On June 2, 2025, the Civil Justice Council (“Council”)—a public body that reviews and makes recommendations to the UK Government about the English civil justice system—published its much-anticipated report on litigation...more
Last week the UK Supreme Court handed down its highly anticipated decision in URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21. The judgment provided helpful clarification on the recoverability of remediation costs...more
This week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) commenced consultation on updates to its Code of Practice in light of the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the terms “woman”, “man” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer...more
On 7 May 2025, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) and others v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2025] UKSC 18. The judgment primarily concerned the scope of s.213 Insolvency Act...more
Welcome to your weekly update from the A&O Shearman Pensions team, covering all the latest legal and regulatory developments in the world of workplace pensions. TPR publishes annual funding statement - The Pensions...more
Landmark Ruling on Gender – What Should Employers do Now? In a major ruling, the UK’s Supreme Court has held that ‘sex’ under the UK Equality Act means biological (birth) sex. This is regardless of whether an individual has...more
Banking fraud of all types is an ever increasing problem in today’s society, and takes a multitude of forms. On a basic level, frauds can be divided into two types. Unauthorised fraud, where the victim does not provide...more
Executive Summary - The UK Supreme Court last week heard arguments in the joined test cases of Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, Wrench v FirstRand Bank Ltd and Hopcraft v Close Brothers Ltd. At issue were findings by the...more
The three-day hearing of the significant Supreme Court case involving motor finance commission complaints has begun. The case involves the conjoined appeals involving two lenders who are challenging the decision of the Court...more
In the fourth and final post on our series on Disputes 101 we look at boilerplate provisions on: entire agreements, non-reliance, oral variation (aka oral modification) and waiver. Entire agreement and non-reliance - Entire...more
The judgment concerns the circumstances in which fiduciaries must account to their principals for the profits they make from their fiduciary relationships....more
The United Kingdom Supreme Court’s decision in SkyKick v Sky highlights a critical trademark risk: Registering a brand for an overly broad range of products and services without an intent to use it across all categories can...more
The ruling, which narrows the UK’s jurisdiction over money laundering offences, will impact how cross-border money laundering offences are prosecuted going forward....more
As set out in our previous Cabinet News & Views issue of December 2024 here, the Court of Appeal has found that some commissions paid to car dealerships for arranging loans were potentially unlawful as the loan agreements did...more
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its decision in El-Khouri (Appellant) v Government of the United States of America (Respondent). Amongst other things, the judgement has overturned the often-criticised Court of Appeal...more
As we begin 2025 and set our goals for the new year (realistic or unrealistic), we outline some of the significant English court rulings from 2024 and the key lessons they offer for the year ahead. In 2024, the courts...more
2024 was a busy year for the Courts in England and Wales when it came to banking and wider financial services disputes. We were spoilt for choice when selecting our top 5 cases and, inevitably, have left out some significant...more
In this weekly update, we summarise the most notable updates in the UK sanctions world. If you have any questions in respect of any of the developments set out below, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our London...more
The UK Supreme Court has issued a landmark judgment dealing with specific bad faith considerations for trade marks....more
Have you amended a contract recently? The UK Supreme Court in Cobalt v HMRC has said that whether a contract has been varied, or replaced, depends on the parties’ common intention, objectively ascertained. So if you are...more
The wait is over! The UK Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in the closely followed and long-running litigation between Sky, the well-known television and broadband company, and SkyKick, a lesser-known cloud computing...more
On 13 November 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment in SkyKick UK Ltd and another v Sky Ltd and others [2024] UKSC 36. It held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to overturn the High Court's findings...more
The UK Supreme Court recently handed down its judgment in UniCredit Bank GmbH v. RusChemAlliance, reaffirming the English court’s support for arbitration and for holding parties to their agreement to arbitrate. However, to...more
In the recent case of Friends of the Earth v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities & others; South Lakeland Action on Climate Change v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities & others...more
Last month, the High Court ruled that planning permission previously granted for a coal mine in West Cumbria was unlawful (Friends of the Earth v West Cumbria Mining [2024] EWHC 2349 (Admin) ("West Cumbria Mining")). West...more