It don’t mean a thing if you don’t have the bling…
It don’t mean a thing if you don’t have the bling… in this case our website/s, Fergusonlegal.co.uk and GetLawSavvy.co.uk. It also applies to shoes but that’s another story… I thought it would be cool to share our experiences of revamping our website. It’s quite a process but I’m happy to say well worth the final…
Is the grass greener…
“The Jury” Did you watch the TV programme “The Jury”? Did you find yourself shouting at the TV? How did it make you feel? Were you dismayed? Did it leave you with a sense of foreboding; thinking there must a better option? Well it got me thinking about what perceptions may be in light of…
Covid-19: The way forward…
Covid-19 has caused many things a deluge of concerns, rules, guidance, information, action plans. All this has raised some recurring questions: What are our health and safety criminal law obligations in dealing with the coronavirus? What do we have to do? How can we protect ourselves from blame if we get it wrong? As we…
Covid-19 & Prosecution of employers
Coronavirus has dominated the headlines and amongst all this some commentators have speculated that employers may be about to face prosecution if they don’t take all Covid-19 precautions possible to protect staff and third parties from infection. Now it is correct to say that employers in the UK owe duties under the Health and Safety at Work…
Tragic and wholly avoidable – worker crushed on site
This tragic story really horrified us – our hearts immediately went out to the man’s family. Our second reaction was frustration. This should never have happened. Not only was it entirely avoidable – clearly a proper risk assessment wasn’t in place – but it had happened before. Someone, somewhere, knew the risk and did nothing about…
Risk Assessment: 5 steps for compliance
“Risk assessment” – yes we know, these words make your eyes roll, you want to yawn and your instinct is to run to the kitchen to make a strong coffee. Well, we sympathise. via GIPHY It’s not a fun task for any company. We just see so many cases that could simply have been avoided had…
7 things a good lawyer should do for you (and probably isn’t)
‘Good lawyer’ you say? Is there such a thing?! Well, when we say ‘we do things differently at Ferguson Legal’ it’s with this aim… Yet people often respond by asking, ‘well, how?’ Fair enough. This is a claim that many people across lots of different industries make – and it should be backed up. In…
Apology – is it too late to say sorry?
In the normal course of life, an apology goes a long way. We all make mistakes. Recognising that, saying sorry and offering to somehow fix it is a common sense way of dealing with those mistakes. Until June 2017, organisations were reluctant to offer this simple solution because they worried it could lead to court…
Someone got injured – who’s to blame?
Where there’s blame there’s a claim, right? Sigh. In my day, if you fell down you got back up – you didn’t try to sue the tree whose stick you just tripped over. Times change – and there’s also this thing called common sense. If you have a company that uses dangerous machines, you have…
Commercial Law – what is it and why should I care?
Commercial law is a bit of an obsession here at Ferguson Legal – so we’ll break it down for the regular folk! We think you (as a person) and you (as a company) should have just a basic understanding of what it is, then you’ll know when to call us. We’ve made you a cheat…
Directors’ Responsibilities: The Directors’ Directory Part 1
Directors’ responsibilities apply to any company director. Over the next three posts we will break down the role of the company director – starting with the responsibilities. Directors’ responsibilities: Statutory Duties Directors need to be aware that they are personally subject to statutory duties in their capacity as directors of a company. In addition, the company –…
Appointing a director – The Directors’ Directory Part 2
Appointing a director is a fairly straightforward process. My last post concerned directors’ responsibilities. I will now focus on the appointment process. Appointing a director happens at any time after incorporation. Likewise, a director can resign or be removed by the shareholders at any time, providing such actions do not contravene any provisions in the Companies Act…
The Directors’ Directory part 3: Removing a director
Removing a director is a fairly straightforward process. My last post focused on how to appoint a company director – I’ll now outline how to remove one. A director can be removed from a company for a number of reasons. The resignation or termination must be in accordance with three things: the terms of the Companies…
Modern Slavery Act – company obligations
One year on from the Modern Slavery Act and the introduction of section 54, modern slavery remains high on the government’s agenda. The Prime Minister has recently stated at UN meetings that the issue is a global one, while the Scottish government has launched an awareness campaign after victims were found in small and remote…
Great British Bake Off – DANGER, DANGER!
If, like us, you’re delighted Great British Bake Off is back on TV, you may have noticed that Kate Lyon, one of the contestants, is a health and safety inspector… We love a bit of health and safety chat at Ferguson Legal so here’s a little blog we prepared earlier. Dig in! Beware the kitchen…
Price fixing for HGVs – can you claim?
