Articles
The widely publicised case of a disinherited woman who successfully contested her mother’s will has led more people to check their own wills, reports a Leicestershire law firm...
Dr Raj Mattu was employed as a cardiologist at the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry in 2001, when he made ‘protected disclosures’ about dangerous overcrowding in patient bays which could have led to avoidable deaths...
Currently there is no such thing as a ‘no fault divorce’ which means that when a marriage breaks down, the person who starts divorce proceedings has to decide which factor to issue those proceedings on. If they are not prepared to wait for a period of separation, then blame has to be laid at their partner’s door...
A study by business experts has found that women suffer a ‘motherhood penalty’ which leaves them with poorer pay and lesser job prospects for decades after taking maternity leave...
The number of couples applying for a divorce is expected to rise significantly in January, with Monday 4th January seeing a surge in people seeking advice from family solicitors...
The European Court of Human Rights yesterday ruled that employers are allowed to read personal messages sent by staff during working hours over private messaging platforms...
Jo Edwards, the Chair of family law organisation Resolution has told MPs that the proposed steep rise in divorce fees would constitute a ‘tax on divorce’ and could not be justified in relation to the actual cost of proceedings...
Gender pay reporting is a regulatory framework announced by the Government, it means that businesses with over 250 employees will berequired to publish the mean and median gender pay gaps as well as the number of men and women in each quartile of their pay distribution...
One of the most frustrating moments as a probate lawyer is receiving a letter from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) requesting a schedule of assets and liabilities as they are investigating payments made to the deceased. Often this process is drawn out and incredibly time consuming for all involved...
Social media is massive and very difficult to escape – it’s everywhere. Businesses use it to promote their services and individuals use it to chat with friends or to mull over the events of that day...
Nick Robertson, the founder of online shopping company ASOS, is one of the UK’s richest men. When he and his wife split up she wanted £110 million of his fortune whereas he thought she should receive £30 million, claiming that both ‘non-matrimonial property’ and his ‘special contribution’ should be taken into account. ASOS was founded in 2000 and the couple married in 2004...
In 2015, the average salary for men was £29,934 and £24,202 for women – a difference of £5,732 per year...
A recent case at the Employment Appeals Tribunal found that it does not count as discrimination if an employer discontinues an employee’s childcare vouchers during their maternity leave...
The process of getting divorced begins with a petition, the information detailed on the petition includes the names of the couple who wish to divorce, details about their children and the reason that the marriage has broken down. As part of the 2016 budget there will be an increase of 34% in the fees required to apply for the petition...
The well- known rule of forfeiture states that if you are responsible for the murder or manslaughter of a person, you cannot benefit from their estate...
The Ministry of Justice has published figures to show that since the introduction of fees payable for employment tribunals the success rate has fallen. Based on 21,500 cases in the third quarter of 2015/16 the figures show that 6% of cases were successful and 6% were not, whereas in 2012/13, 11% of claims were successful and 7% were unsuccessful...
As we have previously reported, the national living wage is going up from April 2016. Currently the rate is £6.70 per hour which will increase to £7.20 per hour next month for workers over the age of 25...
Changes introduced by the Children’s and Families Act 2014 have been in force since mid-April 2014. One such change has seen the introduction of compulsory attendance at a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) for couples who are looking to begin Court proceedings in relation to their children or their finances...
Jonas Gutierrez was playing for Newcastle United football club when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2013. When he was well enough to return to the club after treatment he was loaned out to Norwich City for the remainder of that season...
Philip Rostant, who is a leading judge that specialises in employment law, has said that the only way to deal with discrimination of overweight people in the workplace is to introduce legislation so that they are able to sue their colleagues if they are rude or abusive about their weight...
Whistleblowing is one of the most complex and riveting areas of Employment Law. It’s an area that gains a lot of press coverage because of the often high profile nature of issues involved. Edward Snowden, the CIA whistle-blower..
Research has shown that bosses and line managers who encourage their staff to continually go above and beyond their contractual duties at work could actually be having a detrimental effect on their health.
Recently there has been a story in the news about a 27 year old woman who began a temping job at a prestigious London firm. The lady arrived on her first day wearing flat shoes as she knew that part of her job would require her to be on her feet for most of the day...
