The administrators of a collapsed Liverpool firm have admitted they do not know if creditors will receive a return, amid ongoing uncertainty over exactly how the business came to grief.    Joint administrators from Quantuma handling the affairs of McDermott Smith gave an update this month on progress, but said it could be another two years for the business to be liquidated. Quantuma was appointed by one of the firm’s lenders, Fenchurch Legal, in July. The Solicitors Regulation Authority chose to intervene at around the same time after noting that a relevant insolvency event had occurred. McDermott Smith, established in February […]

In a precedent-setting case in Georgia, the legal team at Fried Goldberg secured one of the first verdicts in the United States holding a major corporation accountable for the negligent actions of workers classified as independent contractors. This case, involving a child injured by an Amazon-contracted delivery driver, focused on how businesses use technology to direct and control the time, method, and manner of work performed by contractors. With similar cases emerging across the nation, companies relying on independent contractors will need to reassess their operations and legal risks. The core issue in this case was whether Amazon could be held liable for the negligence […]

Capacity to litigate is a subject under reform and for good reason. Uncertainty arises from gaps within the existing CPR regime, which is likely to become a greater problem with an ageing population. This article aims to provide practical guidance for practitioners acting in civil proceedings and to note some of the issues that are likely to be addressed by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) in the near future. CPR 21: Introduction and Implications Under CPR 21.1(2), a ‘protected party’ is a party who lacks capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) to conduct the proceedings. Under section […]

Are you looking for relationship closure after your divorce? The aftermath of every breakup or divorce is unique. Some couples are able to remain good friends, others end up cordial but distant, and then there are some who walk away bitter and angry, and want no future contact with one other. But there’s one thing that happens after every relationship ends and after a divorce. Both people have all the time in the world to reflect on what went wrong and why. A person could spend hours, days, even years trying to make sense of what really happened, wondering what […]

An emotionally abusive relationship is one in which the abuser uses non-physical behaviors to control, manipulate, and demean the other person. Over time, it ends up creating a power imbalance where the abuser has all the power in the relationship and the victim feels powerless and emotionally dependent on the abuser. Emotionally abusive relationships can drain your self-esteem until little is left of the strong woman you used to be. But you can learn coping tools to help manage the verbal abuse in marriage, deal with the controlling behavior, and ultimately take back your power. Continue reading to find out […]

SYDNEY: Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd, Australia’s two biggest supermarket chains, have been sued by the country’s competition regulator over claims they misled shoppers over discounting claims on hundreds of common products. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed the companies briefly inflated prices on popular goods such as Coca-Cola, Tim Tams biscuits and Colgate toothpaste before reducing them to the same or slightly higher than the original price. “The discounts were, in fact, illusory,” ACCC chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement yesterday. “Many consumers rely on discounts to help their grocery budgets stretch further, particularly […]

A “draconian” practice that stops crime victims challenging last-­minute decisions to drop their cases is leading to miscarriages of justice and must urgently be reformed, campaigners say. Under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme, victims can challenge decisions not to charge a suspect or to halt a prosecution. Successful appeals can lead to cases being reopened and may result in a conviction. But the Observer has uncovered details of nine rape and sexual offence cases where the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence shortly before trial, resulting in the case being closed and the defendant acquitted – before […]

It has been an assumption for years in costs budgeting in civil litigation: claimants start high and negotiate down, assuming there will be scope for ending up at the figure wanted all along. But have judges had enough of the game-playing? Two judgments in quick succession from Master Thornett have both criticised claimants’ overstated costs budgets and penalised the parties accordingly. Costs experts are now warning that parties are not immune from sanctions during the costs management process, and if their costs appear high at first glance, they will have to justify this. ‘For those drafting costs budgets, ensuring they […]