Wednesday February 22, 2012 at 1:05pm
Be pro-active. Get yourself on the front foot and ready to deal with any issues. This means understanding the terms of your lease and the type of disputes that can crop up and when they are most likely. A good start would be to sign up to our
Commercial Lease Renewal service. We will highlight the issues for you and give you diary dates for action.
The most common issues with commercial leases are: 1. Rent reviews 2. Lease renewals 3. Service charges 4. Dilapidations (repairs) 5. Rent arrears ....
(read more...)Wednesday December 14, 2011 at 6:13pm
With all the criticism and praise of David Cameron using his veto at the EU last week, as an expert in resolving commercial disputes, I know that sometimes walking away is the right thing to do. In negotiations and mediations, one of the ‘killer’ tactics available is the threat of walking away. The very threat of doing this puts the other side on the spot: how keen are they really to resolve the issue, to reach a win-win settlement? It sends the message that they’ve gone beyond....
(read more...)Tuesday November 29, 2011 at 5:23pm
If you’re considering removing a director, or if you are a director facing the prospect of being removed by your company, there are many tactics to consider to obtain the most favourable result. Taking early legal advice from a solicitor who specialises in directors’ duties is essential, not only to obtain the best outcome you can, but also to reduce the mental and emotional stress that comes with the territory. After all, you spend more of your waking time at work than you do with y....
(read more...)Monday September 26, 2011 at 5:43pm
It is quite often the case that the most valuable assets of a business are its intellectual property such as trademarks and copyright, but do not overlook the important value of trade secrets.
Trademarks and copyright are out in the open, and any infringements can be protected by appropriate court action. But what about the trade secrets? These could be manufacturing processes, perhaps recipes in the food and drinks industry, and the very important research and development of products which ha....
(read more...)Monday September 19, 2011 at 10:22am
There are certain things all businesses can do to right now to reduce the possibility of litigation arising (even years before you have a dispute). And they just happen to be the same things that will reduce your legal costs if litigation does occur, and also make it more likely that you will win. Getting the contract right A contract can be in writing but it doesn’t have to be. It can be oral (e.g. “I’ll pay you if you do this for me”), written in a formal contract, or s....
(read more...)Monday July 4, 2011 at 12:55pm
A ‘pre-pack’ is a legal process where the business and assets of a struggling company are sold immediately after it is placed into administration. As the name suggests the deal is agreed beforehand meaning that unsecured creditors (including landlords) are not given the opportunity to object.
Pre-packs are now popular as they allow the business to continue without the unprofitable parts or a heavy debt burden and can save jobs. They have also been controversial where they allow fai....
(read more...)Wednesday June 15, 2011 at 12:55pm
It has been a shock to many to receive a demand for compensation for unlawful reproduction of images, such as photographs and other artistic and design work. Usually this comes in the form of a written demand from a stock image house such as one of the world’s biggest agencies Getty Images, who actively pursue such claims.
So what is the law? And how do you protect yourself from such demands?
With the explosion of social network sites on the web has come a corresponding explosion in th....
(read more...)Tuesday May 31, 2011 at 11:51am
This is always a difficult one to call, because the circumstances can vary so much. But there is one rule of thumb. Can you afford to lose it? If you can’t, don’t do it. There must always be a significant risk in these cases that you will not be repaid.
The emotional pressure is always very great, and this clouds judgement on both sides. Of course, like a marriage, it always starts with optimism and good intentions. What can possibly go wrong? Invariably where lending money is conc....
(read more...)Tuesday May 31, 2011 at 10:18am
What is Forfeiture? Forfeiture is the landlord’s right to re-enter business premises and bring a lease to an end. In general a lease can be forfeited where the tenant does not pay the rent, breaches the other terms of the lease or becomes insolvent.
Forfeiture is a powerful tool for landlords to use where they wish to remove a tenant and terminate the lease. Tenants should note that the right to forfeit can only be exercised by the landlord if it is specifically referred to in the lease.....
(read more...)Wednesday May 11, 2011 at 5:10pm
Many directors of SMEs are taking huge risks when it comes to paying themselves without realising – and it is often on their accountant’s advice. It is very common that a company’s accountant will advise directors of owner-managed companies to take the majority of their pay as dividends with either no salary or a very low one. This has a financial advantage, particularly as far as national insurance contributions are concerned. The director then simply draws a monthly sum from ....
