A decision in the high court last week in the matter of Mortgage Express vs Sawali means that anyone signing a mortgage form or offer may have signed away their rights to legal professional privilege - the privilege whereby a solicitor is able to withhold disclosure of certain documents relevant to a dispute - with regards to their mortgage transaction even if the mortgage offer was signed before the solicitor was instructed.

Helen Matthews, Consultant at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP, explains the changes to the rules regarding tenancy deposit schemes ("TDSs") which took effect on 6 April 2012

A request for a judicial review of a decision relating to the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset by cellophane company Innovia is a practically pointless exercise, but will be a useful test case for the definition of ‘dwellings' says infrastructure planning lawyer Angus Walker of Bircham Dyson Bell. Innovia are challenging the decision of the Infrastructure Planning Commission to grant access to its (Innovia's) land by EDF Energy to survey it, in advance of EDF Energ

Senior commercial lawyer Nick Maltby, Head of Major Projects (Commercial) at Bircham Dyson Bell believes that criticism of the Private Finance Contracts (PFI's) signed up to under the last government to fund the building of public sector buildings such as hospitals, is misplaced.

Senior commercial lawyer Nick Maltby, Head of Major Projects (Commercial) at Bircham Dyson Bell believes that criticism of the Private Finance Contracts (PFI's) signed up to under the last government to fund the building of public sector buildings such as hospitals, is misplaced.

A request for a judicial review of a decision relating to the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset by cellophane company Innovia is a practically pointless exercise, but will be a useful test case for the definition of ‘dwellings'.

Sushila Pindoria, senior associate at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that the letter being coordinated by the Property Managers Association, which represents large high street retailers including Schuh, Comet, Boots Opticians and New Look to request monthly rental payments from their landlords, is likely to fail.

Decisions about major power projects in Wales will effectively be made in Wales just as much as they are in Whitehall thanks to existing planning laws says leading planning lawyer Nick Evans of Bircham Dyson Bell LLP.

Alexandra Townsend-Wheeler, commercial property paralegal at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP is warning local authorities to seek advice prior to renting empty office space to small businesses in line with David Cameron's announcement.

Angus Walker, partner and planning lawyer at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP believes that the Government may have over estimated the number and impact of neighbourhood plans, further to the latest part of the Localism Act coming into force last week, giving local communities planning powers.

The announcement that the Green Investment Bank (GIB) will go ahead, operate independently and be permanent, will provide confidence for those relying on its success, but timelines need to be better set out for it to succeed believes Nick Evans, partner at Bircham Dyson Bell.

Two recent EAT decisions have reached opposite conclusions on whether the Equality Act 2010 covers victimisation after an employee has left employment.

Failure to comply with the obligation to inform and consult employee representatives about collective redundancies can lead to a protective award of up to 90 days’ pay per employee being awarded.

In University of Sunderland v Drossou, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the long-standing practice of excluding employer pension contributions ...

The Working Time Regulations 1998 state that employees must be paid in lieu of accrued but untaken statutory holiday on termination of their employment.

As promised in my last post, below is a very brief précis of how things will stand for employers or prospective employers of Romanian, Bulgarian and/or Croatian nationals as of 1 January 2014.

The NHS Pensions Agency has recently confirmed that NHS staff who are outsourced to private sector organisations will be able to continue with their existing NHS pension entitlements.

Jennifer Chappell and Jason Richardson, associates at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP, are warning second home owners to make sure their mortgage lenders know they do not live at an address before filling out a Land Registry Form LL Restriction to prevent others from attempting to raise funds fraudulently against the property.

In Clyde & Co and another v Bates van Winkelhof, the Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against the EAT's decision that a former equity partner of a limited liability partnership (LLP) was a worker and therefore eligible to bring a whistleblowing claim.

Recent penalties totalling £99,000 levied for non-compliance with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme serve to demonstrate and remind companies of the seriousness with which failure to comply will be taken believes Jennifer Chappell, senior associate at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP