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29 April 2020
Issue: 7884 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 1 May 2020

Company

Re Debenhams Retail Ltd (in administration) [2020] EWHC 921 (Ch), [2020] All ER (D) 111 (Apr)

The Chancery Division gave directions that the joint administrators of Debenhams Retail Ltd (the company) were at liberty to act on the basis that they would be taken to have adopted, for the purposes of para 99(5) of Sch B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, any contract of employment between the company and its employees in circumstances where, in respect of any particular employee of employees, at any time after 14 days from the time of their appointment, the administrators had caused the company to make payments to such employee or employees under and in accordance with their employment contracts, including in respect of amounts which could be reimbursed to the company under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS), or the administrators had made an application in respect of such employee or employees under the JRS.


Family proceedings

Re P (a child: remote hearing) [2020]

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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