IT Law: Astrazeneca UK v IBM [2011] EWHC 306 (TCC)

This case concerned the terms of a ‘Master Services Agreement’, which required the parties to provide various services after termination, until the end of an Exit Period. The parties applied to the court for declarations as to the construction of various terms within the contract, including the term ‘infrastructure’ and ‘associated systems’. The judgment, by Ramsey J, gave declarations in relation to 8 separate issues between the parties, on agreed facts. The decision includes a number of references to the factual matrix and the structure of the specific agreement, and is unlikely to be of much value as a precedent in other cases.

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January 27, 2012   Posted in: Case Reports  No Comments

Financial Services Law: FSA v Mahmood, Agha, Anjum and Kumarans Silks Ltd 5/1/12

In separate actions, the FSA issued final notices cancelling registration of a number of businesses as small payment institutions following the failure by Mr Mahmood to comply with regulatory requirements.

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January 26, 2012   Posted in: Case Reports  No Comments

Book recommendation: ‘A Certain Justice’ by P D James

Although A Certain Justice begins with news of a murder, the victim isn’t set to die for another four weeks. Publicly respected but privately loathed, Venetia Aldridge has far more enemies than a brilliant London criminal lawyer should–and at least one of them is determined to do her in. Venetia plies her superior trade in courts that harbour “the illusion that the passions of men were susceptible to order and control,” but her past and private life are exceedingly unruly. Her married lover is intent on giving her up; her daughter loathes her; her fellow barristers are determined that she not become the next head of chambers. Even the cleaning woman seems to have something on her. The outline alone of this complex novel would take pages (as would the eclectic inventory of players), but P. D. James makes us admire far more than her brilliantly developed plot. James in fact creates a crowded gallery of surprisingly decent suspects, along with one suitably vile creature–who happens to be Aldridge’s last client. A superior murder mystery, A Certain Justice is also a gripping anatomy of wild justice. James’s characters can be overcome by hate, but she is equally concerned with love’s manifestations–human, divine, destructive, and healing.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

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January 25, 2012   Posted in: Books  No Comments

11 Day Jail Sentence, the price to pay for a Woman with Overdue Books

overdue-booksLibrary Book Penalties – we often ignore this type of penalty, tagging it as petty and irrelevant. But the that’s a different story for the people of Montreal. Overdue books are a serious business. Just ask the woman who was arrested this week in Shawinigan after she refused to pay the penalty of $235 for her overdue books.

What started as a 20 cent a day penalty issued in 2007 blew up to be an arrest warrant sentencing her to an eleven day imprisonment. The Montreal Suburb of Repentigny Library issued her a late fee for not returning 5 books since 2007. According to the council, invoices and notifications were ignored by the said woman pushing them to take necessary actions and received a ruling of non-payment versus her back in 2008.

The Municipal Court Judge favored the Library and the woman was found guilty of the charges and was issued an arrest warrant in January 2011. A year after she was arrested in a town 90 minutes east of Montreal. The said woman settled her fine to avoid jail time. Talk about late penalties, this one is truly something you shouldn’t ignore.

CNews

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January 24, 2012   Posted in: News  No Comments

Monday morning with Alex Williams’ cartoons, 23rd January 2012


This cartoon is by Alex Williams who draws the Queen’s Counsel cartoons for The Times and in numerous books including Lawyers Uncovered. He also does the cartoons for BabyBarista and has had two more excellent books published recently: 101 Ways to Leave the Law and 101 Uses for a Useless Banker. He offers almost all of his cartoons for sale at ÂŁ120 for originals and ÂŁ40 for copies and they can be obtained from this email infoatqccartoondotcom.

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January 23, 2012   Posted in: Cartoons  No Comments

Colère by Cassou


This picture is by the French legal artist known as Cassou. You can see more on her blog at Blog de Cassou.

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January 22, 2012   Posted in: Art  No Comments

Insurance Law: Aizkir Navigation Inc v Al Wathba National Insurance Co. PSC (Com) 16/11/11

A clause in a marine insurance policy providing that claims ‘be settled in accordance with English Law and practice and shall be so settled in Abu Dhabi (UAE)’ was an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the Abu Dhabi courts. On the facts there was no overwhelming or very strong reason to displace the jurisdiction clause and the claim had no connection with England other than the choice of law clause.

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January 20, 2012   Posted in: Case Reports  No Comments

Professional Negligence Law: Squirrell v Bradleys Surveyors Ltd (CC) 25/11/11

A property developer sought a valuation only after contracts had been exchanged on a number of properties. An offer of finance was obtained which was in turn subject to a valuation. The surveyors provided a valuation, but then withdrew it, because they alleged that the developer had inflated the overall purchase price. The developer alleged that the surveyors owed him a duty of care to perform their contract with the finance company to provide a valuation. It was held that the surveyors did not owe a duty because the relationship between the surveyors and the developer was not of sufficient proximity.

