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Thinking - Blog

New developments in AI may put law firms at greater risk of phishing fraud

Published on 28 Apr 2023. By Will Sefton, Partner and Head of the Lawyers Liability and Regulatory Group

As the computing power of Artificial Intelligence continues to grow exponentially, we consider how generative technology may expand the reach of traditional phishing frauds aimed at law firms.

Press and Media

The Times recognises RPC among Best Law Firms 2024

Published on 30 Oct 2023.

International law firm, RPC, has been recognised by The Times in its Best Law Firms 2024 report, an annual ranking of the top 250 law firms in England and Wales.

Thinking - Blog

Architects' Code reforms – it's important that you have your say!

Published on 08 Oct 2024. By Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Emma Wherry, Senior Associate

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is consulting on a proposed new code of professional conduct for architects. The proposed new Code is shorter and simpler, but may be more complex to apply and more onerous. Architects should consider responding to the consultation by the deadline of 12 December 2024.

Thinking - Blog

Construction disciplinary trends analysis #3: fraud and dishonesty

Published on 12 Aug 2024. By Ben Goodier, Partner and Emma Wherry, Senior Associate and Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

This article is the third instalment in our mini-series analysing trends in disciplinary decisions involving construction professionals, with insight from our specialist disciplinary team.

Thinking - Blog

Construction disciplinary trends analysis #2: engagement letters – worth more than the paper they're written on!

Published on 21 Feb 2024. By Ben Goodier, Partner and Emma Wherry, Senior Associate and Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

This article is the second in our mini-series analysing trends in disciplinary decisions involving construction professionals, with insight from our specialist disciplinary team.

Thinking - Blog

Construction disciplinary trends analysis #1: continuing professional development

Published on 16 Oct 2023. By Ben Goodier, Partner and Emma Wherry, Senior Associate and Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

This article is the first in our mini-series analysing trends in disciplinary decisions involving construction professionals, with insight from our specialist disciplinary team.

Thinking - Blog

FCA consults on new reporting obligations for (i) incidents and (ii) third party arrangements

Published on 16 Jan 2025. By Mark Crichard, Partner and Nigel Wilson, Of Counsel and Praveeta Thayalan, Knowledge Lawyer

On 13 December 2024, the FCA published consultation paper CP24/28 (the CP) on proposals for firms to report on operational incidents and, separately, on material third party arrangements. The CP mirrors similar proposals put forward by the PRA and Bank of England on the same day and is designed to align with current international standards (e.g. the EU Regulation on digital operational resilience (DORA)).

Thinking - Blog

How will the "Genny lec" impact the world of cyber and tech?

Published on 24 Jun 2024. By Rachel Ford, Partner

On 22 May 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood in the pouring rain to announce a General Election, thus commencing a summer of political and meteorological uncertainty for those in the UK.

Thinking - Blog

The November 2023 AI safety summit and the UK's direction of travel

Published on 29 Aug 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Charles Buckworth, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

The government has confirmed that the UK AI safety summit will be held at Bletchley Park on 1 and 2 November 2023.

Thinking - Blog

Telecoms supply agreement excludes "loss of profit" claim under "anticipated profits" liability exclusion (EE v Virgin Mobile)

Published on 25 Aug 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

In line with a number of recent cases, in EE Limited v Virgin Mobile Telecoms Limited [2023] EWHC 1989 (TCC) the courts have shown that parties generally cannot avoid clear wording contained in exclusion clauses in order to recover losses that have been expressly excluded (in this case, loss of profits).

Thinking - Blog

Rolls-Royce entitled to hit the brakes in dispute over termination of a software services agreement (Topalsson v Rolls-Royce)

Published on 14 Aug 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

In Topalsson GmbH v Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited [2023] EWHC 1765 (TCC), the High Court has provided useful guidance on how to determine whether a software implementation timeline agreed by the parties is binding, when implementation is considered complete and in what circumstances failing to complete implementation by the contractual deadlines entitles the customer to terminate the contract.

