With the decisive 2019 general election already feeling like a distant memory, the focus of business has turned away from crunch votes and frantic parliamentary wrangling over Brexit to the many other tricky decisions and geopolitical issues that Boris Johnson’s government must now carefully navigate. 

Our recent commercial awareness case study video uses the PESTLE technique (Political Economical Social Technological Legal Environmental) to analyse the implications of the recent Flybe government bailout. 

Coronavirus: why has there been an increase in the risk posed by cyber attacks and how can businesses mitigate this risk?

Law schools may be forced to postpone LPC exams after the Solicitors Regulation Authority said that law schools assessments may not move online. Government social distancing guidelines mean that normal examinations cannot take place.

Following UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement last Thursday, junior barristers have said that the support package for self-employed people unable to work because of coronavirus measures is “woefully insufficient” and has advised the Bar Council to challenge the government’s criteria.

Shoosmiths’ summer vacation scheme, which was due to take place in June, has been cancelled in light of recent government advice. 

What is corporate law and how have things changed over the last year?

Corporate M&A involves the combining of companies or assets through mergers, where two companies combine to form a new entity, or acquisitions, where one company takes over another.

Virtually all commercial transactions have tax implications.

Let’s cut to the chase – if you’re sitting on a company board in the UK, section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 isn’t just legal wallpaper, it’s your rulebook, your compass and in many cases your defence line when things hit the fan. For years, directors have leaned on the phrase ‘acting in good faith’ like it’s a get out of jail free card, hoping that their belief in their decisions being good for the company would hold water when challenged. But guess what? The legal tide is shifting. Thanks to some recent court commentary, the spotlight on director duties has never burned brighter.

How effective are the efforts currently underway to prevent companies from avoiding paying corporation tax?

It has come to our attention that there is an error in The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook 2013 in the entry for Francis Taylor Building.

Access to justice is invaluable, but at what price?

What are the implications of the Bribery Act 2010 for corporates with a presence in the United Kingdom?

What is the true cost of free trade?

New research by employee benefits technology provider Zest showed employees in the UK legal sector were leading calls for greater financial support, with private medical insurance the most in-demand benefit among law firm employees.

It’s a tale of many takeovers this week, as you’ll see from below. Read on to discover more about the machinations related to buying and selling companies – as well as news that TSB is in an IT-related pickle.

Who foots the bill for industrial incidents like the Buncefield explosion in 2005?

Axiom Ince has been shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) following allegations of financial misappropriation – a closure that could end up being the most expensive SRA intervention in history.

Browne Jacobson LLP and the Governmental Legal Department are among the 16 organisations that have come together to develop a new Level 6 legal apprenticeship – the costs lawyer apprenticeship.