24% would contest a will: the avoidable & costly route to resolution
A recent poll by Direct Line suggested that 24% of UK residents would contest a loved-one’s will, if they were unhappy with the division of assets. Claimants made over 8,100 applications to halt probate in 2017. That figure increased by 6% last year. The idea of freedom of testation has deep roots in English law. […]
Read MorePartner pressure and promotion promises can foster dishonesty to meet billings targets
Last year, the legal media devoted considerable coverage to Kirkland & Ellis as it overtook Latham & Watkins to become the world’s highest billing law firm with gross revenues of $3.165 billion – a 19 percent increase in its top line over the previous year. Meanwhile Kirkland also saw its profits per equity partner rise […]
Read MoreThe elusive quest for High Street survival
Structural economic change can be painful. The demise of Britain’s industrial base in the 1980s saw the domestic coal industry unable to compete with cheaper international rivals because it was uneconomic. The National Coal Board closure programme started with a hit list of 100 pits. The end result was that all the mines eventually closed […]
Read MoreAfter Carillion – where now for corporate accountability?
Carillion’s 2016 annual accounts carried the now-ironic tagline: “Making tomorrow a better place”. By mid-2017, the company was issuing profit warnings. By January 2018 it collapsed completely, leaving debts of £7 billion in its wake. MPs squarely blamed the “recklessness, hubris and greed” of Carillion’s directors for the debacle. Carillion’s collapse wreaked financial havoc on […]
Read MoreEqual pay test claim in the retail sector could affect many businesses
The challenge Morrisons is facing over equal pay at the employment tribunal comes mostly from women who argue their pay is unfair because it is less than their male counterparts employed in distribution centres. Male workers there are paid £1 to £4 an hour more than their female colleagues who work in supermarkets, they claim. […]
Read MoreHarrassment & bullying – employers are letting themselves down
In a dramatic wake-up call for the legal profession to examine its culture and working practices, the preliminary findings of a recent International Bar Association (IBA) survey, revealed in October 2018, found that bullying and sexual harassment are rife. According to more than 5,000 lawyers in 120 jurisdictions, one-third of male lawyers and half of female […]
Read MoreProbate fee hike proposed yet again – more harm than good?
In April 2017, the government abandoned its controversial plan to hike probate fees. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had been projected to raise an additional £300m a year to fund the courts and tribunals service (HMCTS). A new sliding scale schedule was planned with fees starting at £300, while for estates worth more than £2m […]
Read MoreVirgin Media the first to test Electronic Communications Code – ECC
Readers will be aware of the Government’s stated intention to introduce measures intended to make it more “straightforward” for operators to reach agreement with landowners and occupiers of land “in order to improve coverage capability and capacity” (ECC Code of Practice) – the result was the Digital Economy Act 2017 (“DEA”), and more specifically Schedule […]
Read MoreTo survive a merger you need to stay FLOAT
There is a hive of mergers happening in the world today. Currently, two prominent mergers are taking place in Europe. One is the Siemens-Alstom merger with combined revenues of €15.3 billion[1]. The other is the ThyssenKrupp-TATA steel merger with combined revenues of €15 billion and expected to produce annual synergies of up to €600 million[2]. […]
Read MoreShould there be a ‘right to disconnect’ for UK employees?
The summer of 2018 set many records. But as holidaymakers enjoyed the soaring temperatures, some of them were not just relaxing by their hotel pools, they were also reading through office memos and responding to emails from work colleagues. Thanks to the impact of technology ‘always being on call’ has become the new normal in […]
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