News
Beale and Company Legal Surgeries at the ACE Conference
14.05.2013
Beale and Company are exhibiting and speaking at the ACE Centenary Annual Conference on 22nd May 2013 and this year are also offering short legal surgeries to c...
Beale and Company Recommended in Legal 500 EMEA 2013 and Chambers Europe 2013
09.05.2013
Beale and Company's Dublin team has been recommended in the independently researched Legal 500 EMEA 2013 and Chambers Europe 2013. As a result of interview...
NEC3 April 2013 suite
22.04.2013
The NEC has released an updated April 2013 edition of the NEC3 suite of contracts. The updated suite was made available in digital copy from 22 April 2013 and w...
Beale and Company strengthen construction practice
09.04.2013
Beale and Company Solicitors are delighted to announce that Will Buckby has been promoted to Partner as of 1st April 2013. Since joining Beale and Company i...
Beale and Company receive RedR Engagement Award, presented by HRH Princess Anne
28.03.2013
Beale and Company Solicitors were delighted to receive the first ever RedR Engagement Award last night, presented at RedR's Patrons and Supporters drinks re...
Beale and Company present Outstanding Achievement Award
25.03.2013
The winners of this year's NCE/ACE Consultant of the Year Awards were announced at a prestigious ceremony at London's Claridge's hotel on Friday 22n...
Budget 2013 - Government crackdown on LLP taxation
21.03.2013
The Chancellor announced in yesterday's Budget plans to consult on measures to remove the presumption of self-employment from limited liability partnerships...
The BIM Task Group, in conjunction with the Construction Industry Council, publish Beale and Company Solicitors’ CIC BIM Protocol
28.02.2013
The BIM Task Group, in conjunction with the Construction Industry Council (CIC), has today published the CIC BIM Protocol, drafted by Beale and Company Solicito...
A departure from SAAMCO? John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins
27.02.2013
The Court of Appeal gave judgment on 5 February 2013 in the case of John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins. The decision will immediately raise an eyebrow as it ...
A likely story - John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins
26.02.2013
The Court of Appeal gave judgment on 5 February 2013 in the case of John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins. The decision will immediately raise an eyebrow as it ...
Beale and Company sponsors the NCE/ACE Consultants of the Year Awards 2013
26.02.2013
Beale and Company is delighted to be sponsoring the NCE/ACE Consultants of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony, to be held on the 22nd March at Claridges, is ...
UK Supreme Court decision - legal advice privilege
23.01.2013
The UK Supreme Court delivered its decision today in the case of R (On the application of Prudential PLC and Another) (Appellants) the Special Commissioner of ...
Beale and Company Legal Review of 2012
21.01.2013
Beale and Company's Legal Review of 2012 focuses on the significant court cases in 2012 in the fields of professional liability and construction.&...
Fraudulent Email Warning
11.01.2013
It has come to our attention that unknown parties have been circulating emails that purport to be from named partners in this firm and in connection with fictit...
Insurance update seminar - Bristol
10.01.2013
We would be delighted if you would join us on Thursday 21 February 2013 at our Bristol office for a seminar covering some of the current issues facing the ins...
Beale and Company Solicitors LLP open new office
01.11.2012
Professional Indemnity specialist solicitors, Beale and Company, have opened a new office in the heart of the London insurance market to cement its reputation a...
Beale & Company Solicitors ‘Buns of Steel’ group complete the Lake District Six Peaks Challenge to raise £8,600 for RedR
28.09.2012
The Buns of Steel are Beale and Company's charity group who commit to a biennial fundraising challenge. This year on the 22nd September, Ian Masser, associa...
Noorali Sayani
17.09.2012
It is with great sadness that the firm announces that Noorali Sayani, a former partner and consultant to the firm, passed away on Friday 14th September. Michael...
Construction Professionals Guide ‘Professional Services Agreements’ second edition released
14.08.2012
ICE Publishing has released the second edition of Professional Services Agreements , a book by Rachel Barnes, Consultant at London law firm Beale and Comp...
Parent companies owe a duty of care towards subsidiary
11.07.2012
By Michael Archer and Nadia Paliwalla On 25 April 2012, the Court of Appeal in Chandler v Cape plc [2012] EWCA Civ 525, held that a parent company owed a dire...
Legal Review of 2011
18.01.2012
We are delighted to present to you our Legal Review of 2011. It mainly covers key cases and developments in the UK but there are crossovers with Ireland and we ...
