Your rights when choosing a school to be named in an EHCP

Choosing a school or educational setting that can meet the needs of a child or young person can...

Mental capacity and making a will

How is testamentary capacity, otherwise known as the legal and mental capacity to make or alter a...

Undue Influence

A will sets out the wishes of a person as to what happens to their estate after their death. It...

Can you vape and drive?

Tell someone with a motoring law background that the theme for an article is “ smoke and...

Directors Disqualification Following Conviction

Director’s Disqualification – The Criminal Law Regime Separate identity of Company ...

Failing to provide a specimen - drink driving

The Road Traffic Act 1988 gives the police authority to request a preliminary breath test (Section...

Validity of Notices of Intended Prosecutions

Have you received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (“NIP”) from the police? This...

Drinking (and driving?) over the festive period

With Halloween and Bonfire Night over, it isn’t long before the festive season will be upon...

What is a Statutory Will?

A statutory will is written on behalf of someone who lacks the capacity to write their own will...

Proprietary Estoppel: Guest v Guest

The law has a way of dealing with certain broken promises, the legal term for which is...

Recognition for pioneering lawyer at the Asian Legal Awards

Birkett Long is delighted to announce that Senior Associate, Suryen Nullatamby, has been named as...

Clitheroe v Bond update 2022: permission to appeal refused

As announced on 6 October 2022, the Court of Appeal has refused John Clitheroe permission to...

Increased burdens for residential developers

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA), which received Royal Assent on 28 April this year, introduced...

Extending time to make a claim

The Grenfell Tower fire has resulted in reviews and consultations that aim to increase safety in...

The sources of development finance

I work with a number of property development clients who take different approaches to development...

Directors' disqualification - what you need to know

When a company goes into liquidation or administration, an insolvency practitioner is appointed to...

Good news for those left out of will!

If you were financially dependent on someone who has died or are their spouse, former spouse,...

Managing conflict in family businesses

Directors are concerned with the running of a business day to day. Shareholders are owners of a...

Health and safety law(s) in construction

Health and safety is an obvious concern across all industries. It’s of particular...

Health and safety offence sentencing guidelines

In the event the HSE elects to proceed with enforcement action by way of prosecution against the...

How to avoid common pitfalls in your construction project

The judgment Cartwright Pond Ltd v Wild [2021] EWHC 1600 (TCC)   highlights key issues...

Disputes between homeowners and building contractors

As an Associate Solicitor specialising in dispute resolution and construction law, I am often...

Does your contract cover prior works?

I was once asked to assist a client to draft the construction contracts for a number of projects...

Defending adjudication: How to avoid common pitfalls?

Adjudication has been successful in overcoming problems previously associated with resolving...

If I lose capacity, who will manage my affairs?

  If you lose capacity and you have not appointed an attorney under a Lasting Power of...

Protecting your business from bad debts

What is a bad debt? A bad debt occurs when a client owes money for a service or product provided...

How can I challenge someone's capacity to make a will?

People can often be surprised about the distribution of loved one’s estate and can consider...

Can a company in liquidation recover outstanding payments?

The case of Bresco Electrical Services Ltd (in liquidation) v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd...

Know your rights

The Government has issued a new consultation paper which could indicate the end of Assured...

Essex lawyer's journey from secretary to solicitor

Tracy England has been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England and Wales. It is extra...

Trainee qualifies into Dispute Resolution team

A trainee solicitor at leading Essex law firm, Birkett Long, has seen his hard work and commitment...

Dispute resolution solicitor joins Birkett Long

Law firm, Birkett Long, has announced the appointment of Perdeep Grewal as a solicitor in its...

What is the claim process?

Claims rarely go straight to court, because parties are encouraged to adopt Alternative Dispute...

Getting paid for non-written instructions

Many forms of contract state that contractors or subcontractors who receive instructions orally...

The dangers of falling foul of the overriding objective

The Jackson reforms, aimed at controlling the costs of civil litigation and improving access to...

Adjudication can get you paid

As everyone is now well aware, following the correct valuation process for payments due under a...

Cheap wills could turn out to be very expensive!

At the start of 2015 The Law Society launched its ‘Use a Professional’ campaign. ...

"Lawyers are expensive" and "litigation costs a fortune"

As a dispute resolution lawyer I am all too aware that people are often deterred from instructing...

Key changes to CDM regulations

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM2015) came into effect on 6 April...

Dilapidations - tips for tenants when moving premises

The natural tendency when a business moves is to focus on the new premises.  However, when a...

Are you aware of your roots?

It has generally been thought that landowners will not be liable for damage caused to neighbouring...

No pay? Walking off site?

Strange as it may seem, the fact that you have not been paid does not mean that you are...

Who is contracting with whom?

Knowing who you are contracting with should be simple.  However, on many occasions the...

Who is the contracting party?

Often, it can be difficult to identify contracting parties.  For example, when negotiating...

Can you afford to sue?

It is often said that the only winners in litigation are the lawyers!  A new funding...

Tackling the cost of whiplash claims

A recent Government consultation proposes raising the limit for personal injury claims -...

The worm turns: Maidment v Attwood

The shareholders in a company trust its directors to run the company properly and in their...

Are you getting your retention money?

Many construction contracts contain retention clauses but it is not always easy to recover the...

When right of way is not enough

Most people would agree that it is usually preferable to own the access to your property but this...

A year in the life of Birkett Long - what we've been up to

With our South Essex office now over a year old, working with clients and business partners is...

Behind every good law firm...is a great accounts team

The Accounts team at Birkett Long looks after the financial management of the firm - a very...

Reason for Dismissal

When an Employment Tribunal assesses whether an employee was dismissed fairly or not, it must...

Costs in the Employment Tribunal

Among the powers of the Employment Tribunal are those to award costs against a party that has...

When the going gets tough, the tough get restructuring

Tougher economic environments often see a greater amount of restructuring within businesses,...

Your business property. It does not have to cost the earth

David Rayner, partner from Birkett Long’s Commercial Property Team discusses the “big...

Arbitration - is it a good choice?

Construction contract disputes can be resolved in many different ways, including negotiation,...

Businesses - Are you paying too much rent?

For many years landlords held the upper hand when it came to negotiating new terms with tenants...

No Penalty for Driving While Using Mobile as a Dictaphone

The comedian Jimmy Carr was recently successful in using a loophole in the law to avoid a fine for...

Barbara Richmond - asbestos

The firm acted for Barbara Richmond, the widow of Andrew Richmond who worked as a lorry driver for...