This year has seen a rarely reported case of fraudulent calumny (or, "the making of false and defamatory statements about someone to damage their reputation; slander" to you and me!).

Following the recent media excitement over the case Ilott v Mitson there has been a further interesting case under the Inheritance Act.

In 2017 we reported on a finding at the First Tier Tribunal that the Root 2 Alchemy Tax Scheme (the Scheme) had been found to be a disclosable tax avoidance scheme under the DOTAS rules (the DOTAS Decision).

This case involved a contract in which a shipbuilding company agreed to build and sell one vessel to each of six buyers. The buyers agreed to make pre-delivery payments for the vessel in return for refund guarantees from the shipbuilder’s bank.

In Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green, the High Court shows it’s willingness to depart from the normal costs rules where a mortgage lender had failed to comply with its disclosure obligations under the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol, and how this can prove to be an expensive mistake for a claimant.

Loring –v- Woodland Trust [2014] EWCA Civ 1314

Solicitors acting for a structured credit salesman who had been working for JP Morgan failed to lodge a court document in time.

The Shorter Trials Scheme (STS) aims to limit the time spent when businesses are locked in litigation.

The courts will enforce an adjudicator’s decision even if it is wrong, whether in relation to the facts or the law.

John and Anne Scarle died at home from hypothermia in October 2016 but were not found until worried neighbours telephoned the police.