Can Property Developers Escape Personal Guarantees?

Securing a bank loan to forge ahead with grand property development schemes has been tougher in the post financial crisis world. One element of borrowing that has continued to thrive though is the banks’ insistence upon personal guarantees from directors.

Personal guarantees in relation to business debts are common and it is often the case that those debts are repayable on demand. This can leave business owners and directors personally exposed to a considerable degree of financial uncertainty. However, under normal circumstances personal guarantees are only likely to be called upon by creditors if a default event occurs such as missing an interest payment.

As with any form of contractual obligation, personal guarantees are open to challenge in certain circumstances. If there has been a misrepresentation for example, they may be unenforceable.

Preventing Accidents – No Laughing Matter

Barely a week goes by when a terrible workplace accident or an outrageous breach of health and safety laws is not in the news. Although the worst stories attract attention because of their sometimes Monty Python levels of farce or their particularly unpleasant outcomes, health and safety issues do not need to be dramatic to cause serious problems.

Accidents can happen anywhere and they usually do so suddenly and unexpectedly, therefore individuals and businesses often find themselves unprepared for the ensuing investigations and recriminations. Both criminal and civil repercussions can follow work related incidents so it is important that those involved seek immediate legal advice.

Victims of their Own Success: Brand Genericide

The BBC recently brought attention to the odd phenomenon of brand ‘genericide’. But what exactly is it and who needs to worry about it?

Businesses that own high-profile brands are the ones that mainly need to be concerned about brand genericide but it has implications for wider intellectual property protection.

In some senses it could be seen as a nice potential problem to have as it relies on a brand being hugely successful, but failure to prevent it from reaching its final conclusion could present a serious loss of value to businesses.

The ability of internet platforms such as Amazon and eBay to create almost overnight brand sensations and at the same time to enable infringement on a mass scale means it is a significant legal issue for affected businesses.

Accessing Justice with Limited Family Law Funding

The most senior family judge in the UK, Sir James Munby, recently adjourned a child contact case over concerns that the father’s lack of legal representation could harm the child.

The decision is controversial because Sir James’ comments on the case have been seen as a challenge to the way changes to legal aid have been made. Public funding has been removed from a variety of civil legal claims, including swathes of family law, as the Ministry of Justice has faced cuts to budgets.

Families facing legal difficulties should still seek advice from family solicitors as legal aid may be available in certain circumstances and experienced family lawyers can offer advice on other options that might be available.

Avoiding Professional Negligence Risks on Property Purchases

There is plenty of anecdotal and statistical evidence to show that the latest property boom has led to falls in the quality of professional advice.

When professional advisers such as surveyors, solicitors and agents are suddenly inundated with much higher quantities of work, there is always a risk that those with weak internal procedures and controls will suffer falls in the quality of their output.

The wide availability of cheap fixed-price conveyancing online can be tempting for property buyers unaware of the importance of high quality advice. But making short term savings on such a high value purchase can be false economy if problems occur later on. Many buyers are only finding this out when it is too late.

Property laws in the UK can be very complex and subject to ancient quirks that can still affect your purchase today so it is essential that you sure you use the services of an experienced solicitor. If professional negligence is suspected then independent advice is required.

Innovation or Unlawful Copyright Infringement?

The ease of copying digitised media caused traditional media businesses serious headaches when file-sharing websites began to proliferate across the internet during the dotcom boom years.

The apparent lack of regulation and a disregard or ignorance of intellectual property rights among a new wave of young entrepreneurs and online media consumers left the record majors reeling. The difficulty of applying existing intellectual property laws to an era of digital media led to new legislation such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US and, more recently, the Digital Economy Act 2010 in the UK.

The law has done a great deal of catching up in the last decade with high profile casualties such as the original Napster and Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload bringing notoriety to the online file sharing phenomenon.

That has not stopped online innovation but it has brought into focus the finer details of what is and is not on the wrong side of the intellectual property line.

Pacifying Problem Neighbours with Poetry

Barking dogs, overgrown trees, antisocial parking, noisy activities and adjoining walls have all led neighbours across the thresholds of the courts. But ending up in court over what are often minor issues that have boiled over into major annoyances is the last thing most neighbours want to do.

Although it cannot always be avoided and is sometimes necessary, litigation should certainly not be seen as the first strategy for dealing with nuisance neighbours. Taking legal advice early can save a lot of problems though. An experienced solicitor can help guide you towards resolving a problem informally without creating even more issues if it escalates to legal proceedings later on.

As French writer Marcel Proust found when writing his novel In Search of Lost Time, delicately worded letters directly to your neighbour may be all that is required.