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January 19, 2012   Posted in: Case Reports  No Comments

The increasing popularity of Tenancy in Common

Rules relating to co-ownership of property are complex and it is paradoxical that despite obtaining professional advice from solicitors/conveyancers the ultimate decision is left to property owners to choose what is best for them depending on individual circumstances.

There are predominantly two types of joint ownership- joint tenancy (JT) and tenancy in common (TC). In the case of JT on the death of one of them ownership of the entire property falls to the surviving partner. In TC property is held in separate shares according to the amount of contribution made by each co-owner towards the purchase. If a co-owner dies then his/her share will go to whoever the co-owner wished it to be passed based on the Will of the deceased or in the absence of a Will according to intestate rules. TC is thus more flexible giving the person much more liberty to deal with his share of the property as he thinks fit. This basic tenet in a TC has made it more of a workable solution to co-owners more so in recent years with changing economic and social environment.

JT is generally more popular with married couples. Joint owners in other types of relationships such as members of a family, friends, and business and work partners almost always choose the TC option albeit in exceptional circumstances.

The latter type of co-ownership has been on the increase recently. Globalisation has contributed to more people moving around and travelling to different parts of the world more frequently and living in places other than their primary homes. Instances of where people are able to ill-afford the purchase of a property single-handedly are becoming all too common a scenario.

People find themselves at a cross roads wanting to buy and own a property but at the same time the spiralling costs of purchasing a property together with rising levels of unemployment prevent them from doing so. One possible solution for many people in such predicament is for family and friends to pool together available resources for the purchase of a property. These people hold the property as TCs with each person owning their own share of the property and once they leave the property they take away their share in monetary value or bequeath it to their designated beneficiary. Sharing ownership of a property provides additional advantages such as the shared cost of running a household and reduced length of mortgage repayment.

However, rather bizarrely, spouses in recent years are choosing to be TCs. This was quite rare in the past when they chose the TC route only if there was a relationship breakdown. The primary reason for this is the Inheritance Tax (IHT) relief introduced by the previous labour government. The law has so far only permitted married couples and civil partners to avail of this benefit. By splitting the share into two halves, the half belonging to the first dying partner could be passed to the children or designated beneficiary. As long as the remaining half is worth less than ÂŁ325,000 at 2010/11 rates, no IHT is payable. On the death of the second partner, the other half passed to the children or a beneficiary may also be below the IHT threshold thereby absolving the beneficiaries of any IHT liabilities. No wonder many spouses who started off owning as JTs applied to the Land Registry to sever their JT.

On a comparative scale, JT is more restrictive preventing any IHT planning as it overrides the terms of any Will. Though there is no IHT payable on assets willed between spouses, on the death of the later partner, the children or designated beneficiary will be faced with IHT liability. JT is also not feasible if there are more than 4 people wanting to jointly own a property at any given time. This is surmountable through a Deed of Variation that helps break the terms of a JT. However, all the hassle could be avoided by owning as TCs.

TC enables the surviving member to continue to live in the property while the deceased’s share is passed to the children. If one of the spouses requires long term care in a home, there is no legal obligation to sell the house. TC also allows the flexibility for one to include in his/her Will for their share of the property to be held in trust for the benefit of the other partner for their lifetime or until they move out of the property or remarry. If this happens the deceased’s share will pass to the chosen beneficiary in the Will.

Prevailing legislation pertaining to married partners still does not include those who choose to cohabit. Increasingly with more couples deciding to cohabit, there is a clamour for the rules to be changed to provide equal benefits for cohabitees as for married couples and civil partners. If this is implemented we may find that TCs have an even bigger clout over JTs.!

Mangala Murali
Tel: 07890 936770
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/mangala-murali/16/b38/22b

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January 17, 2012   Posted in: News  No Comments

Woman who treats pet kangaroo like a child moves town to dodge authorities

kangarooChristie Carr, a 39-year-old woman from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma chose to move her home in order to keep Irwin, her pet kangaroo. Just last year the city council released a new guideline mandating exotic animal owners to have a $50,000 liability insurance policy to cover any accidents caused by their valued pets.

Irwin suffered brain damage because of an accident as a joey. Veterinarians said that a kangaroo like Irwin who is greatly affected by the accident, cannot stand or walk on his own let alone inflict injury to others. Ms. Carr decided to return to her parent’s house to avoid the new policy that she knew she couldn’t afford which might have caused her separation with her beloved baby, Irwin.

Metro

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January 17, 2012   Posted in: News  No Comments