Resource Library

Employers may now succeed in reclaiming VAT on the investment management costs of their pension schemes. The European Court has decided that a Dutch employer sponsoring a funded pension scheme for its employees can deduct all of the VAT it pays in respect of the management and operation of the fund. With HMRC currently silent, but time limits for claiming past VAT overpayments still running, what should employers do now to protect their rights?

The Supreme Court has decided that financial support directions issued by the Pensions Regulator to Nortel and Lehman Brothers companies after insolvency proceedings had already started were provable debts. Pension scheme trustees will rank with other unsecured creditors in the priority order. It is a change from the position in the lower courts where the trustees’ claim was given “super priority” status.

This article focuses on the different value-based approaches and what it takes to not just make them work, but thrive. It stresses the need for a true partnership to develop between in-house and outside counsel. When a true partnership is formed, waste is eliminated for in-house counsel, while profits are maintained, and sometimes even enhanced, for outside counsel. The article delves into the need to diverge from the "I hire the lawyer, not the firm" mentality and place emphasis on the product that is the practice group instead. Finally, it touches on a few misconceptions concerning alternative fee arrangements and how to best measure the value from those arrangements.

<p/>This ACC Value Challenge resource is part 3 of a 3 part series. To view the other resources in this series, please click here:</p>
<p class=><a id=CP___PAGEID=1365185| href=/legalresources/resource.cfm?show=1365185>ACC Value Challenge: Facing Up to the Challenge - The Case for Change (Part 1)</a></p><p class=><a id=CP___PAGEID =1365193| href=/legalresources/resource.cfm?show=1365193>ACC Value Challenge: Facing Up to the Challenge - Law Firm Metrics (Part 2)</a></p>

A helpful checklist for outlining an international joint venture.

This guide provides a straightforward overview of the law and practice which applies in a wide-ranging number of jurisdictions where CMS are able to provide legal advice. This guide provides an answer to each of the 20 questions for each jurisdiction.<br />

This guide highlights the fact that there is currently significant variation in pension provision throughout Europe, suggesting homogenisation, for the moment at least, remains some distance away.

This briefing considers the areas of the judgment that are likely to invite challenge on appeal and the practical points to take from the judgment on the assumption that it is upheld.

Linking to protected content on a free website does not constitute an unauthorised "communication to the public", according to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) (Case C-466/12 Svensson) on 13 February 2014. Read more about this decision in this Ashurst article.

In this briefing we look back at some of the most noteworthy market and legal developments in restructuring and insolvency in 2013.

The proposed western Canadian LNG export industry has doubled in 2013, in both the number of projects and volume of gas sought for export. Read this article to learn more about the future of Canada's LNG export industry.