In the event that a defendant considers that another party potentially caused and/or contributed to the loss which the claimant is seeking to recover from them, they may wish to seek a contribution. From a procedural perspective, a party has two main options, namely: • joining the third party into the existing proceedings, or • waiting to see if the claimant is successful and, if so, commencing proceedings under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 (CL(C)A 1978) Joining the third party into existing proceedings Additional (Part 20) claims CPR 20.2(1) provides that CPR 20 covers: ‘(a) a counterclaim by a defendant against the claimant or against the claimant and some other person (b) an additional claim by a defendant against any person (whether or not already a party) for contribution or indemnity or some other remedy; and (c) where an additional claim has been made against a person who is not already a party, any additional claim made by that person against any other person (whether

Service charges Under the statutory provisions regulating service charges under residential long leases (sections 18 to 30 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985)), service charge means an amount payable by a tenant of a dwelling as part of or in addition to the rent which is payable, directly or indirectly, for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance or the landlord's costs of management, the whole or part of which varies or may vary according to the relevant costs (LTA 1985, s 18(1)). Reasonableness of service charges While there is no statutory cap statute limits the amount that may be recovered from tenants of dwellings by way either of service or administration charges. In both cases the landlord may recover no more than is ‘reasonable’, notwithstanding any contrary provision in the lease. The landlord’s ability to forfeit the lease for non-payment

This Practice Note considers what makes a great leader and introduces five key skills that enable leaders to get the best out of themselves and their teams. In his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman sought to define what makes great leaders so effective. He recognised great leaders had skills which went beyond technical ability, determination and vision. He termed this emotional intelligence (EI) and identified five key skills which enabled leaders to get the best out of themselves and their teams: • self-awareness • self-regulation • motivation • empathy • social skills See Precedent: Emotional intelligence—summary sheet. Self-awareness This is perhaps the most important of the five skills—without the willingness and ability to be more self-aware you will be unable to fully develop the other skill areas. Goleman defined self-awareness as knowing one’s strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and impact on others—see: Harvard Business Review 1998—what makes a leader? If you are self-aware you understand: • what drives your behaviours • what your natural weaknesses are and how to compensate for them • how

Dispute Resolution analysis: This judgment on the Italian swaps litigation addresses a range of jurisdictional questions. It focuses on a bespoke version of the standard ISDA jurisdiction clause. While ostensibly providing for the jurisdiction of both the English and Italian courts, the court construed it as an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of England. The judgment also clarifies the scope of the service out gateway under CPR 6.33(2B(b), confirming that it extends to any claim (whether ‘in respect’ of a contract or not) falling within a contractual jurisdiction clause. Finally, the court dismissed Trentino’s innovative argument that the ‘unforeseeable effects’ of Brexit (notably the risk of parallel proceedings and the potential unenforceability of an English judgment in Italy) made Italy a more appropriate forum than England. Written by Harriet Campbell, senior knowledge lawyer at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP.

At its simplest, a retention of title clause is a provision in a contract which allows the seller to retain title to goods which they have delivered to a buyer until the buyer has paid for them in full or, where permitted to do so, sold them on to a third party (Aluminium Industrie Vaassen v Romalpa Aluminium). A valid retention of title clause gives a seller priority over secured and unsecured creditors of the buyer if the buyer fails to pay for the goods where it is insolvent or for other reasons specified in the clause. The clause should give the seller the right to recover the goods from the buyer. As title will not have passed, the seller, once it has regained possession, will have the right to sell the goods to another buyer. A retention of title clause must be

Arbitration analysis: The English Commercial Court rejected a challenge to a USD multimillion arbitral award under section 67 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the 'Act') by the Republic of Korea ('Korea') rendered in favour of Elliott Associates, LP ('Elliott'). Korea, both during the arbitration and in the challenge proceedings, alleged that the tribunal lacked 'substantive jurisdiction' because: (i) there was no relevant 'measure'; (ii) there was no measure 'adopted or maintained' by Korea; and (iii) the measure did not 'relate to' the claimant in the arbitration or its investment. The court held that these matters, albeit commonly summarised as 'jurisdictional' in investment treaty arbitration, were not a matter of 'substantive jurisdiction' and therefore rejected the challenge by Korea. The judgment illustrates the principles that English Courts apply to determine what issues are matters of 'substantive jurisdiction' and therefore are capable of being challenged under section 67 of the Act. Written by Harald Sippel, independent arbitrator at sippel.arbitration.

Background The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679 will replace Directive 95/46/EC (Data Protection Directive) and all data protection legislation in EU Member States, including the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 from 25 May 2018. The GDPR will be directly applicable in all Member States without the need for implementing national legislation. For further information, see Practice Notes: Introduction to the EU GDPR and UK GDPR and EU data protection reform—timeline [Archived]. Under the GDPR it will still be necessary for the controller to enter into a written agreement with the processor, but the GDPR is also more prescriptive as to what exactly that agreement must contain. Agreements relating to the sharing or processing of personal data which continue after 24 May 2018 therefore need to be amended to comply with the different requirements of the GDPR prior to it taking effect (and with preceding data protection law prior to that

You may find the following helpful regarding affordable housing practical guidance: • Practice Notes: Affordable home ownership [Archived] and Entitlements under shared ownership leases For further information, see: Landlord and Tenant (Social Housing): Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, in particular

Merger of the leasehold and freehold estates will often occur when the two estates vest in the same person without any intervening interest. The person who holds the two interests must do so in the same capacity so if they hold the leasehold interest in their personal capacity and acquired the freehold as trustee merger will not arise (see Chambers v Kingham). In addition there must be an intention to merge (see section 185 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) and Re Fletcher). If all three elements are satisfied then the leasehold interest is subsumed into the reversionary interest and comes to an end. If both interests are registered at the Land Registry the leasehold interest should be closed. This is done by application. An intention to merge or not can be either express or implied. An express intention is often demonstrated by a merger or non-merger

We refer you to commentary: Powers of local authorities in relation to land: Halsbury’s Laws of England which states that local authorities have a variety of powers to acquire, appropriate and dispose of land. General powers are contained in the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) (see in particular LGA 1972, s 123), Local Authorities (Land) Act 1963 and the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980. We also refer you to commentary: Disposal of land: Halsbury’s Laws of England which

Law360, Expert Analysis: In March 2026, the government published its Fraud Strategy 2026–29, setting out a three-year plan to tackle the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales. Neil Donovan, partner and Fraser Collingham, associate, both at Ashurst, examine the UK government's Fraud Strategy 2026–2029, including the creation of the Online Crime Centre, the replacement of Action Fraud with Report Fraud and the challenges posed by AI-enabled fraud and international fraud networks.

Conduct is a specific factor to be taken into account under section 25(2)(g) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) and Schedule 5, Part 5 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004), if that conduct is such that it would ‘in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it’. The current leading case is Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane. It is clear from the approach adopted by the House of Lords that conduct arguments should be reserved for truly exceptional cases. In most cases, fairness does not require consideration of the parties’ conduct. Conduct should only be raised in truly exceptional cases where it is ‘obvious and gross’ and it would be ‘inequitable to disregard’