(read more...)Monday January 17, 2011 at 2:45pm
Are you optimistic or fearful as we enter the first month of 2011? Will it be a year of growth, consolidation, or one in which your business will struggle? I’m a firm believer in taking an optimistic view whilst also preparing for the worst case scenario. With that in mind I was researching the other day some of the main reasons that small businesses fail. The UK
insolvency helpline have gone to the trouble of compiling a list of 65 of the most common reasons for businesses failure. These ....
(read more...)Wednesday January 5, 2011 at 11:26am
Current market conditions mean that many business owners and directors are having to face up to the consequences of personal guarantees they signed when they first started their business, took out a loan or signed a lease agreement. I've heard of numerous small business owners who have had their business loan called in by the bank. If they haven't got the money in the business to pay it back they will more than likely be personally liable as a result of having signed a personal guarantee. I....
(read more...)Monday December 6, 2010 at 7:56pm
What surprised me most about the news story of MP Phil Woolas losing his seat for lying is the number of politicians who came forward to say that lying is just a part of the “rough and tumble” of electioneering. Do we, as a society, really think it’s OK to lie in public? As a litigation solicitor with considerable court experience, I have seen many individuals lie in the witness box or, as their lawyers will usually put it, “being mistaken”. That’s why most of....
(read more...)Thursday November 25, 2010 at 6:27pm
If a director who has loaned money to their company resigns, or is dismissed, can they get their loan back? Many companies, especially in the current economic climate, seem reluctant to repay a director’s loan in this situation. The first thing to look at is the loan agreement itself, if there is one. It may set out the circumstances when a loan can be repaid. If the written agreement doesn’t deal with this point or, if there is no agreement, then the loan will generally be repayable....
(read more...)Wednesday September 15, 2010 at 7:36pm
Company directors are subject to so many duties that, if they are not careful and don’t take proper advice, they can easily find themselves in breach of one or more of their duties. But, in SMEs and family-owned companies, the directors and shareholders are usually the same people; so who cares anyway and how would anyone find out about the breaches? Some breaches are very easy to commit, and many directors don’t even know they are doing anything wrong. For example, there are various....
(read more...)Thursday March 25, 2010 at 11:00am
To help business owners and managers prevent and manage commercial disputes law firm Cousins Business Law has published a free guide entitled “The Definitive Guide to Solving Business Disputes”. The guide stresses the significant cost to business of badly managed disputes and provides practical advice on how to avoid conflict in the workplace as well as steps to take should a dispute be on the cards. In the guide dispute management solicitor Nigel Musgrove shares his 30 years' worth ....
(read more...)Thursday January 14, 2010 at 5:26pm
The surprise banks’ overdraft charges victory could leave landlords’ exposed to a new challenge by estate agents. The High Court originally ruled that millions of pounds of residential tenancy “renewal” fees charged by Foxtons to landlords were unfair resulting in expected refunds running to millions of pounds. The new interpretation of the law means that buy-to-let investors may now face delays in their claims for a rebate whilst any appeal is heard.
Please get in touc....
(read more...)Monday October 12, 2009 at 9:00am
Unfortunately business owners are often so keen to secure a sale or start working on a big project that they fail to get all the paperwork in place.
Disputes in business can happen for many reasons, but so often they blow up because those involved have a different opinion on what was agreed. You know the situation – you’ve had some work done or purchased a piece of equipment and you’re not happy with what you’ve received. You scrabble around for the paperwork but there i....
(read more...)Wednesday August 26, 2009 at 3:47pm
I am sure that all buyers (and most sellers) will want to make sure that goods sold are of satisfactory quality and do the job intended. But what is the remedy when things go wrong, for example the steel supplied is not up to the job, the cattle food makes the cattle ill, the computer does not live up to its billing, or the machinery keeps breaking down?
Sale of goods law provides remedies for buyers where the goods are not of "satisfactory quality". A recent High Court case conf....
(read more...)Tuesday August 18, 2009 at 4:28pm
As businesses continue to struggle at the moment, there’s been a recent increase in the number of SMEs who are making Directors redundant. It can often make sense: if a company’s activities have shrunk, with fewer sales and a reduced workforce, it can now appear too top heavy and under performing directors might be at risk. Handling a Director redundancy can be much more complicated however than making a staff member redundant as we explain in the more detailed article on Director Re....
