The latest figures concerning the use of our Scottish court system have been published. While they may appear unremarkable at first glance – in that the number of cases initiated in Scottish courts is almost identical to last year’s – the figures do represent a minor triumph for the court system in that the seemingly …
Continue reading “The winds of change to our courts are upon us”
Cases involving the proper approach to contractual interpretation only infrequently warrant determination by the Supreme Court as the ‘rules’ have been comparatively settled for some time. There have, however, been indications of a growing tendency of the courts to resolve unattractive interpretations based on the strict wording of contracts by reference to ‘commercial common sense’ …
Continue reading “Courts will not rescue parties to a disastrous bargain”
The L-1 intra-company transferee non-immigrant visa classification was introduced into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1970. L-1 visas are available to foreign nationals who have worked for a multinational company outside the United States for one continuous year within the three years immediately prior to their …
Continue reading “United States Citizenship and Immigration Services: L-1 category ”
Following the May 2015 election, the UK government has commenced a wholesale reform of the way in which renewable energy is supported and incentivised in the UK. This reform appears to have been shaped by a drive to slash costs and, as with the early closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) to large solar PV …
Continue reading “Renewable incentives in the UK: wholesale legal reform and grace periods”
In last month’s edition of The In-House Lawyer, Alan Eccles mentioned impending changes to Scottish succession law in his article that considered a number of ‘private client’ legal matters for those working in financial institutions and private or family businesses. The Scottish Government recently introduced the Succession (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) into the Scottish Parliament …
Continue reading “Certainties in life… reform to Scottish succession law rules ”
A classic battle of forms has ended in the faintly ignominious conclusion that neither party had done enough to have their standard terms and conditions (Ts&Cs) incorporated into the contracts in dispute. The High Court’s decision in Transformers & Rectifiers Ltd v Needs Ltd [2015] provides an instructive summary of key authorities and serves as a warning …
This article presents an update on some key areas in chemicals regulation and product stewardship. A central theme is the importance of businesses having reliable control of the information available through their supply chains, without which compliance is much harder to achieve and reputational risks much greater.
The Human Rights Act 1998, introduced by the Labour government and in force since October 2000, has been the subject of much controversy. In particular it has been blamed for preventing the government from being able to remove illegal immigrants from the United Kingdom. The Conservative government’s desire to ‘scrap’ the Human Rights Act is …
Continue reading “Can the Human Rights Act really be ‘scrapped’ and would it make any difference?”
All businesses are susceptible to risks in the supply chain and most businesses will come across insolvency issues as a result of supplier insolvency or customer insolvency at some point in their life. The insolvency of a key supplier or customer can have a significant impact on a business and in some cases it can …
Nearly every business uses Excel for straightforward accounting tasks, but for corporate legal departments dealing with multiple matters involving external legal service providers, specialised budgeting software brings significant business benefits. Although Excel is a useful repository for financial information and facilitates financial analysis, this requires manual collecting, inputting and updating data. Accurate financial planning, reporting …
Continue reading “Unlocking the hidden value in business processes”