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08 March 2018 / Stephen Gold
Issue: 7784 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Civil way: 9 March 2018

Dog evicted; accountant bashing; employment compensation up.

VICTORY OVER VINNIE

It wasn’t an absolute prohibition against keeping pets that did it. It wasn’t a qualified prohibition against keeping pets without consent not to be unreasonably withheld that did it. No, what did it for young Yorkshire/Maltese terrier Vinnie was the covenant not to keep any ‘dog bird cat or other animal’ without consent. The lessor of one of 146 flats and maisonettes in London’s Victory Place development at Limehouse consented but not the management company. And that takes us to Victory Place Management Co Ltd v Kuehn v Kuehn [2018] EWHC 132 (Ch), [2018] All ER (D) 147 (Jan) where Vinnie’s owners were appealing against a county court injunction to remove their pet.

The route to a successful challenge which can be engaged with a covenant of this nature was to show that the management company was not going to tolerate a pet over its dead body or, to put it in the more refined speak of my learned friend, it

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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