Dudley Solicitors

Commercial law survey

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:47:35 +0000

Commercial lawyers and clients – a recent survey

A recent survey by the FT and Managing Partners Forum Has thrown up some interesting pointers for commercial lawyers regarding the gap between what they think clients want and what clients really want. In terms of the 3 most important factors for commercial clients when using a solicitor the ability to solve problems fast was the most important to clients but only 5^th most important for lawyers. The issue of frequency of communication was also big for clients, less so for lawyers. This is a common complaint by both consumers and commercial clients. There really is no excuse for not being proactive and you can be sure that when brands enter the legal market, communication skills and frequency will need to improve by lawyers.

Latest unemployment law figures & employment law

admin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:05:42 +0000

Rise in part time working

One particularly interesting statistic comes out of today’s latest unemployment figures, particularly of note for employers in relation to employment law.

Overall, as many readers may have noted, unemployment has dipped but the figures present a mixed picture. It seems that many seeking employment have decided that a part time job is better than no job at all. Employers taking on part time staff need to be aware that for the most part, part time workers have the same employment law rights as full time staff.

For further advice or information about employment law generally or part time workers in particular, please do get in touch.

Two Flats are Not a Residence

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:27:00 +0000

<p> When a family is being housed, the provision of separate, self-cont<img alt="Flats and danger" src="/system/assets/419/small/100_0330.JPG?1297338020" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" />ained flats with no common living areas does not mean that accommodation had been made available such that the members of the applicant’s family could ‘reside together’ in the ordinary meaning of the phrase. </p>

First Company Convicted of Corporate Manslaughter Loses Appeal

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:12:00 +0000

<div> <img alt="digger" src="/system/assets/497/small/100_0453.JPG?1299426255" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" />Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd., which became the first company to be convicted of corporate manslaughter (under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007) in February of this year, has lost an appeal against its conviction.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The company was convicted following the 2008 death of geologist, Alexander Wright, 27, who died when a trench he was working in collapsed. </div>

Banks Give in Over PPI

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 07:58:00 +0000

<div> Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), which was sold aggressively by many of the clearing banks during the debt boom<img alt="Commercial property 1110" src="/system/assets/367/small/100_0263.JPG?1294826420" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: left;" /> of the 1980s and 1990s, has led to large provisions being made for losses as the banks have abandoned attempts to fight mis-selling claims.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Thousands of customers w ere sold PPI policies, which undertook to cover loan repayments on lo an in the event that the borrower became unemployed or fell ill and was unable to make the repayments. The policies were extremely profitable for the banks because the claim rates were very low and the policy costs were high.</div> <div>  </div> <div> However, following widespread complaints and successful litigation, the banks have abandoned their struggle and have earmarked more than £5 billion to meet claims.</div> <div>  </div> <div>  </div>

Who is a Member of a Company?

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 07:28:00 +0000

<p> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">Keeping company records up to date is not always a top priority for the directors of smaller companies. However, failing to keep the shareholders’ register up to date can have a downside if a share transfer has occurred but the new owner’s name is not entered into the register of members.</span></p> <div>  </div> <div> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">The problem is that under the Companies Act 2006, except in very limited circumstances, the person shown as a member in the register of members is a member and a person not shown isn’t – until the register is rectified.</span></div> <div>  </div> <div> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;">This can have practical effects such as making notices of meetings invalid, invalidating votes of shareholders and so on and can affect, as it did in a recent case in the Supreme Court, whether or not one retains the rights attaching to shares transferred for financial purposes into the names of nominees.</span></div> <div>  </div> <div> <b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;">Contact us for advice on company secretarial and company law matters.</span></b></div> <div> <b> </b></div> <div> <b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;"><br /> </span></b></div>

More Businesses ‘Critical’

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:37:00 +0000

<div> <img alt="Sale" src="/system/assets/75/small/Nov_2009_010.jpg?1268499526" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" />The number of businesses in the UK which are suffering from ‘significant’ or ‘critical’ financial problems on the first quarter of 2011 has risen to 186,000, according to a report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor. This is an increase of 26 per cent over the figure for the third quarter of 2010 and is 15 per cent more than the same quarter in 2010.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Another report shows a 4 per cent jump in the number of retail businesses at ‘high risk’ of insolvency and there has also been a 15 per cent increase in the number of retails using company voluntary arrangements compared with 2010.A <a href="http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2068769/corporate-insolvencies-rise-continues" target="_blank">report by accountants PwC </a>also revealed an increase of more than 12 per cent in corporate insolvencies with retailing the worst-hit sector.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Things are tough in retailing and the building industry was recently identified as having had a particularly bad winter.</div> <div>  </div> <p> <strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;Times New Roman";">For advice on managing your trade risk, contact us.</span><br /> </strong></p>

