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Perspective - Blog
MIPIM: 10 things we learnt about you
A round up of things we learnt during our first experience of MIPIM week, from what to wear to how to plan your diary and make the most of your new connections
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Perspective - Blog
Engaging with Development – do we always know what we need?
Comment on the need for public engagement in the planning and development process, following a ULI presentation on The Well-Tempered City (author Jonathan Rose)
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Perspective - Blog
Finally, a victory in the on-going battle against business rates
The Supreme Court ruling in Newbigin v Monks represents a welcome and important victory for UK property developers.
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Perspective - Blog
Green belt development - don't forget the law!
A review of the housing white paper in relation to green belt development noting that the Green Belt (London and Home Counties) Act 1938 is a further hurdle.
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Perspective - Blog
Electronic Signatures – the future of executing documents?
You could be forgiven for failing to spot the release of The EU Regulation on Electronic Identification and Trust Services in the Internal Market (910/2014/EU) (the Regulation), released post EU referendum. We consider the impact of this and the Law Society's Guidance Note on electronic signatures (the Guidance Note).
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Perspective - Blog
Garden Villages - are they necessary?
A recent Government announcement has proposed 14 sites across England to be the first garden villages, with 3 further sites to be new garden towns. But with a country full of deserted and derelict buildings, are garden villages and towns the only way forward?
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Perspective - Blog
Office to Residential Permitted Development Rights – an update
The rights to convert a building from office use to residential without needing to submit a planning application are not new, although a recent decision from the Planning Court have brought them back to the headlines and suggest that they may be more flexible than anticipated.
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Perspective - Blog
Freedom of information: access denied by ministerial veto
Not since September 2012 when the Attorney General exercised powers under section 53(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) blocking the release of correspondence between Prince Charles and seven government departments has there been a matter likely to attract attention to the use of the ministerial veto.
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Perspective - Blog
Court of Appeal's opinion on good faith clauses
In our February blog we reported on Compass Group UK and Ireland Ltd (trading as Medirest) v Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust [2012] EWHC 781 (QB) and the implications of the decision on the duty to act in good faith.
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Perspective - Blog
Costs overruns in Target Costs contracts
Who is liable for costs overruns in a Target Cost contract, and to what extent? AMEC Group recently went to the TCC to appeal against an arbitration decision which found the Secretary of State for Defence ("the Authority") would only be liable for actual costs which were reasonably and properly incurred.
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Perspective - Blog
NPPF – 1 year on: smooth transition or wasted opportunity?
Given that over 50% of Britain's local councils are still to adopt Local Plans, is the window of opportunity for local residents to take control of development in their local area about to close?
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Perspective - Blog
New Kids on the Block : alternative funders in the real estate lending market
Over the last couple of years, there has been a surge in real estate lending by non-bank lenders as traditional banks started withdrawing from the market.
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Perspective - Blog
Good Faith Clauses
There is no general doctrine of good faith in English law and it is not therefore implied into contracts.
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Perspective - Blog
JCT Insurance Options: what's the right fit for fit-out?
Where a tenant is fitting out premises within a multi-occupied building, the JCT's standard insurance options are not always appropriate and, left unaddressed, place unintended and severe risks on the tenant.
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Perspective - Blog
Government property, Kirstie and Phil style?
Ok, so Ms Allsopp and Mr Spencer haven’t quite been called in yet, but almost.
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Perspective - Blog
Is the Green Deal a great deal?
There is no denying the Green Deal has many advantages but consider the deal in relation to short term leases and it may not be as great as it initially seems.
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Perspective - Blog
NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract "Guidance Notes": more important than you realise for interpreting the ECC
Certain terms of the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract ('ECC') are open to interpretation, and the recent case of E-Nik Ltd v Department for Communities & Local Government [2012] EWHC 3027 (Comm) has cast into doubt whether even something as routine as VAT is crystal-clear under the ECC.
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Perspective - Blog
Development incentives – but at what cost?
In light of what is starting to appear to be a wholehearted failure to persuade local communities to meet requisite housing targets, Nick Boles last week proposed self-proclaimed "bungs" to local communities.
