This Practice Note is a ‘how to’ guide on reviewing an NDA (also known as a non-disclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement) which signposts relevant content. It includes a summary of what an NDA is, when and why it is required in a commercial transaction, and a high level look at the legal and practical factors to consider when reviewing an NDA. For links to more detailed guidance on the law in relation to confidentiality, see: Ireland—Confidential information and intellectual property—overview. For further information on how confidentiality obligations are typically dealt with in commercial contracts, see Practice Note: Ireland—Trade secrets and confidential information. When confidential information is shared, it is assumed that a disclosing party will be most likely to draft and issue a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and the receiving party will be the one reviewing it. However, in many situations there will be a mutual exchange of confidential information and so it may not be obvious which party is responsible for drafting or reviewing. In any event, it will be helpful

This Practice Note provides an overview of redundancy in an insolvency context, and provides links to further detailed materials. Forthcoming changes The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and introduces staged reforms relevant to redundancy in insolvency contexts. ERA 2025 introduces alternative statutory thresholds for triggering collective redundancy consultation. The change is not yet in force and is expected to take effect in 2027. For further detail and information on the expected implementation timetable, see Practice Note: Restructuring & Insolvency—horizon scanner. What is redundancy? For the purposes of entitlement to a redundancy payment, an employee is dismissed by reason of redundancy if the reason for dismissal is: • the employer ceases carrying on the business in which the employee worked • the employer ceases carrying on the business in the place in which the employee worked, or • the business needed fewer people carrying out work of the kind which the employee performed A much wider definition of redundancy applies (solely) in the context of consultation—there,

This Practice Note considers the relationship between manufacturers and distributors of goods and focuses primarily on the contractual distribution arrangements that should be put in place between the parties. It examines some pre-contractual considerations and looks at the core content of the agreement including territory, appointment, manufacturer’s obligations, distributor’s obligations, price and payment terms, intellectual property, title to goods, data protection and termination. For precedent distribution agreements, see Precedents: Distribution agreement—exclusive—long form, Distribution agreement—non-exclusive—long form and Selective distribution agreement—non-exclusive. General Unlike agency, there is little statute applicable to distribution arrangements in the UK other than domestic competition law. The relationship between the distributor and manufacturer is therefore largely governed by the agreement between them. A manufacturer usually has less control over a distributor than a principal over their agent. This is due to the fact that an agent sells on behalf of its principal, whereas a distributor buys and resells on its own account. Where in a principal-agent relationship, the principal will usually make decisions with regard to pricing, marketing, publicity and terms of supply to end-users,

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes latest developments on local government reorganisation, including Hertfordshire County Council's response to the four-unitary decision, Leicestershire County Council taking legal advice on a possible challenge and Rochford District Council supporting Essex County Council's judicial review as an interested party. It also features public procurement developments, including updated Cabinet Office guidance on contract valuation and payment reporting under the Procurement Act 2023 and case reports including Cornwall Council v SSHCLG, where the High Court upheld a funding clawback decision for procurement breaches; Prime Way Care v Southwark LBC on disclosure of rival bid evaluations in a procurement challenge; and Cyberfort v HMCTS where the High Court lifted an automatic suspension. Expert analysis includes R (Bano) v Waltham Forest LBC in which the Supreme Court held that the main housing duty ceases automatically on acceptance or refusal of a qualifying private rented sector offer and Thomas v Lewisham LBC on nominations agreements for purpose-built student accommodation schemes. It also includes further updates on Local government reorganisation, Public procurement, Social housing, Planning, Education, Governance, Local government finance and Adult social care.

Banking & Finance analysis: This News Analysis provides a summary of the cases we have alerted in Banking & Finance for May 2024.