New Guidance on Transferable Nil-Rate Bands

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:36:00 +0000

<p> <img alt="Cruise Ship 1" src="/system/assets/36/small/DSC00147.JPG?1264852129" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" />There has, since its inception, been a great deal of confusion regarding the ‘double Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil rate band’ legislation – whereby the unused proportion of the IHT nil rate band of the first of a couple to die is passed to the second: this is termed the ‘transferable nil rate band’ (TRNB).</p> <div>  </div> <div> One of the problems stems from those cases in which the estate of the first deceased merely passed across to their spouse and the formal documentation relating to the estate was either not prepared or not retained.</div> <div>  </div> <div> HM Revenue and Customs have attempted to make the use of the TRNB simpler by issuing a new code of practice which allows an estate making use of a transferred TRNB to be an ‘excepted estate’ provided certain conditions are met.</div> <div>  </div> <div> In practice, this will simplify the administration of many estates. However, there are still conditions which may cause difficulties for many people, such as the conditions that the first deceased must have:</div> <div>  </div> <ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc"> <li> been domiciled for IHT purposes in the UK at the date of death; and</li> <li> not have owned foreign assets (i.e. a holiday home) worth more than £100,000 at the date of death.</li> </ul> <div>  </div> <div> The guidance can be found at</div> <div> <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/ihtm06024.htm"><span style="text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/ihtm06024.htm</span></a></div> <div>  </div>

Unfair Trading Legislation Stops Bogus Prize Draws

admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:47:00 +0000

<p> Not many prosecutions are brought under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which are designed to protect consumers form the activities of unscrupulous traders.</p> <div>  </div> <div> Recently several companies were taken to court by the Office of Fair Trading for breaches of the regulations.</div> <div>  </div> <div> One of the companies offered invitations to claim ‘prizes’ by sending unsolicited letters to people. The ‘prizes’ which were the subject of the prosecution were either an LCD TV (allocated to less than 1 per cent of the applicants) or a ‘Zurich watch’ which was allocated to more than 99 per cent of the respondents. The Zurich watch actually contained a movement made in Japan.</div> <div>  </div> <div> To obtain the prize, it was necessary to obtain a ‘prize code’. This was done by the ‘prize’ recipient telephoning a premium-rate number – which cost £8.95. They then had to send a further £8.50 because the watch was an ‘electrical item’. The total cost to the consumer was therefore £17.45 and the supplier made a profit of approximately £7 on each ‘prize’.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The court concluded that there was in reality, no prize: the claimant had bought the watch.</div> <div>  </div> <div> In each case, the OFT found that the Regulations had been breached and that the ‘prize’ element of the promotion was a sham.</div> <div>  </div> <div> There are many unscrupulous traders in the market and promotions that offer ‘free prizes’ are seldom genuine. There are also examples of companies that target vulnerable people (i.e. the recently bereaved).</div> <div>  </div> <div> If something looks too good to be true, it is almost certainly because it is. Do not commit yourself without thinking through your options.</div>

Bribery Leads to $150 Million Settlement

admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:56:00 +0000

<p> The laws against corrupt practice in the USA are both strong and pervasive, as a recent case illustrates.</p> <div>  </div> <div> It involved a London solicitor who is a US citizen and who was charged in the USA in connection with corrupt practices with regard to contracts worth more than £4 billion that had been awarded in Nigeria to a consortium represented by the solicitor. He paid bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials between 1996 and 2004.</div> <div> <img alt="Dollars" src="/system/assets/540/small/100_0514.JPG?1301663374" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px; float: right;" /></div> <div> He fought extradition to the USA on the grounds that the time-lag between the offences and the case coming to trial prevented a fair trial and that the offences were too distant from the US for the courts there to have authority.</div> <div>  </div> <div> Despite that fact that only one of the member firms of the consortium was American, he was extradited to the USA and negotiated a plea bargain with the US authorities. This involved him agreeing to forfeit nearly $150 million.</div> <div>  </div> <div> He is scheduled for sentencing in June and could face a maximum prison sentence of five years for each of to two offences.</div>