Employment Rights Act 2025: Key Changes and What Employers Need to Know as Reforms Take Effect
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. It amends the law relating to employment rights to enhance employee protections, bringing major changes throughout 2026 and 2027. With key provisions now in force and further reforms due to take effect throughout 2026 and 2027, our Employment Lawyers outline the...
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Why tenants should instruct a solicitor when entering into a lease
When a lease is being granted, there is a lot more to think about than just the lease document itself. Whether you are the landlord or the tenant, it is always advisable to instruct solicitors to act for you so that you are fully aware of the risks and your obligations. If you are the tenant, it is important for a solicitor to check the...
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A Guide to JCT Building Contracts
The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) launched its new suite of building contracts in 2016 with updates to the entire JCT family completed in 2017. This guide from our Construction Solicitors sets out some basic information about JCT contracts generally, as well as some more detailed information about the 2016 JCT forms.
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Stamp Duty Land Tax on Commercial Property
SDLT (also known as Stamp Duty Land Tax, and sometimes just Stamp Duty) is a tax payable on both commercial and residential property transactions in England and Northern Ireland – so whether you take a lease of an industrial unit for business purposes or downsize your family home you will pay the same type of tax, albeit at different rates. The...
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A Guide to Adverse Possession
Land: use it or lose it. That’s the basic premise behind the often controversial legal principle of adverse possession. Adverse possession is colloquially known as “squatters rights” and is based on an ancient philosophy requiring owners of land to...
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Witnessing a Will
You have gone to the trouble of considering what should happen to your estate on your death and prepared a Will so that your family are provided for. Whether you have prepared the Will yourself, completed a form over the internet or instructed a solicitor to draft it, the most important thing is to ensure that it is signed and witnessed...
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Avoiding Agent Termination Payments
Most principals are aware that when an agency is terminated they will be liable to pay the agent a termination payment under Regulation 17 of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993. This can be a very substantial sum, and often results in principals considering ways they might seek to avoid such payment. A principal can...
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Single Parent Surrogacy
Single parents who have had a child born through surrogacy can now apply for parental orders and obtain a UK birth certificate. This means that they can become recognised as the child’s legal parent, extinguishing any rights and responsibilities of the surrogate. Previously, only couples were eligible to apply. To deal with this discrimination...
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Conditional Payment Clauses – Gone but not forgotten
The Construction Act has been an important part of construction law since it came into force in 1998. It was substantially amended by Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which: Extended the provisions of The Construction Act to oral contracts; Prohibited certain unfair costs clauses; and Introduced a...
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Vlogging & GDPR
Following a decision of the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ), Advocate General Sharpston ( AG ) confirms that the filming of public officials carrying out their duties by members of the public who then publish the video online could fall within the journalistic exemption under data protection rules. The statement comes after Latvian, Mr Buivids...
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Main Contractor Insolvency – What about the sub-contractors?
Following the collapse of Carillion, a wave of articles on the impact of main contractor insolvency on developers flooded the construction and legal press. These provided welcome advice for employers but offered little information for the sub-contractors. We consider what signals you as a sub-contractor should look out for, what action you can...
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When Do the Commercial Agents Regulations Apply?
If the parties have agreed that the agency contract is to be governed by the law of another member state, the Regulations will not apply. The definition of “commercial agent” is very wide. A commercial agent includes sales agents, who have the authority of their principal to negotiate and sometimes conclude sales or purchases of goods on behalf...
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Calculating Compensation For Commercial Agents
There are two types of termination payments: compensation and indemnity. Compensation is payable unless the parties have agreed that an indemnity should be payable instead. A compensation payment under Regulation 17 will reflect the value of the agency to a hypothetical purchaser at the date of termination. It must be assumed that the agency...
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