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Perspective - Blog
Leaving customers without signal: the task of re-building the Telecoms Code
Now almost 30 years old, the Electronic Communications Code (the 'Code'), falls far short of representing the needs of a swiftly developing communications network.
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Perspective - Blog
H&M: Brave New World?
We have all been involved in lease negotiations where there are differences of opinion as to what is or is not institutionally acceptable.
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Perspective - Blog
End of the line for Village Greens?
Nothing can be more frustrating for a developer to see its scheme delayed or worse still derailed by an application for the registration of land as a town or village green ("TVG").
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Profile
Perspective - Snapshot
What in the AI is going on… April to June 2024
Meta launched its newest generation of its open-source LLM (large language model), Llama 3, which is the technology that powers its AI systems. The launch of Llama 3 signals a step closer to human-like AI that can reason and bestow a memory. OpenAI also discussed plans for its next AI model, GPT-5. Like Llama 3, GPT-5 will see improvements to the model’s planning and reasoning capabilities, going beyond its current capability to deal with discrete tasks. GPT-5 is expected to be released later in the year.
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Perspective - Snapshot
CMA publishes update paper on AI Foundation Models
What is the state of play for the market of AI Foundation Models (FM) and what issues in the market is the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) most concerned about?
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Perspective - Snapshot
EU AI Act is signed!
What are the core elements of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and how does it impact the regulation of AI systems?
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Perspective - Snapshot
Online Safety Act: Ofcom consults on draft codes to protect children online
What must businesses do to ensure online safety for children under the latest codes of practice published by Ofcom?
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Perspective - Snapshot
UK’s Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum announces new AI and Digital Hub Pilot
What is the AI and Digital Hub and how can AI innovators use it?
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Perspective - Snapshot
EU designates Apple a gatekeeper for iPadOS but not for iMessage
Can a business avoid being designated a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) even if it satisfies the quantitative criteria under the DMA?
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Perspective - Snapshot
New EU guidelines on mitigating risks for electoral
What are the European Commission’s new guidelines and how do they protect the integrity of electoral processes?
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Perspective - Blog
Commercial Court cracks down on crypto-fraudsters (if it can find them)
In the first initial coin offering 'ICO' fraud case before the Commercial Court, Ion Science Limited & Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown & Ors, the court granted permission to serve disclosure orders on two cryptocurrency exchanges through which the claimants' stolen bitcoin had been traced, granted a world-wide freezing order against persons unknown, and gave ground-breaking guidance on the lex situs of crypto-assets.
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Perspective - Blog
Drones: don't fly out of bounds (legally)
Various commercial industries have already woken up to the myriad opportunities offered by drone technologies. Whilst the regulatory regime evolves, it is important that companies don’t fall foul of the law.
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Perspective - Publication
The Role of AI in Disputes
While lawyers have had various forms of AI available to them for years, it is generative AI and the development of large language models (LLMs) which is likely to represent a fundamental shift for dispute resolution. This technology now offers language capabilities that have never been seen before, and is likely to transform the way lawyers conduct proceedings.
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Perspective - Blog
The High Court continues interim anti-harassment injunction
At a return date hearing on 12 July 2024, Aidan Eardley KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) continued until trial or further order an anti-harassment injunction granted to prevent the Defendant from, amongst other things, approaching or contacting the Claimant.
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Perspective - Blog
The Supreme Court clarifies the law on the recovery of damages for non-pecuniary damage arising out of a maliciously false statement
The Claimant was an employee of the second defendant, LCA, a recruitment agency owned and operated by the first defendant. After leaving LCA, the Claimant was employed by another recruitment agency and began targeting LCA's clients. LCA's owner told two third parties, one of whom was the Claimant’s new line manager and the other a client of LCA, that by doing this the Claimant was in breach of her contract of employment with LCA. In fact, there was no term of that contract (as the owner of LCA knew) which prohibited the claimant from soliciting business from LCA’s clients.
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Perspective - Blog
The Model Anti-SLAPP Law: an overview
Following the Government's response to the SLAPP consultation in the summer, the UK Anti-SLAPP coalition (a working group that includes English PEN, the Foreign Policy Centre and Index on Censorship, "the Coalition") has this week published a model Anti-SLAPP law, which has been endorsed by a collection of free speech and anti-corruption organisations, journalists, editors and lawyers.