Thinking - Blog

A narrow escape – software services provider entitled to rely on single aggregate liability cap (Drax v Wipro)

Published on 25 Jul 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

When it comes to bespoke software development projects, a lot can go wrong. There's risk for the customer such as project delays, software defects, functionality issues and a lack of meeting of minds in terms of project requirements.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 20 September 2024

Published on 20 Sep 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 13 September 2024

Published on 13 Sep 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 6 September 2024

Published on 06 Sep 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 30 August 2024

Published on 30 Aug 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Publication

RICS disciplinary process: an overview for surveyors

Published on 27 Aug 2024. By Ben Goodier, Partner and Emma Wherry, Senior Associate and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate and Laura Sponti, Associate

Download our complete guide to the procedure involved in a disciplinary investigation against a chartered surveyor.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 23 August 2024

Published on 23 Aug 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Publication

The Week That Was - 16 August 2024

Published on 16 Aug 2024. By Alan Stone, Partner and Ben Goodier, Partner and Alexandra Anderson, Partner and Tom Green, Partner and Katharine Cusack, Partner and Zoe Eastell, Partner and Felicity Strong, Partner and Peter Mansfield, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Cecilia Everett, Partner and Sarah O'Callaghan, Senior Associate

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Thinking - Blog

Construction and Engineering Law 2024

Published on 15 Aug 2024. By Tom Green, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner and Alan Stone, Partner and Jonathan Carrington, Senior Associate

We are delighted to have contributed once again to ICLG's Construction and Engineering Law guide for 2024. The comprehensive guide delves into the multifaceted world of construction and engineering law, providing an essential reference for understanding and comparing the handling of common legal challenges across various jurisdictions.

Thinking - Blog

Silicon Valley, Signature and Credit Suisse: what do they all share(holder) in common?

Published on 28 Mar 2023. By James Wickes, Partner and Oliver Knox, Partner and Jessica Pease, Associate

In what has been termed "the biggest banking crisis since 2008", both Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank have collapsed, and Credit Suisse has been rescued. Whether more banks are to follow suit is yet to be seen.

Thinking - Blog

ClientEarth challenges claims made by BlackRock in its sustainable funds

Published on 28 Oct 2024. By James Wickes, Partner and Catherine Zakarias-Welch, Knowledge Lawyer

Not only are regulators clamping down on greenwashing but, as previously highlighted, ClientEarth, a non-profit international environmental law organisation, also has this issue squarely in its sights.

Thinking - Blog

Uncertainty around the mandatory reimbursement cap for APP frauds – a new headache for FI firms and their insurers?

Published on 09 Sep 2024. By James Wickes, Partner and Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

New regulations coming on 7 October 2024 will force payment firms to reimburse victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a set limit. On 4 September 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) announced a consultation proposing to set this limit at £85,000, vastly reduced from the previously proposed £415,000 cap. This is a potential headache for insurers as the level of the cap will impact assessment of risk and apportionment of liability between sending and receiving payment firms – and the industry will only have 7 days to prepare.

Thinking - Blog

Further welcome news from the FCA – this time on co-manufacturing

Published on 08 Aug 2024. By Jonathan Charwat, Partner and Lauren Murphy, Senior Associate

Following on from our earlier blog, our review of the FCA's 'Discussion Paper' (DP24/1) continues, this time considering the rules relating to co-manufacturers of insurance products.

Thinking - Blog

Potential deregulation and a pragmatic approach to commercial insurance – welcome news from the FCA

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Jonathan Charwat, Partner and James Houlihan, Associate

The FCA has published a 'Discussion Paper' (DP24/1) seeking feedback on its rules on commercial insurance including in respect of the types of commercial customers in-scope, co-manufacturing of products and bespoke insurance products.

Thinking - Publication

New Labour government – what is in store for the UK?

Published on 09 Jul 2024. By Rachael Healey, Partner

We have a new Labour Party government for the first time in 14 years. The new government has already made various announcements, with more set to follow in the coming days, and then we have the King’s Speech on 17 July, when the Labour Party will set out its opening legislative agenda – but what can we expect from the new government impacting services regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, pensions and accountants?

Thinking - Blog

Is the FCA to blame for BSPS? MPs seem to think so

Published on 22 Jul 2022. By Rachael Healey, Partner

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday published a report entitled "Investigation into the British Steel Pension Scheme". The report makes a number of recommendations in light of its investigations in to the FCA's conduct and regulatory oversight at the time of the issues arising from the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) and in particular the decision by 7,834 members to transfer to a personal pension arrangement. The report is heavily critical of the FCA's handling of BSPS and its regulatory oversight of the defined benefit transfer market generally. Given the request in the report for an update from the FCA on its progress on the various recommendations and conclusions in 6 months' time, we wait to see how the FCA reacts to yet further criticism of its handling of BSPS at a time when it is reviewing responses to the consumer redress scheme consultation.

Thinking - Blog

SIPPs and FOS - does the Rowanmoor decision change anything?

Published on 02 Feb 2022. By Rachael Healey, Partner

Last week FOS published a decision it reached last year in a complaint against a SIPP provider involving advised sales. The FOS upheld the complaint, finding that the SIPP provider should have rejected business from the regulated financial adviser, CIB Life and Pensions Limited (CIB), given, broadly, red flags available to the SIPP provider with respect to the operation of CIB's business model including that CIB was not advising on the ultimate investment within the SIPP and as a result such introductions involved a significant risk of consumer detriment. The decision has received quite a bit of press attention - but has it moved the dial for SIPP complaints before FOS or not?

