 Louise Attrup welcomes a new partner to Debenhams Ottaway
Last month Ruth Boulton joined us from Thomas Eggar LLP where she was an equity Partner and Head of Property. This appointment demonstrates our commitment to this practice area which has seen substantial growth over the past 10 years. Ruth’s role is to lead the team at our Radlett office and additionally provide strategic direction to our overall Property services practice. I am delighted that she has decided to join us. I have no doubt that her experience and dynamic personality will strengthen our senior management team. Government Website to Cut Red Tape
Nothing is more frustrating than unnecessary red tape, and it seems the government has finally begun to try to reduce its choking effect on small businesses by setting up and launching a website aimed at reducing it across the board. Every few weeks business owners get a chance to highlight regulations and ministers have three months to provide an adequate explanation of why they are necessary. Failure to provide an explanation will result in the regulation being scrapped. A positive step forward? Will be interesting to see how it works in practice: watch this space!
Indulging in Social Media? Beware what you say, it could cost you dear!
If you are a regular Twitter or Facebook user, you should be aware of a recent High Court case in Cardiff where a town councillor became the first person to be awarded damages for libel after defamatory statements were posted on Twitter. False and defamatory statements will not be tolerated by the courts, and it’s important to remember this includes postings on social media platforms. As usual we have a number of interesting commercial law stories for you to browse this month both in this newsletter and on our website, and we’re on hand should you need any advice.
Regards, Louise Attrup
Executive Partner | 
If you use Temporary Workers, you will need to prepare for the Agency Workers Regulations which come into force from 1st October 2011. The Regulations are based around equalisation of pay and rights between agency workers and permanent workers. Some of the rights given to Agency workers will exist from the first day of the assignment, others are subject to a 12 week qualifying period.
All prudent businesses insure against the risks that they face in the course of their business. Some of these risks require compulsory insurance and others are a matter of choice for the business. Careful attention needs to be paid to what insurers are told about when the policies are purchased. The same care and attention to detail is also required following circumstances which may give rise to a claim under the policy. If businesses get this wrong they may not be covered!
Prior to the recession, Retention of Title (RoT) clauses probably received less attention than they should have from many businesses. However, RoT is now back in the spotlight. An effective RoT clause will normally allow you to recover the goods you have supplied (assuming they are identifiable and have not been incorporated within other goods) if they are not paid for.
Who has the right to the airspace above a flat? This question was at the centre of a 