(read more...)Thursday August 6, 2009 at 2:58pm
The Credit Crunch is inevitably contributing to a delay in payment to businesses, particularly vulnerable SMEs. Money owed to small businesses shot up by 40% from £18.6 billion in 2007, to £25.9 billion in 2008, according to Bacs. And who knows where the figure is at this time, no doubt substantailly higher.
This attack on cash flow is probably the biggest single cause of company failure. For example Barclays state that more than 750 companies failed in the South East in 2008 due t....
(read more...)Thursday July 9, 2009 at 4:45pm
In the past 2 weeks I have been the victim of large scale internet fraud on 2 credit cards, and so I have taken a keen interest in liability and in ways to protect against future fraud.
I have been very careful to use only on line stores who encrypt customer details, but fraudsters have still managed to obtain my credit card details including security number, as well as my address, telephone number, date of birth. This can only be a result of sophisticated hacking, or criminal activity by an e....
(read more...)Friday May 1, 2009 at 6:06pm
The Insolvency Service today published their statistics for the number of company insolvencies for the 1st quarter of 2009. These show that there were a total of 4,941 liquidations in England and Wales (an increase of 56% compared to a year ago). Of these, 1,579 companies were wound up by a court (an increase of 43.6% over the year) and 3,362 companies put themselves into liquidation (an increase of 62.5% over the year). From our experience, the main cause of liquidations is cash-flow problems o....
(read more...)Wednesday March 4, 2009 at 7:17pm
As cash flow is becoming an increasing issue for SMEs, we are finding that more and more creditors are issuing Winding-Up Petitions. These can be a very effective way of getting a company to pay its debts. A Winding-Up Petition will be delivered personally to the company’s office but, unlike most court proceedings, the documents do not state exactly what should be done when one is received. What must be done is to take immediate action and legal advice. If the matter is not resolved within....
(read more...)Wednesday February 11, 2009 at 2:00pm
This blog is a plea to all business owners.
Please, please, please - if you see a business dispute on the horizon, NEVER ignore it and leave it to fester. I can tell you from nearly 20 years of dealing with business disputes that the sooner you tackle problems the better.
We covered the topic in our January Ezine (Spotting a Business Dispute on the Horizon), when I suggested three obvious signs that a dispute might be looming: payment delays, communication drying up and guilt.
In....
(read more...)Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6:53pm
Mr Justice Arnold has called for the courts to take a more pro-active approach in curbing the fees that large commercial law firms charge for litigation. Allen & Overy represented Research in Motion, the makers of the popular BlackBerry mobile device, in intellectual property litigation against Visto, a US technology company. This was not the first time these parties had met in court and, on the last occasion, Allen & Overy racked up charges of nearly £5.2 million in preparing for ....
(read more...)Friday December 5, 2008 at 12:40pm
SMEs are turning to litigation in ever increasing numbers to collect in debts. According to research undertaken by the Credit Management Research Centre, 2,000 such cases were brought in September 2008, compared with just 1,500 in January 2008. This is a clear indicator of generalised cash-flow issues within SMEs. The research also shows that the property and retail sectors have been particularly badly affected, with the amount of cases brought in these sectors rising an incredible fivefold in t....
(read more...)Monday November 24, 2008 at 5:33pm
Here is the relevant extract from today's Pre-Budget Report:
The Government is temporarily increasing the threshold at which an empty property becomes liable for business rates. For financial year 2009-10, empty properties with a rateable value of less than £15,000 will be exempt from business rates, exempting an estimated 70 per cent of empty properties. This one year relief for lower-value properties is best targeted at helping small businesses manage short-term pressures due to di....
(read more...)Friday September 12, 2008 at 6:26pm
The Government is considering reducing the time limit for debt collection from 6 years to 3 years.
At the moment, firms have 6 years in which to issue court proceedings to collect debts. This is set to change and an announcement is expected to be made in the Queen's speech to Parliament in December.
Whilst it is true that the older a debt is, the harder it is to collect, there are often good reasons that a firm would delay issuing proceedings, including:
trying other means of collection f....
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