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07 October 2010 / Roderick Ramage
Issue: 7436 / Categories: Blogs
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Law in 101 words

Snippets from The Reduced Law Dictionary by Roderick Ramage

Equity looks on that as done which ought to be done

This maxim applies where something is agreed but had not actually been done. “The doctrine cannot in its application to contracts ... be permitted to turn the conditional into the absolute, the optional into the obligatory, or to make for the parties contracts different from those they have made for themselves. What a party to a contract ought to do, within the true meaning of this doctrine, is what he has contracted to do, and nothing more and nothing less is to be taken in the equity to be done”: De Beers v British South Africa Co [1912] per Lord Atkinson.

Fox hunting and the pensions crisis

I sat in a solicitor’s waiting room before giving a talk on pensions and read the Yorkshire Post. In it were some extracts and commentary on Tony Blair’s memoirs, Journey, which gave me my opening gambit. Pensions don’t count. In one excerpt he admitted that the piece of legislation of his premiership that he regretted

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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