Aspire junior in-house lawyers event: insights on the impact of Brexit

Last week, we shared an overview of the soft skills session from our recent Aspire event. The session was facilitated by Richard Martin from bryn·dean who looked at how in-house lawyers can create healthier, more productive workplaces. Read it here >

This week, we’re sharing an update on Brexit from the legal skills session. This was run by David Lowe, Partner at Gowling WLG, and identified the legal issues following the result of the referendum and the anticipated impact it may have on businesses.

Brexit: seeing the wood for the trees

David began the session by examining recent Brexit developments:

• The Supreme Court ruled that Parliament is sovereign, thus defeating the Government’s argument that Article 50 could be triggered without a vote in Parliament (by using the royal prerogative)
• The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed its third reading in the Commons last week
• The Government published a white paper which echoed the principles made in a recent speech by the Prime Minister at Lancaster House, it also suggests areas where the Government might be willing to compromise on their “have cake and eat it” position

Despite these apparent developments, David stated that uncertainty was still, not surprisingly, the key issue to businesses. We know that a Great Repeal Bill will go through Parliament, which will in effect make all EU law dome