I always tell my clients that there is a defence of “fair comment” to claims of defamation of character. In other words, if you say something nasty but true about somebody, then it may have been mean-spirited of you to have said it, but at least the other party cannot sue you for defamation. The High Court case of Umeyor …
I had a read yesterday through the European Commission work programme for 2016, optimistically subtitled “No time for business as usual”. It seems that creating a connected Digital Single Market in the European Union will generate up to €250 billion of additional growth for the European Single Market (hooray), but sadly even the proposals for achieving this will not materialize …
My reaction when company due diligence of a takeover target uncovers the application of R&D tax credits by the target, is typically one of wondering what is going to happen next and how big an issue it is going to be. All too often I see the news met by the knowing and weary shaking of accountancy and tax heads, …
Next time you are negotiating a contract with a business based in a country where English is not the first language, always try to put language in there which makes clear that the language of the Agreement is English and that in the event of any conflict between the English version and a translation, the English version will take precedence. …
I have noticed over the years, that the point in contract negotiations where the lawyers start talking about the force majeure clause often coincides with the point at which clients show the first serious signs of losing the will to live. And yet (strange but true) if a force majeure clause does not meet the business needs of one or …
I was surprised the other day to receive a notification from one of the Mac user forums, that there was a new app, which they recommended for internet security. I wondered at first how it would be different from the Norton security package, which I use today for my office systems. When I looked into it a bit more, I …
Indemnities (like industrial strength cleaners) have their place in the world, but (also like industrial strength cleaners), they should not be over-used and they should not be used in the wrong places. I have lost count over the years of the number of times a client has reviewed a contract before me, and failed to strike through language requiring them …
Many of us have only just got used to 4G but discussions have already started about how to harmonise the next generation of telecommunications standards (5G) to connect billions of devices wirelessly and using fibre optic technology for enhanced speed and reliability. The European Union and China have signed a co-operation accord to collaborate in the development and roll out …
Matters are moving quickly on the implementation of the key provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Modern Slavery Act (Transparency in Supply Chains) Regulations 2015 have now been approved by the House of Lords, and it looks as though the requirement for organisations with a turnover of more than £36M per annum to prepare an annual slavery and …
We often get questions from clients about how they can protect their consultancy business from being made subject to IR35 Rules in relation to particular engagements. There are some general factors, which will always help the decision come down against a company being treated as a “personal services company” for tax purposes. These include factors such as: (a) being able …
