Frankly, a large proportion of general practice solicitors simply do not appreciate the importance of being highly visible on the internet. Personal Injury specialists have been ahead of the game in this area for years, as are accountants and others who are obtaining all the legal leads instead of law firms. This domain, solicitors-swindon.co.uk, is powerful enough to compete both for a full range of local search terms (not just a few as is the case with many others) and we are seeking a single, suitable law firm in the Swindon area to partner up with us on this site. If you believe you are a suitable, progressive firm, please get in touch.
Small Claims reform update
Expansion of small claims limits – good or bad ?
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a consultation about the possibility of increasing the limit for small claims from £5,000.00 to £15,000.00 and all small claims being automatically subject to mediation.
MoJ research indicates that increasing the small claims limit would increase the number of small claims by around 12,000. The current number of small claims is around 93,000 per annum.
There are undoubtedly some advantages of small claims, principally speed and simplicity of process and the lack of risk on costs. However, part of the agenda could also be to soften the opposition to legal aid cuts. Many cases which are valued at less than £15,000.00 still involve complex areas of law and such a move could also encourage defendants to string out claims in the knowledge that they are unlikely to be penalised on costs.
What is crystal clear is that this Government is intent on radical reform of the civil justice legal system.
Law, politics and criminal law
“Discounted” sentences become hot political potato
As many will have noted this week, the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, made some controversial comments about rape, but these were made in the wider context of the political and moral issue f whether criminal sentences should be further discounted for an early guilty plea and contrition.
As things stand, many crimes, where the defendant pleads guilty at the earliest opportunity, involve a reduction in usual sentence tariff of a third. Ken Clarke has been suggesting that this may be increased to a 50% reduction. Due to the bad publicity from his comments this week, it looks as though the debate on this issue will now go on the backburner for a few months at least. This is a good example of how politics and law, when it comes to criminal law, are not easy bedfellows.
Divorce simplified
Often the law can seem complex to non-lawyers simply because of the use of technical language which is also old fashioned. Over the last decade there have been gradual changes brought in to make the terminology used simpler and this is definitely welcome and has now been extended to divorce law.
The following changes have been made which will, it is hoped, help the participants in family proceedings better understand the process.
Old legal term New legal term
Ancillary relief Financial order
Divorce decree Matrimonial orders
People without mental capacity Protected parties
Guardian ad litem Children’s guardian
Next friend Litigation friend
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Squatters’ Rights
Under UK law, anyone who is allowed unopposed occupation of a piece of land for more than twelve years (10 years for registered land if appropriate procedures are followed) can acquire legal title to the land. Although numerous safeguards were introduced in the Land Registration Act 2002, which introduced a system of notices before the title could be transferred, this continues to be the case.
The UK's approach to 'squatters' rights' (known in legal circles as adverse possession) has been ruled to be lawful according to a ruling by the European Court.
If you allow people to make use of land you own without taking measures to protect your rights you run the danger of giving them permanent legal rights over your land or even losing legal title to it. Contact us for advice.
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Guidance on the Agency Workers Regulations
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published guidance for employers and those in the recruitment sector on the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which come into force on 1 October 2011.
The AWR will give agency workers the right to the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer, once they have completed a qualifying period of 12 calendar weeks in a particular jobs, but will not fundamentally affect employment status or how agency staff are placed and managed.
The 50-page guidance covers:
- the scope of the AWR;
- qualifying for equal treatment;
- how to identify basic working and employment conditions and the relevance of a ‘comparator’;
- pay;
- working time and holiday entitlement;
- pregnant workers and new mothers;
- pay between assignments;
- information, liability and remedies;
- information a Temporary Work Agency (TWA) must have before supplying an agency worker; and
- compliance information required by a TWA from a hirer.
It can be found here.
Employers are advised to consider how the AWR will affect them and have procedures in place by 1 October to ensure compliance. For individual advice, contact us.
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Cohabitation Case Goes to Supreme Court
It may be assumed that when a couple purchase a property in equal shares, that is how ownership remains, but it isn’t necessarily so.
In a recent case, the High Court had to rule on the ownership of a house, which had been bought for £30,000 by a cohabiting man and woman who lived in it between 1985 and 1993. When the relationship broke up, the man moved out and ceased to contribute to the mortgage and running expenses of the property, and made no contr
ibution towards maintenance of the couple’s children. He bought another property and moved there. The couple cashed in a joint insurance policy to assist him to finance his new home.
ibution towards maintenance of the couple’s children. He bought another property and moved there. The couple cashed in a joint insurance policy to assist him to finance his new home.
In 2008, it became necessary to determine the respective shares of the ownership of the property, by which time its value had risen to £245,000. The County Court ruled that the share of the woman who had remianed in the house should be 90 per cent. On appeal, the High Court upheld this decision.
After a further appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered that the split should be 50:50. The case is now to be heard by the Supreme Court and may be expected to set a precedent for how similar cases will be decided in the future.
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Reasonable Approach Pays in Court
Keeping your head (and thereby taking a reasonable approach) when all about you are losing theirs can pay dividends in court.
In a recent case involving the break-up of a limited liability partnership (LLP), a partner who had been effectively expelled by the other members made an offer to them, in open correspondence (correspondence which is not legally privileged), that they should buy out his share in the LLP at fair market value.
The offer was rejected. When the case went to court, the court ordered that the ex-partner’s share should be bought out by the other members of the partnership at fair market value.
Because he had made the offer in open correspondence, the court ruled that the ex-partner’s costs should be settled on an ‘indemnity’ basis, which means he will receive approximately 90 per cent of his costs from the losers. Normally, the winner can expect to receive about 70 per cent of their costs from the loser.
The courts generally react favourably to litigants who are shown to have tried to adopt a reasonable approach.
We can help you negotiate a successful outcome to your commercial dispute.
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Trade Mark Infringement Can be Based on Sound
Infringement of a trade mark need not be a visual issue: a trade mark can be infringed when the sound of the trade mark is infringed..
The case arose when the international toy manufacturer Hasbro alleged that its trade mark ‘PLAY-DOH’ had been infringed by a company selling ‘Play Dough’, an edible dough for children. The marks were not similar in appearance, nor were the products physically identical.
The defendants argued that PLAY-DOH had become synonymous with modelling clay and was thus so generic in meaning that it had lost its distinctiveness. It would not therefore qualify for trade mark protection. They also argued that if the words PLAY-DOH could be extended to cover ‘Play Dough’, then they lacked ‘distinctive character’, which is a necessity for a trade mark to be enforceable.
The court rejected both arguments.
It is good sense to make sure that you research trade marks before you start to use any trading style.We can assist you to make sure that you do not infringe others’ trade marks, and help you to protect your own trade marks and the rights attached to them.
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Claim Procedure Reforms Will Affect Smaller Claims
With all the hoop-la about the proposed change to the ‘no win, no fee’ regime, another set of proposals, which may well be of greater importance for many people has slipped under the radar of the popular press.
A new consultation paper proposes changes to the limits on claims to be heard by the lower courts. The proposals include:
- the limit of a claim which can be dealt with in the small claims court is to be increased from the current £5,000 to £15,000; and
- the minimum limit for a case to be sent to the High Court is to be raised from £25,000 to £100,000; and
In addition, the online system for settlement of smaller road traffic accident cases is to be adapted for use in all small personal injury cases up to £50,000 in value and trialled for use in claims for clinical negligence against the NHS.
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