The Citizens Advice Bureau have recently reported a 25% increase of queries from women who are experiencing discrimination in the work place because they are pregnant or since they have returned to work after their maternity leave...
A Yorkshire based nurse took her local ambulance service, who are part of the NHS Trust, to an Employment Tribunal after she received a conditional offer of employment which was withdrawn once they received her reference and an Occupational Therapy report.
This year sees the start of Ramadan’s religious observance on for 30 days from 6th June. Ramadan it is a dedicated time in the Muslim calendar to focus on spirituality during which they cannot consume food between the sun rising and falling each day...
A Leicester based company have sacked a member of their staff who was a whistle-blower. He wanted to expose their ill treatment of staff and the tactics they had developed to avoid paying the national living wage...
Retail giant Sport Direct has been accused by MP’s of treating their staff like “commodities rather than human beings” further to a report carried out by the Business, Innovation and Skills committee...
We have moved! The paint is dry, the boxes have been unpacked and the system has been successfully set up in our new open plan head office on Dominus Way...
A woman who was falsely proposed to by her long-term partner has been awarded £300,000 in the profits from the £1 million home he has recently sold. The judge ruled that this was the price he was required to pay to her because he had denied her the type of financial security that a wife would be bestowed...
Most people will have seen the Deliveroo vehicles around and about recently. They are a symbol of the modern economy in that they allow for a fast and flexible way of providing food to customers. This flexibility has not however been reflected in notable warranties and indemnities that have been placed into the contracts of Deliveroo workers...
MP’s have reacted to the dramatic increase in the discrimination that pregnant women and new mothers face in the work place...
In recent months a number of employers have been accused of not paying staff minimum wage include Deliveroo, Uber, Hermes and Sports Direct. Nearly all the staff of the first three businesses are classed as ‘self employed workers’...
UK darts player Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor has divorced his wife of 26 years and now has to pay her half of his £3 million fortune...
After an unrelenting eight-year feud, a couple vow to jail their elderly neighbour if he steps foot on the grass verge outside his home...
Heavyweight UK supermarket Asda have had to respond to more than 9,500 of their female staff who have complained that they are paid between £1 and £3 less per hour than their male counterparts who work in the company warehouses and distribution facilities...
A London employment tribunal has ruled that drivers for the ride-hailing app will be entitled to holiday pay, paid rest breaks and the national minimum wage, dealing a major blow to Uber...
Returning to work after being diagnosed with cancer might be a daunting experience but you should be able to rely on support from your employer and colleagues, yet research from the charity Macmillan shows almost one-fifth of people diagnosed with cancer face work place discrimination...
The National Housing Federation has approached the Government with a proposal that would allow people who rent houses to have the opportunity to purchase them after 25 years. If they are granted funding they have said they will be able to build 335,000 new homes over the next four years...
Following the UK’s Brexit decision in June, and the recent parliamentary debate on workers’ rights, there have been limited assurances surrounding the future of UK employment law, many of which conjoin with EU Law, despite the economic growth...
Why is it that when performance is mentioned in a business environment, people become panicked and worried? Has the word performance management been negatively associated with business development and regularly misused...
Contractual documentation has revealed temporary ASOS warehouse staff receiving lesser wages for three months than regulations allow. The policy could potentially mean that the retailer has avoided paying out thousands of pounds to its temporary staff....
The Christmas party season can be a difficult one for employees and employers to navigate. It is a balancing act between ensuring employees enjoy themselves, yet maintain standards that are to be expected at a work event...
Within the Summer Budget of 2015 came the announcement of the Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB) which will come into force in April 2017...
A recent report by the Law Commission has outlined a package of reforms, making the law governing the enforcement of family financial orders more effective, accessible and fair...
The Government are currently holding a consultation, the terms of which would effectively make it impossible for up to 800,000 people (according to National Accident Helpline research) to claim compensation for their injuries or being able to access legal support for free...
Last night, 14 of the Lawson-West team took part in the Leicester Legal Walk.
A recent case heard in the Court of Appeal is yet another example of the willingness of the courts to look beyond the written terms of the contract to analyse the actual relationship between the parties. Mr Smith had signed an agreement with Pimlico Plumbers (PP) in 2009 in which he agreed to the following terms:
