Former three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been declared bankrupt by the Bankruptcy and Companies Court. The bankruptcy application was made by Arbuthnot Latham, firm of private bankers. Becker’s lawyers asked for a final chance to pay with the funds from re-mortgaging a property in Majorca, however, the court registrar said there was not enough…
Organisations increasingly face investigation for corporate manslaughter and the number of convictions is expected to dramatically increase in the coming years. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (CMCHA) 2007 made it easier to secure convictions against organisations for their liability for workplace deaths. An organisation can be convicted of someone’s manslaughter if its mismanagement…
A new Pre-Action Protocol “PAP” for debt recovery claims will come into force on 1st October 2017. The protocol applies to any business, including sole traders claiming payment of a debt from an individual, including a sole trader. The PAP does not apply to business debts, unless the debtor is a sole trader. An individual…
Darryl White, the son of late singer Barry White, is suing his father’s estate and widow Glodean White to get a bigger share of the estate. Mr White Jnr alleges that he was never shown his father’s will and is now “almost broke and homeless” after payments made to him from the estate dried up.…
This took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA… A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, loss due to fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the…
Nestlé has lost the latest round of its seven year battle with rivals Cadbury to trademark the shape of the KitKat bar in the UK. The Court of Appeal ruled that the four-finger design had “no inherent distinctiveness”. Nestlé’s appeal followed a High Court ruling in January 2016 that blocked the trademark attempt. The European…
Accounting firm PwC has been fined a record £5m and severely reprimanded over its auditing of collapsed property services group Connaught by The Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Social housing specialist Connaught had £220m of debt when it went bust in 2010. The FRC found evidence of misconduct by PwC and retired partner Stephen Harrison. Mr…
Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders, has set aside £130m and apologised to home buyers in a dispute over sharply rising fees. It is the first major builder to apologise after criticism for leaving customers with onerous leasehold deals. The contracts meant that ground rents, which are paid to owners of the property,…
Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner billionaire Mike Ashley has won the latest round of a High Court fight with Rangers Football Club over a merchandise deal said to result in the Rangers getting about 7p of every £1 spent. Sports Direct group say Rangers’ directors wrongly terminated a contract through which branded products, including…
A recent judgement has been made in the professional negligence case of Adams v Atlas International Property Services Ltd which saw many individuals lose their homes which they had purchased during the Spanish property boom. Purchasers in England had bought property in Spain after seeing adverts placed by English agents for the developer and who…