Beale and Company present Engineers Ireland Chartered Engineer of the Year Award
16.11.2011
The Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards took place on 4 November to showcase and celebrate the best of Irish engineering and engineers. The awards presented on ...
Beale and Company Appointments
01.10.2011
Beale and Company Solicitors has appointed three partners, seven associates and three assistants. New Joiners Tom Pemberton joined the firm as a partner in S...
ICC Publishes New Rules on Arbitration and ADR
14.09.2011
The ICC has now released the full text of its new arbitration and ADR rules (the "New Rules") which will come into force on 1 January 2012. The full text c...
The Bribery Act 2010 is now in force
04.07.2011
The Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act") came into force on 1 July 2011. The Act creates several new offences including bribing another person, being bribed and bribing...
Beale and Company appoint insurance professional to head up claims handling department
02.05.2011
We are pleased to announce the appointment of insurance professional Simon Wright to head up our new Claims Handling department, which will provide flexibl...
Clarke announces major overhaul of civil justice system following Jackson Report
30.03.2011
Yesterday Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced the first major overhaul of the civil justice system in 15 years and a reform of the controversial ‘n...
Bribery Act 2010 to come in to force in July
30.03.2011
The implementation date for the Act has been announced as 1 July 2011. The Ministry of Justice has also now published its Guidance as to the procedures to be ad...
Expert Witness’ Immunity Abolished
30.03.2011
(Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13) In a landmark decision handed down today, a majority of the Supreme Court has decided that the immunity from suit for breach o...
ECJ Rules on Gender-Based Pricing in Insurance
02.03.2011
The European Court of Justice has today handed down its judgment in Association Belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats and others , holding that the use of gender...
Beale and Company Wear Red for RedR
18.02.2011
Staff at Beale and Company today joined companies from around the world in wearing red for RedR to show their support for the engineering charity RedR. The Lor...
Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Limited fined £385,000 to be paid over 10 years
17.02.2011
This is the first conviction and sentence for a company under the new offence of Corporate Manslaughter. It should be noted that the sentence could have been hi...
First conviction given under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
15.02.2011
The first conviction under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 was secured yesterday. Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Limited, a small f...
Bribery Act 2011 Update
04.02.2011
In early 2011 the Growth Review established by the Coalition Government have been asked to revisit the Act with a view to alleviating the impact of the Act on c...
Conditional Fee Agreement Breached Human Rights
20.01.2011
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that a CFA breached the right of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection...
New partner in Dublin
18.01.2011
We are delighted to announce that Niamh Loughran has joined the firm as a partner in Dublin. Niamh was formerly a partner in LK Shields and Dillon Eustace and ...
Amendments to the Construction Act: enactment delayed until October 2011
14.01.2011
In March 2010 we summarised the amendments to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the "Construction Act") contained in the Local Democra...
MOJ Consults on Jackson LJ’s Recommendations and Legal Aid Reforms
17.11.2010
As expected following Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's comments last month, the Ministry of Justice published a consultation paper on Monday 15 November 2010 ...
Rok plc goes into administration
08.11.2010
Rok plc, the maintenance and building services group, announced this morning that its board has resolved to put the company into administration and to make an a...
Ken Clarke Backs Jackson Report’s Recommendations
01.11.2010
Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs, published in January 2010, made a number of recommendations for the reform of the civil litigation ...
Beale and Company Strengthen Bristol Practice
05.10.2010
Beale and Company Solicitors LLP are delighted to announce that Joe Eizenberg has been made up to partner. Since joining Beale and Company's Bristol office ...
Vote for your favourite engineering project
22.09.2010
In celebration of its 175th Year, Engineers Ireland is hosting the Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards to showcase the best of Irish engineering and engineers. ...
Beale and Company Recommended in Legal 500 UK
08.09.2010
Beale and Company has once again been recommended in the independently researched Legal 500 UK. As a result of interviews with clients and industry pee...
Howden appoints Beale and Company to surveyors’ panel
05.08.2010
After recently being appointed as the preferred UK professional indemnity broker to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), specialist Lloyd's ...
Beale and Company advises Mott MacDonald on acquisition of Courtyard Group UK
04.08.2010
Beale and Company Solicitors LLP has announced that its Corporate Services team has advised Mott MacDonald ( www.mottmac.com ), a management, engineering and de...
The Institution of Structural Engineers announces shortlist for Structural Awards 2010
04.08.2010
The Institution of Structural Engineers has announced the shortlist for the 2010 Structural Awards; the industry's most prestigious awards programme which r...
