Williamsons Solicitors News Stories

An RAF officer who suffered crippling injuries when he dived head-first into a shallow ball pond during an 'It's a Knockout' style fun day is due to up to £6 million damages after a High Court… Read More

The owner of an animal petting farm where a number of young visitors were infected with a potentially fatal strain of E. Coli bacteria must face up alone to a substantial damages claim by twin… Read More

In a ruling which clarifies the law, the upper tribunal (UT) has rejected a taxpayer’s plea that he had a ‘legitimate expectation’ that he would be granted a VAT input tax credit after being given… Read More

In circumstances where the sole director of a property investment company had inflicted unfair prejudice on his fellow shareholder by procuring the transfer of its entire portfolio to himself at an… Read More

A businessman who argued that a row he had with his wife in respect of her map-reading skills was wrongly treated as evidence that their relationship had irretrievably broken down has failed to… Read More

A roofing contractor has been ordered to pay more than £21 million damages after the flick of an electrical switch caused a catastrophic fire that devastated a copper tubing factory. The High Court… Read More

A father who imported a motor cruiser to indulge his seriously disabled son’s passion for boats has failed to convince the Upper Tribunal that the vessel should be zero-rated for the purposes of… Read More

The High Court has confirmed a worldwide asset freezing injunction against property developers who promoted a luxury wine, golf and boutique hotel resort in Argentina. The court ruled that an… Read More

A scout master who suffered permanently disabling back injuries when he ‘hit the deck’ after sliding down a fireman's pole in front of his troop has been awarded almost £170,000 in compensation. The… Read More

The High Court has upheld the government’s controversial policy to pin housing benefit increases to the level of general inflation. In dismissing a judicial review challenge brought by a poverty… Read More

Interflora Inc. has been granted permission to call evidence from 13 members of the public in support of its case that Marks & Spencer Plc. has infringed its trade mark by ensuring that the… Read More

In the context of an abortive contract for the sale of a substantial quantity of grain, the Commercial Court has ruled that the agreement was not necessarily frustrated by a temporary ban on wheat… Read More

The fictional protagonists in Charles Dickens' Bleak House took generations to waste their inheritance on interminable court proceedings but it took a real family just four years to do the same. In… Read More

The freehold owner of a semi-derelict property that was compulsorily acquired by a local authority has been awarded £105,000 compensation. Rejecting Leicester City Council’s plea that compensation… Read More

In the context of a contractual dispute over the $37.5 million sale of two large gas plants, the Commercial Court has ruled that the seller is entitled to retain $7.5 million in instalments remitted… Read More

The Law Commission has published its consultation document designed to bring the law on rights to light up to date. The major proposed changes are: • An abolition of the provisions of the… Read More

In a ruling with important implications for the future policing of the internet, the Court of Appeal has decided that there are circumstances in which Google Inc. could be successfully sued for… Read More

Unfortunate private investors in a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund which was marketed as low risk – but the main assets of which were revealed as ‘mere shams’ in the wake of its collapse – may get… Read More

A UK resident member of a Delaware limited company will have to pay 67% tax on his very substantial profits after failing to convince the Court of Appeal that he is a victim of double taxation… Read More

In the context of an insurance dispute, the Commercial Court has upheld a ruling by arbitrators that the 9/11 hijackings that led to the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New… Read More

Employers are entitled to offer older workers bigger redundancy packages than their younger colleagues even if the duration of their service is identical. Rejecting a direct age discrimination claim… Read More

Arguments put forward by residents of a Cornish holiday village that they are entitled to withhold service charges until their landlord has complied in full with repair and maintenance covenants… Read More

A dissatisfied party to arbitration proceedings in respect of a contract for the sale of a new-build vessel has failed to convince the Commercial Court that the proceedings were infected by serious… Read More

Thousands of teenagers who fell foul of changes to the way in which GCSE English examination results are graded were treated unfairly - but examination boards and qualifications regulator, Ofqual… Read More

A utilities company which settled a former employee’s mesothelioma claim for £250,000 is entitled to a full indemnity from insurers notwithstanding that the relevant policy only covered six of the… Read More

A sports media company that spends £600,000-a-year gathering minute-by-minute information on hundreds of football matches has triumphed in its fight to stop unpaid usage of its database. In an… Read More

An orthodox Jewish rabbi who claims that he was seriously defamed on a blog site has won a High Court order requiring search engine giants, Google, to divulge the identities of those who blackened… Read More

A nurse who came under investigation after serious failings in the provision of care were uncovered at a North London home for the elderly has failed to convince the Court of Appeal to breathe new… Read More

Claims that thousands of road accident compensation cases were infected by falsified evidence have led to an on-going dispute between the car hire industry and motor insurers that is likely to have… Read More

An estate agent who claimed entitlement to a 25 per cent share of the profits made by the builders of a prestige hotel and apartment development – on the basis that he introduced them to the project… Read More

A road maintenance company that argued its profits on a major public contract were swallowed up by a substantially larger number of potholes than could reasonably have been predicted is not entitled… Read More

The ex-wife of a Russian businessman who is engaged in a ‘titanic struggle’ to make him satisfy her £12.5m divorce award will receive at least a small part of her due following a Court of Appeal… Read More

The owner of a public house who failed to pay close attention to his business, putting its day-to-day operation into the hands of an unreliable manager who neglected financial record keeping, has… Read More

A new regime came into effect on 1 February 2013 whereby tax on machine games will be entirely linked to takings, rather than including a fixed fee element on all machines. Machine Games Duty (MGD)… Read More