Price Fixing – The Infringement The European Commission has issued a record £2.9 billion fine to five major Scania truck manufacturers after it was found that they co-ordinated truck pricing and colluded on passing on the costs of compliance with emissions rules from 1997-2011. Buyers of medium and heavy goods vehicles were significantly overcharged for…
Dropped: Judicial Review of HSE’s FFI dispute process
A judicial review challenge over the disputes process of the Health and Safety Executive’s cost recovery has been dropped. The HSE has settled the matter out of court. The case was due to be heard on 8 March 2017 after OCS Group, an international facilities management and maintenance company, was granted permission for the judicial review…
Health & Safety, English influence on Scottish courts?
First test case applied English guidelines to Scottish case Case was an appeal against a fine for health and safety breach The fine was reduced from £1.5m to £1.2m The case concerned a scalding at a work premises Implications remain to be seen The High Court has concluded that, for health and safety cases,…
The Future of H&S sentencing in Scotland?
It will be interesting to see whether the recent fine of £5 million on the operator of Alton Towers has any influence on the future approach to be taken by Scottish courts in health and safety sentencing. Following an accident that took place at a power station in Fife where their employee suffered scalding after…
Toxic gas release… not a case of who ate all the sprouts…
A food waste disposal and recycling firm has been fined £250,000 following three employees becoming overcome by toxic gases (including hydrogen sulphide) and a reduced oxygen atmosphere whilst working in an animal waste facility. This prosecution comes 12 months after the firm was fined £660,000 following the death of an employee. The previous conviction resulted after a fatality…
#getbrexitsavvy
Since 23 June 2016 when the British people voted to leave the European Union the conversations and topics have surrounded the momentous change to Britain’s political and economic landscape. The legal questions on the Brexit situation have been largely side-lined. Extricating the UK from the EU legal system is one of the biggest legal issues…
#Duty Calls…….
A Director, the leader of the pack, the boss, king (or queen) of the business…….everything you have dreamed off……but the reality is do you really know your duties and the penalties that occur if you fail to exercise your responsibilites? #PERSONALLY LIABLE You could be held personally liable for losses resulting from illegal acts, acting…
Stop!! Do you know your legal obligations?
With the dark nights upon us, we must confess The Apprentice is our guilty pleasure, as we get snuggled up on the sofa with a nice hot cuppa. Amongst all the frantic tasks, drama and tension of the boardroom, we have been thinking about the understanding of the legal obligations as a company director in…
A meeting about a meeting?
With the announcement that The Apprentice is soon to return to our screens, it got us thinking at Ferguson Legal about meetings, and ‘the boardroom’. How often should company’s hold board meetings? Is there a set rule? Does Lord Sugar conduct his meetings in the usual manner? Do companies have meetings for the sake of…
Gold, silver, bronze and green?
Get ready, set, hold on a minute the water is green? What really did happen the pools in Rio? After offering little clarity about why the water in two Olympic competition pools mysteriously turned green, Rio 2016 officials have said it was because a a contractor poured hydrogen peroxide into the diving well and the large pool in the centre. The…
Such a boring subject…
Let’s be honest, most people do not take health & safety serious until something happens, correct? We are not accusing you of this, but like most fast paced lifestyles nobody stops to take heed until the pleeeeep hits the fan. This was one of the thoughts behind the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007…
Something’s Gotta Give
Since the announcement in April of funding from Central Government to the Health & Safety Executive being cut we were left wondering how can the same organisation run effectively with such a huge financial blow? This is going to be one uphill struggle, I mean we are not talking a few pounds here it will have…
Savvy sister site has arrived in style
From the outset it was always the ambition of Carole Ferguson, Managing Director of Ferguson Legal to showcase the fun and savvy side of the world of law, with a new, fresh and innovative approach giving a tongue and cheek style to hard hitting stories allowing everyone to relate which may have otherwise not struck…
Your mission should you choose to accept it…
Having attempted my first blog with the rather apt name of ‘Blog Off’… the time has now come for me to follow through with my blogging promises. This means actually trying to put together an informative piece which someone might actually find interesting (it can happen) and useful. I will therefore attempt a very death…
Risky Business… or just Risk Assessments…
Here we go again… for some reason I keep thinking of Tom Cruise films and this time the topic of risk assessments made me think of Risky Business – some might say the film that launched his career. Not least for the scene of him sliding into shot from the side in his pants and…
Mile high club? No, the mile high blogging club & a little H&S.
