A new publication relating to the law and practice of debt recovery matters has been published. This comprehensive and easy to follow publication provides commentary and precedents for the conduct of debt recovery matters, both before and during court proceedings, when acting for a claimant or defendant. It includes: Commentary discussion of: the pre-action protocol and practice direction; alternative dispute resolution and offers to settle; issuing proceedings and responding to them; default and summary judgment; case management, disclosure and trials. Precedents for: conditional fee agreements; letters of demand; particulars of claim; settlement agreements; defence and counterclaims; chronology, case summary and trial bundles. Also letters to clients explain the process and protocols, and standard letters to other parties give practitioners all the focused and practical guidance they need. We invite you to explore our new Debt Recovery publication and consider the wealth of assistance it offers.

The landmark decision that established the creditor duty in corporate insolvencies.

Off-payroll legislative reform comes into force 6 April 2021 for medium to large businesses. For further details see the Contracts for employment section in our Employment Law – Non-contentious commentary.

Two new precedents have been added to the Sale and Purchase of Land guides: a Deed of covenant and a Deed of rectification. The commentaries have also been significantly enhanced. Read more...

Many subscribers will have noticed the file cover sheets now include a funny little code at the bottom of the page. This code is called a QR Code and it contains two identifiers that are used to identify the law firm and the matter. Should a firm use the FileMan Information Management system for long term file storage this will assist to streamline the process.

Part of our series of common legal questions and their answers, we look at removing a caveat. Read more...

Divorce law changed on 1 April 2022; these are the main changes. Read more...

A residential leaseholder's right to manage is under review by the Law Commission. Submissions closed 30 April 2019 and the outcome is now awaited.

Part of our series of common legal questions and their answers, we look at will trusts. Read more...

Part of our series of common legal questions and their answers, we look at the difference between holding a deposit as stakeholder or agent for the seller, and holding to order on the sale of land. Read more...

The Probate and Wills Commentaries have been updated to reflect the increase to the statutory legacy payable to a spouse on intestacy. From 6 February 2020 the legacy is £270,000.

The By Lawyers Sale and Purchase of Business guides have been reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentaries and precedents are in line with current law and conveyancing practice. As with all our guides, they take a practical approach, drawing on our authors’ considerable experience to cover all aspects of procedure, with a focus on practical tips that will help solicitors and conveyancers confidently run a sale or business purchase matter to completion. We invite you to explore this updated publication and to consider the wealth of assistance the guide offers for solicitors and conveyancers acting in the sale or purchase of a business.

The landmark decision that a court can order parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution.

InfoTrack’s property report is an opportunity to do conveyancing differently. Having seen a couple of demonstrations of the new ‘property report’ feature from InfoTrack it is clear that the use of clever technology to simplify the lives of conveyancers is here to stay. Drawing information from a number of sources into one place, the property report is mostly completed before a practitioner has even touched their keyboard, but is fully customisable to ensure that clients receive tailored information. Land Registry information, search results and replies to enquiries are all included. The InfoTrack enquiries platform was a revelation, and a revolution, to this author. Hyperlinks to InfoTrack have been incorporated into the matter plan and there is a new Letter to seller’s solicitor with amended contract and draft transfer – Enquiries via InfoTrack which alerts the other side to the process.

The Property information form TA6 has been updated. The changes are in relation to Japanese knotweed, flood risk, radon and septic tanks.