesses the regulatory environment for these products in Europe and the UK and considers the product liability issues for 
this sector.


The calm before 
the storm: are 
you prepared for 
a dawn raid?

May 2013 - Fraud and Corporate Crime. Legal Developments by WilmerHale.

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WilmerHale currently authors the Fraud and Corporate Crime section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

The start of a dawn raid is often the first time a company or individual learns that they are the subject of an investigation. Knowing what to do during the first minutes of a dawn raid is vital. Ensuring that a company’s receptionist, employees and senior management all know what role they have to play in effectively managing the arrival of investigators at the company’s front door and the subsequent search is essential. Attempting to formulate such a plan of action once the raid has begun is not practical and therefore the key to handling a dawn raid is preparation and detailed planning. 


International shipment of waste: transporters beware

May 2013 - Real Estate & Property. Legal Developments by Burges Salmon LLP.

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Burges Salmon LLP currently authors the Environment and Energy section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here

As European society has grown wealthier, it has created more and more resource management challenges and opportunities. Each year in the EU alone we produce three billion tonnes of waste – some 90 million tonnes of it hazardous. This amounts to about six tonnes of solid waste for every man, woman and child1. The processing of waste is a Europe-wide issue with the Waste Framework Directive (WFD)2 providing the overarching legislative framework for the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of waste across 
the EU in a way that does not have a negative impact on the environment 
or on human health.


Revisiting Bartoline

May 2013 - Public Law. Legal Developments by Macfarlanes.

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Macfarlanes LLP currently authors the Litigation & Dispute Resolution section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

The decision in Bartoline v Royal Sun Alliance [2006] has some commentators arguing that the door has effectively been shut on recovering environmental liabilities under public liability (PL) policies. This article examines whether this is true; it looks at the legal principles in Bartoline, its impact on the environmental insurance market and the likely future of the PL insurance market in the UK.


Rent in administration proceedings: a headache for landlords

May 2013 - Insolvency & Restructuring. Legal Developments by Druces.

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Druces currently authors the Insolvency and corporate restructuring section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

An important area of insolvency law – the liability of a company in administration to pay the rent under the lease of its premises – which until recently had been relatively clear and straight forward, is currently in an unsatisfactory state. This was not always the case, as, until quite recently, landlords and administrators could easily assess where they stood under the flexible approach that prevailed for many years. Unfortunately, as occasionally happens with insolvency law in the UK, a relatively minor change in the law leads to a re-examination of the position. The matter comes before the court, which feels constrained to interpret the law in a way 
that leads to an impractical result. There then follows a clamour for a change to the law. It is a pattern that we have seen several times before. 


It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day

May 2013 - EU & competition. Legal Developments by Arnold & Porter (UK) LLP.

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Arnold & Porter (UK) LLP currently authors the EU & Competition section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

Recent decisions of the EU Courts once more show that the way undertakings respond to dawn raids can have a significant impact in terms of fines. At the same time they also clarified the rights of companies being investigated. The European Commission in its turn recently revised its explanatory note on inspections.1 It is therefore worthwhile to look at these current developments. 


Court of Appeal provides useful guidance on the 
test for remoteness 
of damages for 
breach o

May 2013 - Contract. Legal Developments by Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.

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Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP currently authors the Contract section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

Generally speaking, a two-step procedure will be adopted in determining what damages will arise from a breach of contract. First, the courts will need to consider what loss has been suffered. Secondly, they will consider whether 
any of those losses suffered are too 
remote to be recoverable. It is this second test of ‘remoteness’ that will be examined 
in this article.


Unsafe products: 
identifying serious risks and notifying the relevant authorities

April 2013 - Insurance. Legal Developments by Shook, Hardy & Bacon International LLP.

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Shook, Hardy & Bacon currently authors the Insurance section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

In the event that a safety problem is identified with one of your products, you will need to undertake a risk assessment to comply with the General Product Safety Directive.

Supreme Court provides guidance 
on forum conveniens and piercing the corporate veil


April 2013 - Litigation & Dispute Resolution. Legal Developments by Macfarlanes.

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Macfarlanes LLP currently authors the Litigation & Dispute Resolution section of The In-House Lawyer magazine. For more information and articles from this author click here.

This article considers the Supreme Court decision in VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corp & ors [2013]. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the case is that it casts doubt on the notion that the Court has the power to pierce the corporate veil. The Supreme Court also held that, even if the power to pierce the corporate veil does exist, it does not enable a claimant to hold parties that control a company jointly and severally liable under contracts entered into by that company. 


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