News

Welcome to Howell Jones' news page where our lawyers provide articles on the developments in law and matters that they believe will be of interest to you.

 

Knowledge is the key when it comes to tactics. Our Litigators discuss.

07/07/2016

When engaged in court litigation there are many strategies that can be deployed to try and achieve resolution at an early stage. For example one tool that can be used is a Part 36 offer. This is where (say) the Claimant makes an offer for a fixed sum. If that offer is not accepted and the Claimant achieves an award greater than the offer at trial, they can ask for costs, interest and compensation etc all based upon the opponent’s refusal to accept a reasonable offer at an early stage.

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How do Court’s deal with commercially sensitive documents being used in proceedings? Our dispute lawyers explain.

07/07/2016

It is not at all unusual for a client to be hugely reluctant to disclose a contract, licence or such like because whilst it is material to a case, it also contains sensitive and valuable information. We extinguish such concerns by adopting pragmatism and applying the law to protect our clients. Courts are not blind to the issue of confidentiality and will, within court orders, provide for disclosure to be made either in redacted form or subject to a ‘confidentiality ring’ whereby only certain individuals may see the information and then only use it for the purpose of the claim.

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Brexit – how we think this will affect us

07/07/2016

We will be publishing a series of articles about Brexit and how we think Brexit may affect us all. The legal implications of Brexit remain unclear until the detailed terms of exit are settled, which is likely to take a while. For example the Greenland exit in 1985 took three years to complete. Leaving the EU However the UK exit is likely to be more complex because of the duration of our membership, the wide ranging issues to be negotiated and settled, and the differing objectives sought amongst the political parties. The UK may have voted to leave the EU, but it will legally remain a member of the EU because the legal process of exit does not formally start until the UK notifies the EU of its intention to exit under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. The EU membership remains in charge of the negotiation process and timetable. Currently there are differing political opinions in the UK and the EU as to when the UK should give formal notification, and whether any informal negotiations should take place. Laws and regulations EU laws and regulations which currently affect us will remain although the UK may seek to challenge these with parliament reviewing all laws and regulations on an individual basis, and deciding which to adopt, revise or reject.

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