In the good old days of legal practice, effective marketing meant being good at your job, and once in a while taking clients out for long, expensive and boozy lunches. That, at least, is what a senior partner at an international law firm once told me. Those days, if not entirely mythical, are long gone. […]
Alasdair Taylor, Author at SEQ Legal - Page 5 of 14
Non est factum in the 21st Century
Pottering around in some of the dustier corners of the law of contract this morning, I happened on the doctrine of non est factum (“it is not my deed”), a species of mistake I haven’t given any thought to since law school. The doctrine was developed by the English courts to protect those who signed […]
101 ways to NOT get sued
Legal action can be catastrophic for a start-up or SME. When you add up lawyers’ fees, court fees, damages and lost management time, the loser can be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of pounds of losses, sometimes more. Even if you win, the victory may be pyrrhic – for you if not for […]
Transferring IP rights in software
It’s axiomatic that intellectual property rights are transferable. A change of ownership of physical property can be evidenced by a change of possession; not so with intellectual property (IP). For this reason, IP transfers should always be embodied in a written instrument. Indeed it’s often is a legal requirement that IP transfers be in writing. […]
Cookies, consents and browser settings
The UK ICO’s last-minute revisions to its official guidance on the cookie laws focused on the possibility of “implied consent” for the use of cookies. This softening of the ICO’s position was sensible, notwithstanding that the whole cookie law saga brings EU tech law into disrepute. There was, however, another option open to the ICO. […]
Contracting with children under website T&Cs
Many websites are aimed at children, and many that aren’t aimed at children are used by them. Although not all website operators seek to enter into contractual relationships with users, many do; and there lies a problem. The general rule of English law is that individuals under 18 years of age – minors in the […]
Prize competitions and the law: navigating the labyrinth
The laws of England and Wales on prize competitions can seem labyrinthine. But for most prize competitions, the route through is reasonably straightforward. There are three main stages. First, design the competition in such a way that it isn’t in danger of becoming expensively ensnared in the gambling law regime. Second, mark those areas of […]
Google, paid links and English prisons
Google’s prohibits paid links that pass PageRank: “Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.” Google acknowledges that advertising links are a hugely important part of the online economy, but recommends that such links be structured in such a […]
6 ways to manage social media legal risks
The legal risks associated with running a social networking service are not just of academic interest. Examples of lawsuits abound: The UK’s own Friends Reunited found itself on the wrong end of a defamation claim a full decade ago. More recently, during 2011, MySpace was accused of supplying personal information without the consent of users. […]
Selling online and the law – part 4 – information disclosure
An important part of legal compliance for online sellers is the provision of certain information to users and customers. This post seeks to list all of the main categories of information that need to be disclosed on the seller’s website. There’s no way to disguise the nature of this post: it’s a list. A long […]
