Articles and Briefings

We recognise that some legal developments need to be understood in detail.

Our publications and briefings provide an in-depth analysis of commercial and legal developments, as they happen.

Update on the Pension Schemes Bill and implications for pensions from the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020

06 Jul 2020

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) came into effect on 26 June 2020. Whilst the Act makes a number of changes to the insolvency regime. The Pension Schemes Bill is currently at report stage in the House of Lords, and is awaiting a date to be fixed for the third reading; the final opportunity for amendments to be made to the Bill.

Court of Appeal upholds refusal to pay for fear of US secondary sanctions

06 Jul 2020

The Court of Appeal has upheld a judgment that a borrower was justified in its refusal to make payments under a Facility Agreement where the ultimate beneficial owner of the lender was an OFAC SDN.

Procedural errors by patent administrator cause SPC loss to Genentech

03 Jul 2020

In a recent patent case, the grant of a supplementary protection certificate ("SPC") – which gives up to five years' extra patent protection – was revoked by the UK High Court as a consequence of annuity fees being underpaid by a company's agent.

Energy or waste? When a EfW plant contract is not a construction contract

02 Jul 2020

Energy from waste plants have been the subject of their fair share of disputes, one of the most recent being in relation to the development of a gasification plant at the Energy Works Hull facility (Engie Fabricom (UK) Limited v MW High Tech Projects UK Limited [2020] EWHC 1626). The judgment handed down by the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) last week concluded that the primary activity on the site was power generation rather than waste treatment meaning that the contract fell within an exclusion in the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) (Act) and consequently two adjudicator's awards in favour of the sub-contractor, Engie Fabricom, could not be enforced.

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020: an update

02 Jul 2020

On 26 June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the "CIGA") came into effect. As anticipated in our previous article the CIGA was fast-tracked through Parliament and some amendments were ultimately made prior to it becoming law. While these amendments were not substantive, there are some key changes/clarifications between the first draft and the enacted legislation.

FAQs - Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

01 Jul 2020

On 20 March 2020 the government announced the launch of its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme), which is intended to pay employees who would otherwise be redundant or subject to a requirement to remain away from work without pay and are instead designated as "furloughed".

FAQs: mobilising your charity during COVID-19

30 Jun 2020

Charities have been dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and considering how to move forward as we come out of lockdown. We take a look at some frequently asked questions for arts, faith-based charities, schools and universities.

Employers' liability claims for COVID-19 in the workplace: are the floodgates opening?

25 Jun 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to throw up some interesting challenges for employers and their liability insurers. How are the courts likely to approach the novel situation where employees may seek to claim for injuries arising through exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, and how can employers and their insurers take steps to protect themselves from a tidal wave of claims?

Charities in the wake of COVID-19 - financial challenges and insolvency

24 Jun 2020

The pandemic has strained the fabric of society with its impacts felt across the full spectrum of charities across the sector. Charities are ready to embrace that challenge. Many can see an opportunity to make more difference, to more people, than ever before. But we must not lose sight of the fact that charities are stepping up to the plate against a backdrop of their own difficulties. Fundraising activities have been restricted and volunteers forced to shield.

Court revisits the issue of the extra-territorial effect of section 236 once again

23 Jun 2020

Back in November we reported on the case of Wallace v Wallace [2019] EWHC 2503 (Ch), where the Court grappled with the diverging authorities on the issue of whether section 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 has extra-territorial effect.

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