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Profile
Event
RPC @ London Tech Week 2024
We are delighted to announce that we will once again be hosting several in-person official fringe events around London Tech Week in June 2024.
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Perspective - Blog
EU AI ACT-ion stations
The EU is forging ahead with its vision for AI. With wrapping up talks on the EU AI Act between the EU governments, the Commission and the parliamentary negotiators imminent, we bring you up to date on the EU's risk based approach, the scope of the Act, a timeline, key points that will form the basis of the discussions and next steps.
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Perspective - Blog
What To Know About AI Fraudsters Before Facing Disputes
Fraudsters are quick to weaponise new technological developments and artificial intelligence is proving no exception, with AI-assisted scams increasingly being reported in the news, including most recently one using a likeness of a BBC broadcaster.
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Perspective - Publication
Sports Ticker (27 April 2023) – PL gambling sponsor ban, WWE x UFC merger and Schumacher's AI interview – a speed-read of commercial updates from the sports world
In a fortnight which saw Corach Rambler win the Grand National, the UK & Ireland submit its bid to host the UEFA Euro 2028 men's tournament, and 48,000 runners take to the streets for the London Marathon, we bring you updates on Spotify's new integration with Strava and Team GB's collaboration with Birds Eye. We also feature stories on a controversial AI-generated interview with Michael Schumacher and our own Kate O'Malley's sub-three hour marathon success.
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Perspective - Snapshot
UK Government sets out proposals for regulation of AI
What are the UK Government’s plans for the future regulation of artificial intelligence (AI)?
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Perspective - Snapshot
UK government announces the launch of an AI standards hub
What does the new artificial intelligence (AI) standards hub mean for businesses seeking to develop AI technologies?
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Perspective - Snapshot
ICO publishes guidance on AI decision making
How can companies comply with data regulation when using AI to make decisions affecting individuals?
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Perspective - Blog
Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises to take effect from 1 February 2024
Following from the passing of the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Bill which mandates compliance with the Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises in Singapore ("Code") for qualifying leases of retail premises earlier this year, the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act ("Act') is expected to take effect from 1 February 2024.
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Press and Media
Wilko becomes 'yet another casualty' of tough economic conditions facing UK retailers
'Perfect storm' of rising interest rates, increased energy bills, supply chain issues and squeezed customer spending is hitting retailers hard
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Press and Media
Local authorities install 8,000 new EV chargers in past year – up just 7%
In the last year, around 8,000 public Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers were installed by local authorities in the UK, an increase of just 7% from 7,400 in the previous year , shows research by international law firm RPC.
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Perspective - Blog
Choppy waters ahead? The significance of Oceanfill
The economic outlook for the UK in 2023 remains uncertain, and more companies may need to restructure their businesses to ensure survival. This
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Perspective - Blog
Register of Overseas Entities – one month since the deadline and thousands still face penalties from failure to register
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 ("the Act") enacted in March 2022 brought into force the register of overseas entities on 1 August 2022. Companies House holds and manages the new register which was introduced to provide greater transparency around UK land ownership. The transitional period ended on 31 January 2023, and as at 3 March 2023, 26,481 out of an estimated 32,440 have registered. Thousands of companies are still to register over a month on from the end of the transitional period, so we've turned our minds to consider the possible consequences of not registering, or delaying registering, as an overseas entity in accordance with the Act, including the potential for the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to apply.
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Press and Media
RPC expands real estate practice with the hire of Partner, Jon Ely
International law firm RPC announced today that commercial property lawyer Jon Ely has joined the firm in Bristol as a Partner in the real estate practice.
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Perspective - Blog
Register of Overseas Entities – Register now to keep transactions running smoothly
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 ("the Act") has been enacted as part of the Government's drive to increase transparency in the ownership of UK land. Companies and other legal entities governed by the law of a country or territory outside of the UK which own land in the UK satisfying certain requirements, or wish to own such land, must now register information with Companies House. A new Register of Overseas Entities ("the ROE") has been created and certain details of the registered overseas entities and their beneficial owners are available to the public.
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