Bribery Act 2010 Update
26.07.2010
The Ministry of Justice has recently announced that the Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act") will come into force in April 2011. In preparation for this, the Governmen...
Emergency Budget VAT Increase - Cash is King
25.06.2010
In the Government's Emergency Budget on 22 June 2010 it was announced that the standard rate of VAT will increase from 17.5% to 20%. This will take effect f...
Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010
14.06.2010
The new coalition government has halted the passing into law of the new regulations stemming from the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010. Vince Ca...
CIC Design and Build Warranty 2nd Edition
11.06.2010
The CIC has recently published the second edition of their form of collateral warranty to be given to the employer by a consultant employed throughout by a desi...
The RIBA Agreements
02.06.2010
The RIBA have published their new Agreements. Electronic versions will be available from 3 June 2010. These supersede the RIBA Agreements 2007 which will be wit...
The ACE Agreements
13.05.2010
The ACE announced on 10 May 2010 that electronic versions of all the Agreements are now available online, as are the printed versions of the English Agreements ...
Bribery Act receives Royal Assent
19.04.2010
In the " wash-up" before the pre-election recess, the Bribery Act did receive Royal Assent on 9th April 2010. However, as anticipated, it will only come into fo...
New partner joins Beale and Company's Dublin office
13.04.2010
We are pleased to announce that Tara Cosgrove has joined us as a partner in our Dublin office. Tara initially qualified in Ireland and has extensive experience...
Beale and Company present Major Consultant of the Year Award
26.03.2010
The great and the good of the construction industry met today at Claridges for the highly anticipated NCE/ACE Consultants of the Year 2010 Awards cere...
Jarvis PLC in Administration
25.03.2010
Jarvis PLC and certain of its subsidiaries have today been placed into administration and its shares have been suspended from trading. The company stated that f...
Beale and Company Expand Construction Practice
01.02.2010
Beale and Company has announced the appointment of partner Simon Delves from Shadbolt LLP. Simon will join the firm on 1 February 2010 with two Shadbolt associa...
Proposed expansion in UK offshore wind generating capacity
11.01.2010
On Friday, the Crown Estate announced the development partner consortia selected as the Round 3 winners for nine offshore wind power development zones. The Cro...
New rights for tenderers to challenge procurement awards
18.12.2009
On 20 December 2009, the Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (“Regulations”) come into force. The Regulations implement the Remedies Direc...
HSE identifies safety flaws in new nuclear reactor designs
18.12.2009
This article looks at the impact of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) recent report which raised safety concerns in the designs for new nuclear ...
Latest news on Construction Act amendments
18.12.2009
The Local Democracy, Economic Regeneration and Construction Act received the Royal Assent on 12 November. It included the amendment for which the CIC lobbied &n...
Irish Architects’ Registration
17.11.2009
A new online Register of Architects was launched by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland on Monday, 16 November 2009. The Register has been set up pursu...
Nuclear Sites Revealed
10.11.2009
Proposed Nuclear Sites The government yesterday identified 10 sites as suitable for the next generation of nuclear power plants. 9 of the sites identified are ...
Chartered Engineer of the Year Award
09.11.2009
Beale and Company is delighted to co-sponsor the Chartered Engineer of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive year. The awards ceremony, at Engineers Ireland ...
Further changes to Irish Minimum Terms for Solicitors Professional Indemnity Insurance
30.10.2009
Last month Stephen Chessher wrote about changes to the Irish Minimum Terms to be introduced from renewal on 1 December 2009. Following those changes,...
Chartered Engineer of the Year Award Shortlist Revealed at Beale and Company Reception
12.10.2009
Representatives from across the construction sector turned out in force on Thursday 8 October to join Beale and Company Solicitors at a reception...
Companies House sets out transitional provisions for commonly filed forms
24.09.2009
The final provisions of the Companies Act 2006 come into force on 1 October 2009. Companies House has just published a useful table on its website setting out t...
OFT Bid-rigging Investigation
22.09.2009
The Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") has today imposed fines totalling £129.5m on 103 construction companies which it found had colluded with competito...
New partner at Beale and Company
01.09.2009
We are delighted to announce the arrival of new partner John Sheils . John joins the firm from Shadbolt LLP where he was a partner specialising in a wide rang...
Dublin Change of Address
27.07.2009
Our Dublin practice is expanding and we are pleased to announce that we are moving to new and larger premises. As from Monday 27 July 2009 our new addres...
Ironman Smith
24.07.2009
Congratulations to Senior Partner, Antony Smith (52), who swapped his suit for his running vest and trainers last week and completed the gruelling Iron Man...
