Legal briefings from the world's leading law firms

The Government has issued its long-awaited Consumer Rights Bill, which has been anticipated ever since the Consumer Rights Directive was published just over a year ago. Wragge & Co examines what the Bill entails and whether it makes things simpler for both consumers and businesses.

On 31 May 2013, the UK Intellectual Property Office published the results of its research into "The Impact of Lookalikes - Similar packaging and fast-moving consumer goods". The research is in response to calls from brand owners for specific and effective protection against lookalikes in the UK.

There appears to be a crucial change to the threshold for calculating when employers must consult employee representatives on making employees redundant. The EAT has removed the requirement that, for dismissals to count towards the 20+ limit, they must be at a single "establishment".

This round-up from Wragge & Co covers the latest developments in finance litigation, covering issues such as the balance sheet insolvency test following the BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd v Eurosail-UK case and the interpretation of guarantees.

You are dissatisfied with an adjudicator's decision, but pay the successful party. However, you can litigate or arbitrate the dispute afresh, hopefully with a different outcome. How long do you have to start those proceedings - does the original limitation period apply or does it start again?

The recent decision in BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail has provided helpful guidance on the interpretation of the insolvency tests set out in section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986. This guidance is of significance to anyone creating contracts containing this type of provision.

Hunt & Others v Optima (Cambridge) Ltd & Others is an interesting and complex decision from the Technology and Construction Court involving the development of a block of flats which went wrong from the beginning. Wragge & Co's engineering and construction team examines the decision in more detail.

On 10 May, the ICO announced that it will be examining 250 companies' online privacy policies to determine if they comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Wragge & Co's data protection team outlines what to expect and give some tips on getting ten out of ten for your privacy policy.

The Government's plan to shift the funding of the employment tribunal service away from the taxpayer and onto the system users will become a reality this summer. In this briefing, Wragge & Co's employment team look at the new employment tribunal fee regime in more detail.

Comfort letters can be a useful tool for providing an assurance of support from a parent to a subsidiary company. It's possible for such letters to form binding obligations in law. However, Wragges discusses a recent case which serves as a useful reminder of the limitations of letters of support.