Solicitors’ litigation costs have undergone seismic changes with effect from 1st  April 2013.  The reform is statutory (under the Legal Aid and Sentencing Punishment of Offenders Act 2012), in conjunction with statutory instruments and far reaching procedural rule changes, all directed towards implementing the recommendations of a major report produced by Lord Justice Jackson in January 2010.

Dispute resolution Solicitor Sian Spencer explains the key issues that a landlord should be aware of if a tenant fails to pay the rent due under the terms of a commercial lease:

Whilst many people enjoy fireworks at this festive time of year it is accepted that fires can cause huge amounts of damage and have devastating impacts on lives. In a recent judgement the Court of Appeal has emphasised the importance of obtaining insurance against fire damage.

Following a recent High Court decision Corporate Partner Sam Lyon highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using standard terms and sets out how standard terms can be incorporated effectively.
 

This checklist sets out the duties your business owes to members of the public when you provide them with goods, services or facilities. Since 1 October 2010, these rules are set out in the Equality Act 2010.
 

On 1st September 2012 new legislation comes into force which will impact on how schools, including academies, can tackle the difficult issue of student exclusion. In theory the changes will give heads and governing bodies more control over their student body, allowing them the final say on who is permanently excluded.

However, with the introduction of a new financial ‘penalty’ system, it appears that navigating the way through the minefield of student discipline may be a more costly exercise than ever.

In Part 1 of this article I expressed the view that direct discrimination by reason of disability could occur even where the disability is not that of the person who is being treated less favourably, but instead is an attribute of someone associated with that person, e.g. their disabled child (“discrimination by association”).

Thus, it is not lawful to treat someone less favourably in their application for a place merely because they have a disabled child any more than it is lawful to refuse a person a place merely because they themselves have a disability.

This is just a quick reminder that the limits on the statutory caps for a number of Tribunal awards will increase for dismissals which occur on or after 1 February 2012. 

Consider the following scenario: a student is repeatedly absent from lectures; when challenged, she explains that she has been unable to attend, owing to the need to care for her disabled child. She asks if she can have the lectures recorded for her, knowing that that facility would be permitted to someone who found it difficult to attend because they were themselves disabled. What do you, as the person responsible for making the decision, do?

This article examines why, and looks at how No win- No Fee, also known as Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) could be used more often in commercial claims.