News

It’s a well-known truism that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. For example, I’m often asked by clients to review things that they’ve done for themselves, such as attempts to settle or negotiate with opponents or other parties. This can sometimes include reviewing communications that clients have marked “without prejudice” when they don’t always understand […]

When I was younger (although, of course, I’m still young) a friend’s mother was fond of that saying, meaning that people should make up their own minds about things, and shouldn’t worry too much about other people’s input. Given that this was many (many!) years before social media, I often wonder how the ability to get […]

OK, it’s a rather ham-fisted variation of one of my favourite Shakespearian quotes, but that doesn’t make it any less important or relevant. TUPE is a question that often comes up when we’re advising clients who are buying or selling businesses – it relates to whether staff are being transferred from one entity to another, […]

Whenever a new law comes into force, or a case is decided creating a new precedent, it’s automatic to start thinking not just of how it might apply to our clients, but also, how you might get around it. My job is, after all, to protect my clients, so knowing what you can do, and […]

Although perhaps that should be shhhhhhhhhh***t! If you’ve ever done any negotiation, you should be familiar with how without prejudice negotiations work. It’s what your opening comment or sentence should be when you speak to or write to the other side if you want to be able to say something that you wouldn’t want repeated […]

I’m a big fan of settlements and negotiations. That is NOT because I’m afraid to go to Court (far from it!). What I am afraid of is that no matter what the outcome, it’s extremely difficult to get an order that the client is going to be happy with. No matter how well we do […]

It’s an old saying, and if we were just talking about property investment, then over the long term you’d probably agree. Whilst the property market does dip from time to time, over a sustained period, it should be a good investment. However, nothing in my world is ever that straightforward, and there may still be times […]

I’m used to things being missing in my life, both personal and professional. In my personal life, I have missed many things. At the top of my list are sleep, sanity and alcohol. The last one is particularly brutal as (for those of you who don’t know) I’m just recovering from surgery where I had to be […]

When your kids are little, you don’t need to be a detective to know when they’re not being honest with you. If they were the only one in the room when the vase got knocked over, it’s unlikely it was the wind. If they are the ones who are especially partial to chocolate, it doesn’t […]

A few years ago, when I was a teenager (ok maybe more than a few) I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, which is not really that uncommon. So I tried out various different things, including working for a few organisations that provided help with children in various different guises, such […]