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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

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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