A lease for a term of years may contain an option for the parties or one of them to terminate the lease before the expiration of the term. This is known as a break option or clause. Many tenants will refuse to sign-up to a lease unless they are given the right to walk away early. Landlords often agree reluctantly to such a break option (often coinciding with a rent review date) in order to achieve the letting, and they hope the tenant will not exercise the option or that it will fall down on a technicality regarding timing or in respect of conditions that are attached to the exercise of the option. Who may exercise the break? If the lease is silent as to which party may exercise the break option, it may be exercised by either party, as the lease is a bilateral contract. In practice, most leases will provide whether the break is exercisable by the landlord or the tenant, or if the right is mutual to both

Break clauses A break clause is a term in a lease which permits the landlord or the tenant to terminate a lease early. Break clauses are considered in detail in the Practice Note: Break options in commercial leases in Scotland which covers: • who may exercise the break • when may the break clause be exercised • pre-conditions to exercising a break clause, and • the effect on sub-leases For examples of drafting in break clauses, see Precedents: Style clause—landlord break option to terminate lease—Scotland, Style clause—tenant break option to terminate lease—Scotland and Style clauses—mutual break option to terminate lease—Scotland and for guidance on exercising a break option, see: Exercising break clauses—Scotland—checklist. Break notices Break options are exercised by the service of a break notice. The requirements associated with the break notice including the form, the date for and mode of service and the identity of parties on whom service is to be affected are often detailed in the break clause. However, they may also be

What is a break clause? A lease for a term of years may contain an option for the parties or one of them to terminate the lease before the expiration of the term. This is known as a break option or clause. A break clause allows either (or both) the landlord and/or tenant to bring the lease to an end early on a particular date or on the occurrence of a particular event. Break clauses give the benefitting party flexibility, eg to respond to changing market conditions. Break options are exercised by the service of a break notice. The requirements associated with the break notice, including the form, date and terms for service, mode of service and the identity of parties on whom service is to be effected are often detailed in the break clause. However, they may also be contained in a general clause in the lease, or both. See further: Contents of clause: Stair's Laws of Scotland (Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia). Who may exercise the break clause? If the lease is silent

General overview of asset sales Whether a buyer is purchasing assets from a solvent seller, or a seller which is distressed or in a formal insolvency proceeding, will give rise to a variety of different legal and practical considerations for the parties involved. The Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) regulates various formal insolvency processes for both corporate entities and individuals. The principal corporate insolvency procedures in England and Wales are administration and liquidation: • if the company is in liquidation (whether compulsory or voluntary) and the appointed liquidator is not able to sell the business as a going concern, the liquidator will sell the assets of the insolvent company (as a job lot if possible, piecemeal if necessary) to maximise the funds available for distribution to creditors • when a company enters administration, the administrator takes over the control of the company's assets from the company's directors, with the objective of achieving one of the statutory purposes of administration (see Practice Note: Administration—an

The rate of inflation assumed by holders of index-linked gilts (UK government bonds) so that they can compare the return they get with the return they would get from conventional gilts.

The yield difference between conventional bonds and index-linked bonds of the same maturity.

Law360, London: The Legal Services Board (LSB) turned up the heat on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on 31 March 2025, describing the SRA’s performance as 'insufficient' following its handling of the Axiom Ince Ltd collapse.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: Iqbal Mohammed, barrister at St Philips Chambers, discusses the recent case of Re Sprout Land Holdings Limited, Tighe v Fraser-Peters. This case concerned invalid appointments of directors, administrators and section 161 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006).

Law360: On 15 April 2024, the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division announced a ‘Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosure for Individuals’.

Law360, Expert analysis: The UK government has confirmed changes to financial promotion exemptions for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors, effective 31 January 2024. Andrew Northage, partner, at Walker Morris LLP considers what businesses need to be aware of to ensure ongoing compliance with the revised conditions in the updated exemptions and suggests a few practical tips for businesses to follow.

Property analysis: The Supreme Court’s clarification of how to assess the extent of a prescriptive right and how to apply the doctrine of accretion is welcomed by Philip Sissons, barrister at Falcon Chambers, who examines the court’s approach to those issues in Lynn Shellfish and another v Loose and another.

Information Law analysis: Joint ventures go wrong. Agents fall out with principals. Partnerships dissolve. Where two parties contribute know-how and information to developing proprietary technology, and the relationship breaks down, how do the courts determine what is protected by the law as confidential and what may be freely used for new ventures? Can proprietary technology simply be rewritten to eliminate direct use of confidential information, or are there still risks of liability for indirect use as a shortcut or ‘springboard’ to developing the new product? How do you make it clear to customers that the corporate arrangement has changed and, where goodwill has accrued, avoid passing off products of the former partnership as those of the new venture? The High Court analysed these issues in a claim for misuse of confidential information, breach of contract and passing off in the insuretech field where the claimant, an insurance company, sued its former broker alleging misuse of confidential information used to jointly develop an insurance ratings model in the broker’s new start-up insurance business. Written by Phil Hartley, senior legal advisor at Schillings International LLP.