This Practice Note considers the two rules applied when determining which courts have jurisdiction to hear a dispute about immovable property. The two rules are, essentially, the corollary of each other. They are the: • ‘immovables rule’—an English legal principle that foreign courts do not have jurisdiction over immovable property situated in England • ‘Moçambique rule’—this is applied to determine whether the courts of England and Wales (English courts) have jurisdiction to apply the common law to determine a dispute about property situated in a different jurisdiction What is the immovables rule? The ‘immovables rule’ is a special category of private international law found in English law. Similar rules, known by other names, can be found in a number of other national common law legal systems, for example Canada and the United States of America. The commonality of the rules is that they are applied when dealing with disputes regarding either the rights to or interests in immovable property. The rules provide that such disputes: • will be governed by the law of the country in which

This Practice Note examines the key parties in real estate finance involving the development of property. It does not deal with the lender or other finance parties (see Practice Note: The finance parties). Borrower The borrower will typically be purchasing the property to be developed or may already be the owner of the property. In the construction contracts, the borrower will usually be referred to as the employer, client or developer. SPV or trading entity? In real estate finance, it is common for the borrower to be a special purpose vehicle (SPV) (also known as a special purpose company or SPC). This means that the borrower company is set up or purchased 'off the shelf' specifically for the proposed transaction (ie purchasing, owning, developing and operating the property). In any SPV financing, the borrower's only activities (and therefore assets and liabilities) will be those related to the transaction. The facility agreement will typically include provisions which give the lender comfort on these points, eg: • representations that the borrower has not conducted any business

Arbitration analysis: As of late August 2026, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has brought its public consultation process regarding the draft Arbitration and Mediation Law of 2026, which is set to replace the long-standing 2008 Arbitration Law (DIFC Consultation Paper), to a conclusion. This holistic legislative update aims to accelerate the resolution of business disputes, clarify complex legal procedural boundaries, and align Dubai’s financial free zone with international common law benchmarks found in other global centres such as London and Singapore (Legal Reform Briefing). By addressing historic gaps in multi-party litigation and post-award enforcement tactics, the new law continues the region’s push to offer comprehensive dispute frameworks. Produced in partnership with Boris Lazic & Arran Dowling-Hussey, barristers practising from 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square.

This Practice Note sets out practical points that those advising on fire safety defect claims may wish to consider in preparation for such claims. It follows from the guidance set out in, and may be read in conjunction with, Practice Note: Fire safety defect claims for construction lawyers, which considers the legal issues arising from such claims. This Practice Note is intended primarily for those acting for claimants in fire safety defect disputes, with a focus on cases that may involve multiple leaseholder or owner claimants, against the parties responsible for designing and building the works—whether the original developer, a consultant or other supplier (referred to as the construction parties or the construction team). It is intended to provide a checklist of issues that parties might wish to investigate, in order to more fully develop their statements of case and build the evidence supporting their allegations. This, in turn, could help to avoid ‘skirmishes’ in the early stages of litigation, as may arise where the claimant’s pleadings are not sufficiently detailed—eg strike-out applications

This Practice Note provides a high level summary of key themes of divergence between UK and EU consumer protection legislation that have arisen since the UK exited the EU on 31 December 2020 (IP Completion Day). Specifically, this Practice Note compares areas of divergence in relation to consumer information and cancellation requirements, consumer saving schemes, dark patterns (ie harmful online choice architecture practices), enforcement, sale of goods, services and digital content, subscription contracts, sustainability and unfair commercial practices. Background Consumer protection law in the UK derives partly from assimilated EU law and partly from UK-specific law. In many ways, Brexit had less of an immediate impact on consumer protection because there was already regulatory fragmentation across EU Member States, and traders trading with consumers in the EU were familiar with having to consider specific requirements in cross-border situations. Although the immediate impact was relatively minor, there have since been several significant developments in consumer protection legislation in both the UK and EU since IP Completion Day which have enabled the UK to transition away from the EU’s laws and institutions.

Background to the regulation of assisting in the administration and performance of insurance contracts Under section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), a person cannot carry out regulated activities in the UK unless that person is authorised or exempt. This is known as the general prohibition. For more information about the general prohibition and its territorial scope, see Practice Notes: The general prohibition and implications of its breach and Territorial scope of the general prohibition. 'Regulated activities' are defined as including specified activities carried on by way of business that relate to ‘specified investments’ or property of any kind to which the specified activity relates. ‘Specified’ for these purposes means specified by HM Treasury. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI 2001/544) (RAO) sets out a number of activities and investments which are so specified. For further information on what constitutes regulated activities, see Practice Note: What are regulated activities? For more information about what 'by way of business' means in relation

A term used to describe the employee's ability to undertake the work required under the contract.