This blog is currently coming to you from 22,000 feet (and climbing). Sorry to do this to you but I am jetting off on holiday and, yes I love my work so much I thought I would work on the plane! Although don’t worry I don’t have a glass of fizz in my hand… yet!…
Substance Abuse, Good Hands & Weights aka COSHH, Manual Handling & Equipment.
I have been sitting staring at my computer screen for about 30 minutes trying to consider how to write about the next H&S topics and even I am struggling with how to put this down in a #Fun way…. Not least because my mind keeps drifting off to when is it okay to order a…
Accidents, Prosecutions & the Law.
ER, The Good Wife and reality… So I love, and I do mean love, the above TV shows. In fact I could sit up all night and overdose (forgive the pun) on them both. But what do they have to do with Health & Safety I hear you ask… Well, probably not a lot but…
Where does your business stand on slavery?
For many slavery may seem like an antiquated concept. One from many years ago, one that is banished and no longer of relevance. The truth of the matter however is that perhaps it still exists but in different forms of the traditional word ‘slavery’. Indeed, taking this further into modern day application as of October…
Scotland’s stand against human trafficking.
Following on from our last blog on the subject, we bring you a specific update regarding human trafficking in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament recently approved the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill. Under the bill the Scottish government is under a duty to develop and maintain a “Scottish Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy” in conjunction with other interested…
Directors behaving badly…
Unlike one of my favourite programmes in the 90s, Men Behaving Badly, directors behaving badly is no laughing matter. I loved the mischief that Gary and Tony got up to and the stereotypical male behaviour of the two of them. However when a director gets up to mischief, it can have severe consequences on the…
Special skills, Success and Saving the world…
When you hear special skills what do you think of? Heroes, avengers and special agents or just what people are good at? I bet you don’t think of company law and directors… Some however may want or need to know if they require any special skills or qualifications to become a director. When setting up…
Girl power!
No, not the Spice Girls rather the fact that the number of female solicitors in Scotland overtakes male for first time! http://www.lawscot.org.uk/news/2015/12/scottish-solicitors-now-majority-female/ (oh, here you go then)
What a commute!
Beautiful view on the way to the office.#aberdeenshire #deeside #gloriousviews#travellinglawyers
All’s clear in Terms & Conditions…well maybe not.
What do you ensure within your terms and conditions? Do you ensure that they are ‘fair’ on all parties? What do you consider fair? Do you think that your online terms should be different? This has been ‘hot’ news lately and the focus is on ‘online’ Terms and Conditions. With Facebook, Apple and Paypal all…
It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Aint Got That Bling.
The title of this blog in this case applies to our website, Fergusonlegal.co.uk, and it also applies to shoes but that’s another story on with the blog… I thought it would be cool to share our experiences of revamping our website, it’s quite a process but I’m happy to say well worth the final outcome,…
Love, Life or Business … it’s all personal.
When people set out on the road to business it is often like setting out in a relationship with a love interest… It is all smiles, dreams, what if’s and would/ could be’s and everything smells of roses. So high on the possibilities of what is to come and conquering the world – often the…
Keeping the Wolf (of Wall Street) from the door…
Although The Wolf of Wall Street is a fantastic movie it’s not an example of how we should run our companies. In the real world we need everything to be above board in the board room with regards private dealings, conflicts, shares and contracts… This follows our blog on directors’ responsibilities, focusing on individual directors and…
“I’d like to thank….”
It’s a double whammy for Ferguson Legal! We’ve just been announced as AI’s Most Innovative Law Firm in Scotland 2016 along with winning Women in Law’s, Health & Safety Lawyer of the Year. We’re honoured to receive these accolades and hopefully they’re a recognition that we’re trying to be the fresh and innovative firm we set out…
Outsource it!
Ever wanted the benefits of an inhouse lawyer without the commitment? Designed for companies who need inhouse counsel without the requirement of a full time commitment or to supplement under-resourced legal departments. Our tailored and flexible service offers a lawyer on demand who will become intimate with your business and its appetite for risk while managing…
a bit about us.
Get Law Savvy is the blog partner of Ferguson Legal where the team has a chance to show the fun side of the law… Well, when your MD jumps out of a plane to celebrate turning 40, it’s kind of endemic in the office. Our favourite day is Friday so we can get away with…