In our annual contract law update we consider a number of interesting contract law cases from 2021 which highlight key points for those involved in drafting or managing contracts. The cases we have chosen deal with formation, interpretation, frustration and force majeure, penalties, exclusion and limitation clauses, entire agreement clauses, execution and notice provisions. In … Read more

The Environment Act 2021, which received Royal Assent on 9 November 2021, sets out a new regime in relation to the use of “forest risk commodities” in UK commercial activity. Under the new regime, it will be illegal for larger businesses to use, in their UK commercial activities, forest risk commodities that have not been … Read more

The Law Commission has published a paper which confirms that English law can accommodate smart legal contracts without the need for statutory reform. Smart legal contracts are legally binding contracts in which some or all obligations are performed automatically by a computer program that is usually run on a blockchain network. They are touted as … Read more

The Supreme Court has held that a claim for compensation under the Data Protection Act 1998 cannot proceed on an “opt-out basis” in the high profile Lloyd v Google LLC case. In doing so, it overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision, which would have opened the floodgates for class actions relating to loss of control … Read more

BEIS has published a call for evidence on the payment practices reporting regulations. Large UK companies and LLPs are required to report on their payment practices, policies and performance every six months and submit that report to a government-hosted website for publication. The aim is to increase transparency and public scrutiny of large businesses’ payment … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that a buyer’s notice of claim complied with the requirements under a share purchase agreement (SPA). In doing so it took into account the fact that the seller already had knowledge of the events leading to the claim. At issue was whether the buyer’s notice contained “reasonable detail” of … Read more

As we approach the 2021 Scottish Parliament election on 6 May, the debate around a second referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country is firmly back on the political agenda. We have published a series of articles on the impacts of Scottish independence for businesses. Topics covered so far include: the effect on … Read more

Establishing that a counterparty is in breach of contract is only the first hurdle to obtaining proper redress. It is just as important for the innocent party to show that it has suffered a loss as a result of the breach, and to prove what that loss is, or to establish that it should be … Read more