News & Events
News & Events
Pell Frischmann v Others HC12E02792 2013 EWHC 2203 (CH) Most members of occupational pension schemes involved in a pensions dispute prefer to have their dispute determined by the Pensions Ombudsman (“PO”) rather than the Court. The reason for such a choice is a simple one; issuing Court proceedings exposes a member to the risk of having to pay the costs of the trustees and/or employer. Complaining to the PO does not. However, the applicable statutory regime prevents the PO from investigating when Court proceedings have already been commenced. In general terms the reverse is also true i.e. the Court will not entertain proceedings if a dispute has already been referred to the PO. When the member’s preference for the PO is…
News 7 Aug, 2013
This morning the Court of Appeal handed down judgment dismissing the appeal of Paul Lamb and Jane Nicklinson, but upholding the appeal (by a majority) of AM. Charles Foster and Ben Bradley were instructed by Barlow Robbins LLP to intervene in both appeals on behalf of the Care Not Killing Alliance. Paul Lamb sought to expand the doctrine of necessity so as to provide a defence to anyone who, at his request, killed him. Both he, and Jane Nicklinson (bringing an action in her own right, and on behalf of the estate of her late husband) averred that the current state of law of murder is incompatible with their respective Article 8 European Convention rights. They sought an active change…
News 30 Jul, 2013
Outer Temple welcomes the reforms to the coronial system which take effect from today. There is no dispute that the changes set out in the Coroners and Justice Reform Act 2009 are long overdue. In many ways some will say that they do not go far enough. The original provision for appeals to the Chief Coroner fell by the wayside, and nothing in the Act changes the local resourcing structures which can often be the root cause of inconsistent standards of service. The new provisions do to a considerable extent re-enact the current legislative framework, such that the reforms are not likely to herald a revolution in and of themselves. But the raft of powers given to the Chief Coroner…
News 25 Jul, 2013
Tom Gibson appeared for the successful appellant in the Court of Appeal in Duffy v George [2013] EWCA Civ 908 (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/908.html). In allowing the appeal and remitting the case, the Court of Appeal set out useful guidance on how employment tribunals should set fair procedures for accommodating vulnerable witnesses. In particular, the Court of Appeal said that in sexual harassment cases employment tribunals could consider (1) putting questions to a party itself rather than allowing a claimant to be cross-examined by a respondent in person, (2) hearing evidence from each party separately and in the absence of the other party, and (3) allowing witnesses to give evidence from behind screens, as happens in the criminal courts. Tom appeared for the…
News 24 Jul, 2013
Samantha Cooper recently appeared in a 2 day hearing before the EAT where she succeeded in defending an appeal based upon the “unusually robust” language used by the Tribunal Judge in his Judgment. The appeal considered interesting questions as to the extent to which the use of robust language in a Judgment is indicative of a lack of objectivity by the panel and the scrutiny to which Judgments and the reasoning behind them may be subject at appellate level as a result of the use of such language.
News 16 Jul, 2013
The doctrine of contractual estoppel looms large in cases where a counterparty to a bank alleges that the bank is liable to make good losses suffered as a result of entering into a financial transaction that has turned out to be unfavourable to the counterparty. A formidable body of banking cases shows that parties to a transaction may agree that a particular state of affairs is to be the basis on which they are contracting, regardless of whether or not that state of affairs is true, and that such an agreement may give rise to a contractual estoppel, precluding the assertion of facts inconsistent with those that have been agreed to form the basis of the contract: see the archaeology…
News 26 Jun, 2013
Recent case law has confirmed the level of difficulty encountered when attempting to persuade the courts to intervene at an early stage in trust disciplinary proceedings. That the courts may intervene where it is deemed appropriate was clearly stated in Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2011] UKSC 58, in which Lord Dyson said that where an employer starts a disciplinary process in breach of an express term of the employment contract ‘it is open to the employee to seek an injunction to stop the process and/or to seek an appropriate declaration’. Read the full article, by Michael Uberoi and James Leonard, in The Lawyer Magazine.
News 26 Jun, 2013
Employment litigation has not been immune from the effects of the Jackson reforms nor from those designed to reduce the financial burden on the public purse. The clutch of initiatives coming into force this summer includes measures intended to reduce litigation in the employment tribunals (ETs), such as a compulsory period for conciliation and fees to present a claim and to progress it to hearing. ETs have never previously demanded fees of any kind but from 29 July claimants will be required to pay £160 and £230 for issue and hearing respectively of simpler claims such as deductions from wages. For other claims, such as unfair dismissal and discrimination, the corresponding sums are £250 and £950. Read the full article…
News 25 Jun, 2013
Richard Hitchcock and Farhaz Khan acted for Garvin Trustees Limited, the Trustee of the Desmond & Sons 1975 Pension and Life Assurance Scheme as a notice party responding to an application for leave to bring a claim for Judicial Review made by the former directors and shareholders of Desmond & Sons Limited, the sponsoring employer of the scheme.
News 23 May, 2013
Thomas Gibson appeared recently in the Court of Appeal (Mummery, Patten and Pitchford LJJ) in Duffy v George, on appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The appeal raised interesting questions on the way employment tribunals should handle potentially vulnerable witnesses in sexual harassment cases, and the extent to which an individual respondent, acting in person, should be allowed to cross-examine them. Judgment was reserved. Tom appeared pro bono for the appellant via the Free Representation Unit (FRU), a charity that provides pro bono legal advice, case preparation and advocacy (see www.thefru.net).
News 19 May, 2013
Charles Foster and Ben Bradley, instructed by Barlow Robbins, are currently intervening in the conjoined appeals of AM, Nicklinson and Paul Lamb, on behalf of the Care Not Killing Alliance. The case is being heard before the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls and Elias LJ in the Court of Appeal. It has has attracted international media attention. Paul Lamb seeks to expand the doctrine of necessity so as to provide a defence to anyone who, at his request, killed him. Both he, and Jane Nicklinson (bringing an action in her own right, and on behalf of the estate of her late husband) aver that the current state of law of murder is incompatible with their respective Article…
News 14 May, 2013
Robert Rhodes QC, complementing his earlier appointment To the Panel of Advisors of the Financial Arbitration and ADR Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing; and To the Panel of Mediators of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade has been appointed a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
News 13 May, 2013