Thinking - Blog

The Future of Insolvency Regulation

Published on 04 Jan 2022. By Rachael Healey, Partner

On 21 December 2021 the Government launched a consultation into the future of insolvency regulation. The changes proposed in the consultation document will have a wide ranging impact on the insolvency profession (and its insurers) with the proposals including: the direct regulation of insolvency firms, the introduction of a single regulatory body with powers to order compensation against insolvency practitioners and firms, a new additional requirements regime, changes to the bond regime and a public register of insolvency practitioners and firms. Many of the changes proposed require primary legislation and so it may be some time before the changes to take effect (if adopted). But there does appear to be some wind behind these proposals given they follow on from the Call for Evidence in 2019 and a more general focus on insolvency issues in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thinking - Blog

The summer of discontent?

Published on 31 Jul 2020. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG Strategy Lead and Ben Roberts, Partner

What comes to mind when you hear the word "summer"? The unbridled joy of no more school for 6 whole weeks? Buckets, spades and wind-swept beaches? Perhaps the call of a sun-soaked tropical island? For most, summer means taking some time out to recharge and switch off.

Thinking - Blog

A guide to buying and selling English residential property

Published on 14 Jan 2025. By Elizabeth Alibhai, Partner and Sukh Ahark, Partner, Co-head of India Practice and Ben Roberts, Partner and Jon Ely, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner

We are seeing increased positivity in the English residential property market. In 2024, inflation reached the Bank of England’s 2% target, down from 11.1% in 2022, which was a significant factor in the return of consumer confidence and economic growth. Mortgage rates are falling slightly with approval rates at their highest level since 2022 as buyers continue to respond to increased certainty post-election. Property values are again on the rise while demand continues to outstrip supply.

Thinking - Blog

Unpacking the Building Safety Act's industry overhaul

Published on 06 Mar 2024. By Zoe Eastell, Partner and Zack Gould-Wilson, Senior Associate

On June 28, 2022, the Building Safety Act 2022 received royal assent, bringing about the biggest change to building safety in 40 years.

Thinking - Blog

The El Niño year and impact on subsidence claims

Published on 13 Jul 2023. By Andrew Roper, Partner and Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

Insurers should be bracing for a wave of subsidence claims arising from the increasingly warm weather. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has declared that an El Niño climate event is in progress, which helps explain why June 2023 was the hottest on record in the UK.

Thinking - Blog

Building on renewable energy #3 – Anaerobic Digestion

Published on 24 Sep 2020.

Anaerobic digestion is the process by which biodegradable materials are broken down in a controlled environment. Whilst being broken down, the materials emit gas (which can be used as a source of renewable energy), and produce heat (which can also be harnessed on or near-to site). The process also leaves a waste material (digestate), which can be used as fertiliser, contributing to the circular economy.

Profile

Jessica Yates

Thinking - Publication

Tax Bites – September 2024

Published on 03 Sep 2024. By Adam Craggs, Partner

Welcome to the latest edition of RPC's Tax Bites – providing monthly bite-sized updates from the tax world.

Thinking - Blog

HNWs: Understanding HMRC's Offshore Information Gathering Capabilities

Published on 24 Jul 2024. By Michelle Sloane, Partner and Liam McKay, Senior Associate

Wealthy individuals have long been the focus of a substantial part of HMRC’s compliance activities, but a difficult economic climate together with a looming general election and possible change of government is likely to lead to even greater scrutiny of HNWs by HMRC in the short term.

Thinking - Podcast

A whistlestop tour of the taxation of international sports and rock stars with Patrick Way KC

Published on 21 Feb 2024.

In this episode, RPC's Taxing Matters Host and Senior Associate in RPC's Tax Disputes team, Alexis Armitage, will be discussing the taxation of international sports and rock stars with leading silk, Patrick Way KC.

Thinking - Podcast

A day in the life of a tax adviser with Jeremy Johnson

Published on 28 Nov 2023.

In this episode of Taxing Matters, we are joined by Jeremy Johnson, managing director of inTAX Limited.

Thinking - Blog

No bouncing back for directors

Published on 20 May 2024. By James Wickes, Partner and Adam Craggs, Partner and Catherine Zakarias-Welch, Knowledge Lawyer

Banned! Fraudsters! – Terms used by the Insolvency Service for directors who abused the government backed loan scheme which was put in place to help businesses struggling during the pandemic.

Thinking - Podcast