Shoosmiths LLP

A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on the spectre of personal criminal liability for charity trustees. During the recent Trustees’ Week the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said that one of the week’s aims is to inspire more people to come forward to serve as trustees, to prepare a pipeline of able and passionate people, willing to take on the mantle of trusteeship, ensuring the good work of charities is sustainable. In a 2021 High Court judgment, in rejecting an application to disqualify as company directors the former trustees and chief executive of Keeping Kids Company, the judge acknowledged this public policy of encouraging volunteerism...

Shoosmiths hosts a roundtable covering the partnerships model in the UK's living sector, as part of the UKAA’s Annual Build to Rent Conference 2023. As the UK’s residential market navigates economic challenges, including the impact of elevated interest rates and borrowing costs, many real estate businesses are now exploring partnerships. While a level of consolidation is to be expected during difficult operating periods, the partnerships model and different types of working together – risk sharing, collaborating on new developments or through forward funding deals - should not be seen as a temporary or quick fix to current challenges...

Setbacks in crucial support programs like the Rapid Charging Fund, cuts to electric vehicle (EV) passenger car purchase incentives for most consumers, and a rollback of petrol and diesel phase-out targets have seen the UK drop behind much of Europe in the race to grow EV fleets.The data analysed for law firm Shoosmiths and Cornwall Insight’s Electric Vehicle Country Attractiveness (EVCA) Index1, reveals that the UK’s battery electric vehicle (BEV) fleet experienced a slower growth of 37% in the past year, down from 42% the previous year. This places the nation significantly behind many others on the Index, especially when considering the EU's average growth of 48% over the same period...

Shoosmiths has appointed Tom Speller as Director of Shoosmiths EIGHT, the firm’s connected services arm focused on smarter service excellence. This key appointment follows the firm’s recent announcement that it is only one of a handful of law firms worldwide trialling Microsoft’s Copilot and after being named as one of Europe’s most innovative law firms by the FT and is coupled with formalising innovation roles across Shoosmiths. The new role is integral to turbo-charging Shoosmiths’ strategy of excelling in its chosen markets and leading firms in the upper mid-market by 2030...