Our latest news, industry insights and knowledge

How should employers deal with stress

Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day, and far from celebrating the fact that businesses “get it” when it comes to employees and stress, unfortunately they don’t!   We see a very complex relationship between environmental factors at work, stress at work and overall health of employees, but often this either just isn’t seen or understood…

Van Der Lans v KLM – technical problems are not extraordinary circumstances

On 17 September 2015 the European Court of Justice ruled that technical faults on aircrafts are not extraordinary circumstances under EU regulation 261/2004 (“The Regulations”). In other words, airlines will not be able to deny a passenger compensation where a delayed flight has occurred due to a technical fault. The Decision The court made it…

Driving Safely in Wet Weather Conditions

Each year, thousands of car accidents occur on wet roads and in poor driving conditions in the rain, some of which result in fatalities. As we enter the darker, wetter seasons, the chances of such an accident occurring rise significantly. John James (RTA Solicitor at Oakwood Solicitors) takes a look at how we can all…

Grandparents to receive shared parental leave and pay

Legally, from 2018, grandparents will have the right to shared parental leave.   Shared parental leave comes after Conservative government announced at their party conference in Manchester last week. “This is a modern Conservative policy that backs working families and gives them the freedom to choose what will work best for them,” Chancellor of the…

Oakwood Solicitors announces appointment of New Director, Richard Coulthard

Oakwood Solicitors, a full service law firm based in Leeds, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Coulthard as a new Director with immediate effect.   Richard Coulthard’s appointment comes just eight weeks after the firm announced the MBO with Abbie Keech taking over as Managing Director.     Richard Coulthard will be responsible…

The Consumer Rights Act

There is a significant change for consumers today as we now have new powers as to when we can demand refunds for faulty goods and for the type of good we can claim refunds for.   Some of the older Acts haven’t been updated for decades, so this is a good move by the government…

Hidden Speed Cameras

There has been some criticism of Humberside Police recently after pictures were released of Traffic Officers concealing speed cameras in tractors and horseboxes. Humberside Police have responded saying that the cameras are there to catch motorcyclists and drivers travelling at very high speed on their rural roads in East Yorkshire, and not there to catch…

Do ‘Womens’ Magazines Discriminate Against Women?

As a married man, I have to say that I don’t personally read ‘womens’ magazines however I often see such magazines around my house courtesy of my wife.   Invariably these magazines appear to talk about other women, celebrities, in an array of derogatory means referring often to how certain celebrities are ‘too thin’ or…

Car dealers sue Volkswagen over diesel-emissions scandal

In the US, independent Volkswagen dealerships have already started action to take the giant car maker to court after admitting that they had cheated emissions tests. Their claim is that they are likely to see some financial losses following revelations that the company fitted some diesel models with software to cheat on U.S. vehicle emissions…