Opinion

Alistair Kinley of commercial and insurance law specialists BLM considers the latest developments on the personal injury discount rate in Northern Ireland. At last Friday’s meeting of the justice committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly it was reported that the minister had obtained the agre

Employment lawyer Sarah Cochrane of Belfast-based Carson McDowell comments on a landmark ruling on the employment status of Uber drivers. The UK Supreme Court has handed down its much-anticipated judgment confirming that those engaged by Uber were ‘workers’ and not self-employed contract

William Fry partner Alicia Compton and associate Karen Hennessy look into the new travel restrictions and what employers need to consider if their employees are travelling for work. In recent weeks the government has ramped up its efforts to restrict travel to and from Ireland to curb the spread of

This week Benjamin Bestgen considers swearing, without which many of us would struggle to get through the day. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Unrelated to jurisprudential questions, a colleague recently mentioned the Jersey employment tribunal case of Wilkinson v Fairway Trust Limited [20

Employment solicitor Leanne McKeown of Rosemary Connolly Employment & Equality Solicitors highlights a recent ruling from Great Britain which Northern Ireland employers should note. The recent GB case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Mr S Gehlen (2021) demonstrates the continuing duty on employers to review

This Sunday marks the centenary of the escape of three men from Kilmainham Gaol, at that time both a British military barracks and a political prison.

Eugene F Collins partner Paul Dempsey and solicitor Niamh O'Brien highlight the options available when serving legal proceedings on a party based in the UK. The United Kingdom’s official departure from the European Union has had a significant effect on cross border civil and commercial litigat

Judith Curtin, partner at O'Flynn Exhams Solicitors LLP, looks at the new Code of Practice on bullying. The Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work came into effect on 23 December 2020.

Should men be able to reject fatherhood without attracting legal obligations? Benjamin Bestgen considers this and other questions around abortion in this week's jurisprudential primer. See his last one here. Abortion remains the subject of one of the most contentious social debates of the

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan considers Fixed Term Work Act contracts and their interaction with the Unfair Dismissal Acts 1977-2015 and the Maternity Protection Act 1994. There are very strict time limits in the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Under section 44(3), an appeal to the Labour Co

Ronan Hynes, partner at Sellors LLP, calls for urgency on patient safety reform in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The brave and heart-rendering story of Linsey Bennett on the steps of the Four Courts last week brought back into sharp focus the utter human devastation of the CervicalCheck controvers

William Fry partners Louise Harrison and Nuala Clayton examine a case in which the rejection of an employee's request to work from home constituted constructive dismissal. In a recent decision, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found that an employee was constructively dismissed when her empl

Deirdre Malone, partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn, considers the key learnings for employers in a widely-publicised case involving racial discrimination at Starbucks. Suchavadee Foley ordered a tea from Starbucks last January. Not a tricky transaction, however, the interaction resulted in a €12,000

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Gillian Keating and intern Jamie Wall take a closer look at the EU vaccine contract debacle. With the United Kingdom, Ireland and the rest of Europe, having spent over four years anticipating the would be ‘fall-outs’ of the UK’s decision to approve Brexit,

Benjamin Bestgen this week explains that the extinction of rights upon death is more complicated a matter than it first seems. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Fans of old-school computer games might still remember Grim Fandango, where the player guides afterlife travel agent Manny Cal