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19 February 2010 / Ian Smith
Issue: 7405 / Categories: Features , Employment
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Drawing the right lines

Ian Smith explains why the New Year has started with a bang

The New Year has started as it doubtless means to go on, ie on the manic side of frantic. We have had the passage of the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93), even though they are not due to come into force until October 2011, and also the sudden enactment (due to a temporary ascendance in the firmament of planet Harman over planet Mandleson) of the provisions on additional paternity leave and pay in the Work and Families Act 2006 ss 3 to 10 (brought into force on 6 April 2010 by SI 2010/128).

The case law considered here is equally important. We have had a Court of Appeal case with a welcome clarification of the position of contract terms incorporating collective agreements on a TUPE transfer (where hitherto we seemed to have a conflict between domestic authority and a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision), a decision of the EAT holding that in certain circumstances the apparently inalienable right to statutory

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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