Tughans Solicitors

Interviewing A Potential Employee – How Do I Handle It?

By Employment Solicitor, Jack Balmer. I am responsible for our recruitment and selection processes, and am concerned about the diversity of our workforce. I don’t want our company to miss out on the best talent because of unfair assumptions made by an interviewer. How do I handle it? The interview is the final hurdle in... Read More

Case Update: Warranty Claims and Procedural Pitfalls

The crucial importance of complying with the precise terms of a share purchase agreement (SPA) when making a warranty claim was brought into sharp focus recently in Teoco UK Limited v Aircom Jersey 4 Limited EWCA Civ 23. The buyer Teoco purchased the target company from the seller Aircom for £41m by way of... Read More

EU Data Protection law & USA – Make America G…DPR Compliant

By Contracts and Technology Solicitor, Paul Eastwood.   Whilst that title may not look catchy on a nice red hat, the EU’s incoming data protection law (the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, effective from 25 May 2018) is very much being noticed by businesses in USA, with more than 75% of respondents to a... Read More

Adjudication: no more “smash and grab”

The “smash and grab” Adjudication will be familiar to those working in the construction industry. It goes like this. Contractor makes application for payment. Employer fails to serve valid Pay Less Notice. Contractor calls up an Adjudicator. Adjudicator awards payment to the contractor because there was no valid Pay Less Notice served. It is called... Read More

Judicial Review: Belfast City Council v Planning Appeals Commission 23 February 2018

On Friday 23 February 2018 Mr Justice McCloskey issued Judgment on an application for Judicial Review brought by Belfast City Council in respect of a decision by the Planning Appeals Commission to grant planning permission for a student housing development in Belfast. This decision will have important ramifications for all Councils in relation to how... Read More

It’ll all come out in the wash

By Employment Director, Patricia Rooney.   Those of us who have had an urgent need for a plumber don’t much care whether the person who deals with the emergency call out is employed by a national company or carries on business on their own account.  So today it may just be employment lawyers who will... Read More

Mutual break clauses – are they worthwhile from a landlord’s perspective?

By Real Estate Associate Solicitor, Amanda Byrnes.   When negotiating a new lease, a usual provision that a tenant will seek to include, particularly those embarking on a new business venture, is a break clause, i.e. a date or dates on which the tenant may terminate the lease before the end of the contractual term. ... Read More

Saying Goodbye to RPI?

By Contracts and Technology Associate Director, Andrew Kirke.   Considering comments made by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney this week on the phasing out of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) as a measure for inflation in commercial contracts   Speaking to the House of Lords economic affairs committee on Tuesday, Bank of England governor... Read More

How do I handle it? Banter in the workplace – only joking is only an excuse

  “I am an HR Manager and recently received a written complaint from an employee who told me that his colleague was calling him a “tinker” and a “gypo”.  When he challenged his colleague and asked him to stop, he was told it was just a bit of “banter”.  I do not know what the... Read More

How Do I Handle It?

“I am the Human Resources Manager in a manufacturing business and I have been asked by one of the Operation Managers to dismiss an employee as he alleges the employee arrived for work under the influence of drugs.  The employee has been suspended: he is still under his probationary period.  How should I handle this?”... Read More