The ACE Agreements 2009
06.07.2009
The ACE have recently published revised Agreements and some new Agreements. Rachel Barnes gives a resume of these and describes which of the Agreements have bee...
Slow Start for Limitation of Liability Agreements
12.06.2009
Beale and Company Solicitors LLP appeared in Accountancy Age recently having provided the first evidence that audit firms are struggling to agree Limitation of ...
Employing migrant workers under the new UK immigration laws
08.06.2009
As the trend towards globalisation and mobility continues, and with the widening of the European Union, immigration and visa requirements are increasingly playi...
Langstane Housing Association Limited -v- Riverside Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd [2009]
01.05.2009
Langstane Housing Association Limited -v- Riverside Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd [2009] CSOH 52 is a recent Scottish decision which has been handed down by the O...
ACE Agreements
29.04.2009
In May the ACE are due to publish revised versions of the main ACE Agreements and produce four new Agreements. Electronic versions will be available later. The...
Puzzling Arithmetic
17.04.2009
Written by Rachel Barnes Published in Building 17 April 2009 The causes of loss and damage are often complex and it is frequently alleged that more than one p...
Legal Review Update
30.03.2009
In our Legal Review of 2008, we referred to some cases where the parties argued over the existence of a contract: Vitpol Building Service v Samen (16.09.08 (TC...
Duties on UK pension fund trustees to pursue claims in the US
17.03.2009
Written by Ed Anderson and Lianne Shing. Two local authority pension schemes have launched legal action in the US against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and...
Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009
05.03.2009
Proposed reductions in fees payable to consultants for services provided to the Irish State. The Emergency Measures Act is one of the responses of the Irish Go...
Lawyers urge financial advisers to keep lobbying the FSA
09.02.2009
In the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) feedback statement published by the FSA in November 2008, the FSA indicated that as part of the RDR it would not consult...
Partnerships and Age Discrimination
12.01.2009
A compulsory retirement clause based on succession planning grounds finds favour with the EAT. In a decision given on 19 December 2008 in the case of Seldon v C...
Construction Act Amendments
07.01.2009
The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill had its first debate in the House of Lords on the Wednesday 17 December. The Committee stage thr...
New Guidance on Pre-packaged Sales in Administrations
06.01.2009
On 1 January 2009, the Statement of Insolvency Practice 16(E&W) titled "Pre-packaged sales in administrations" came into effect. This SIP is one of a series...
Amendments to the Construction Act
22.12.2008
The Queen's Speech on 4 December 2008 included proposed legislation to amend the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 ("Act"), affecting t...
House of Lords Health and Safety Decision
10.12.2008
The House of Lords yesterday handed down its decision in R v Chargot and others. The facts are not set out in the opinions in any detail, not surprisingly give...
Queen’s Speech: Amendments to Construction Act
03.12.2008
Legislative amendments affecting the construction industry form part of a Bill announced in today's Queen's Speech. The Bill, officially known as the L...
You've made one tiny mistake Published in Building
21.11.2008
Published in Building 21 November 2008 Rachel Barnes I am constantly warning consultants against taking on absolute obligations, or indeed any obligation mor...
Health & Safety (Offences) Act 2008
19.11.2008
Designers and others who may have responsibility for health and safety would be well advised to take note of the Health & Safety (Offences) Act 2008 which c...
Farewell to Financial Assistance ... Almost
22.09.2008
Companies involved in acquisitions or looking to restructure should celebrate the imminent demise of the prohibition on financial assistance including the white...
Galliford Try Infrastructure Ltd v Mott MacDonald Ltd – Briefing Note
08.09.2008
The recent Galliford Try v Mott MacDonald judgment (17 July 2008) decided that Motts had not assumed a duty of care to a contractor who was not their client. Ho...
A Slippery Slope – Insurance Disclosure
28.07.2008
Consultants and their professional indemnity insurers were dismayed last year by the implications of Mr Justice Irwin’s decision to order a party to revea...
Briefing Note on the Section 75 debt and the Pensions Trust Growth
21.07.2008
Introduction The introduction of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) (Amendment) etc Regulations 2008 with effect from 6 April 2008 continue...
Cover Confidential – Insurance Disclosure
17.07.2008
The issue of insurance disclosure became a hot potato last year, with many fearing indemnity limits may have to be routinely revealed after one judge gave the g...
The Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) Regulations 2008
04.06.2008
The Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) Regulations 2008 came into force on 6 April 2008. As a result, strict requirements have been introduced for the managemen...