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07 October 2010 / Roderick Ramage
Issue: 7436 / Categories: Blogs
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Law in 101 words

Snippets from The Reduced Law Dictionary by Roderick Ramage

Equity looks on that as done which ought to be done

This maxim applies where something is agreed but had not actually been done. “The doctrine cannot in its application to contracts ... be permitted to turn the conditional into the absolute, the optional into the obligatory, or to make for the parties contracts different from those they have made for themselves. What a party to a contract ought to do, within the true meaning of this doctrine, is what he has contracted to do, and nothing more and nothing less is to be taken in the equity to be done”: De Beers v British South Africa Co [1912] per Lord Atkinson.

Fox hunting and the pensions crisis

I sat in a solicitor’s waiting room before giving a talk on pensions and read the Yorkshire Post. In it were some extracts and commentary on Tony Blair’s memoirs, Journey, which gave me my opening gambit. Pensions don’t count. In one excerpt he admitted that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Katten Muchin Rosenman—Charlotte Hill

Katten Muchin Rosenman—Charlotte Hill

Katten strengthens financial markets and funds group in London

Hugh James—Keith Cundall & Lee Hart

Hugh James—Keith Cundall & Lee Hart

Hugh James expands national Serious Injury team with two new Partners

HFW—Rémi Ducloyer

HFW—Rémi Ducloyer

HFW continues Paris office growth with public law Partner hire

NEWS
The Court of Appeal's decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has lifted months of uncertainty for Chartered Legal Executives while prompting a rethink of regulation and supervision
The assisted dying debate returns to Westminster as Lauren Edwards MP reintroduces legislation that stalled in the House of Lords last session despite clearing the Commons
A little-noticed provision of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has fundamentally expanded corporate criminal liability
Artificial intelligence is transforming legal practice, but careless reliance on it is creating growing professional risks
The law offers cohabiting couples surprisingly greater protection after one partner dies than when they separate during life
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