The Companies Bill 2012 reached the Committee Stage of the legislative process in Dáil Éireann 5/11/13.

In Whelan v. AIB (Unreported Supreme Court 30/1/14) the third plaintiff, his wife and children, contracted for a loan to purchase land in Waterford for €25 Million, which later had a value less than €5 million.

In Ruffley v. Board of Management of St Anne’s School the court found that the plaintiff had been subject to bullying and harassment at work.

The Act provides for a payment claim notice to be sent by the contractor, and a response by the employer, all within a short time frame.

The Bill consolidates, reorganises and reforms company law in a number of respects. The Bill is expected to come into law in 2014.

In a recent Irish decision, the plaintiff succeeded in an action for damages in relation to loss suffered on investment in contracts for difference.

In Sweeney v. Board of Management Ballinteer Community School the plaintiff succeeded in a personal injury claim for bullying and harassment against a school.

There is much litigation pending alleging negligent valuations of property that led to losses suffered by plaintiffs. Issues arise as to whether a duty of care is owed, whether the standard of care was reached and the quantification of damages. A recent case addresses some of these issues.

Construction litigation is complex, as not only are lawyers heavily reliant on expert reports but there are legal defences that will be raised which must be overcome before those reports even become relevant.

You can get costs against an insurance company even when they legitimately repudiate.

Section 34 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 makes it not unlawful on the age ground for an employer to fix retirement age and there is no qualification in the Act as to what criteria the employer may use to fix retirement ages.

A party may apply to have a trial split into parts– called split trials or modular trials.

Defined benefit schemes (hereinafter DB schemes) provide members with retirement and death benefits based on formulae set out in the rules of the scheme.

When an employee is dismissed generally the employee will sue for unfair dismissal in the EAT.

A discussion on whether the provisions of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 can be used to clear mortgage debt.

A decision of the commercial court this week sheds light on the obligations of a trustee of the insolvency of a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme

Section 9 of the Protection of Employees 2003 provides inter alia that an employer cannot have two or more fixed term contracts where the aggregate duration is greater than four years unless there are objective grounds for the renewal.

Where an employee leaves to compete against the employer there are four possible causes of action the employer could seek to rely upon.

The office of the financial services ombudsman (hereinafter FSO) was created by the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2004 which inserted sections into the Central Bank Act 1942 (hereinafter the Act of 1942).