Business Law Library & Tracker
Selected Business Law Cases
Short explainers for court decisions that change how UK businesses handle contracts, staff, customers, IP and company duties.
Sources last reviewed 13 June 2026
Main law guides
91
Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first
Topics
16
Plain-English clusters
Published case explainers
21
Selected cases with a business lesson
Tracked updates
7
New, amended & reviewed
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.
Get legal helpHopcraft v Close Brothers; Johnson and Wrench v FirstRand
Commission disclosure and customer finance journeys need careful design. Even where broad fiduciary or bribery claims fail, regulated credit fairness can still bite...
Iconix Luxembourg Holdings SARL v Dream Pairs Europe Inc
Brand clearance should consider how signs look in real use, not just side-by-side at design stage. Product shape, angle, context and post-sale visibility can all...
Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Ltd v Augusta 2008 LLP
Collateral warranties should not be treated as interchangeable boilerplate. Developers, tenants, funders and contractors should check whether the document gives the...
Lifestyle Equities CV v Amazon UK Services Ltd
Cross-border ecommerce teams should not assume that a foreign website stays legally foreign. Currency, delivery, checkout wording, search results and customer...
SkyKick UK Ltd v Sky Ltd
Trade mark applications should match a real commercial plan. Filing for everything can backfire if the specification has no proper rationale. Startups should seek...
Tesco Stores Ltd v USDAW
Employers should be careful with promises described as permanent, guaranteed or protected. Cost pressure later may not justify undoing a carefully negotiated...
Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC
The case matters for payment controls and fraud prevention. Businesses should not assume the bank will catch authorised fraud payments. Internal approval controls,...
Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Ltd v Blacks Outdoor Retail Ltd
Commercial lease service charge clauses can control cash flow first and arguments later. Tenants should understand certification, payment timing and dispute rights...
BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA
Directors should change their decision-making discipline as financial distress increases. Board papers, cash-flow evidence and creditor impact should become more...
Harpur Trust v Brazel
Holiday pay is a payroll legal issue, not just an HR estimate. Employers with variable-hours, term-time or irregular workers should use current statutory rules and...
Hurstwood Properties v Rossendale Borough Council
Aggressive tax or rates planning can fail even when the documents look technically clever. Businesses should be wary of schemes that rely on form while ignoring the...
Lloyd v Google LLC
The decision reduced one route for large-scale data claims, but it does not make privacy risk small. Businesses still need clear tracking, consent, data-use and...
Triple Point Technology Inc v PTT Public Company Ltd
Implementation contracts need careful delay, acceptance, termination and damages drafting. If the contract does not explain what happens when a project is late and...
Uber BV v Aslam
Businesses using contractors, platform workers or gig-style models should test the real relationship, not just the label in the contract. Control over pricing,...
Bresco Electrical Services Ltd v Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Ltd
Construction payment disputes do not disappear because one party becomes insolvent. Contractors and principals should keep payment notices, variations and evidence...
WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants
The decision helped employers on vicarious liability, but it is not a reason to relax data security. Businesses still need access controls, audit trails, incident...
Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti
Employers need clean investigation and dismissal processes, especially after complaints or whistleblowing. A decision-maker should not rely blindly on a manager's...
Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Smith
Contractor status needs to match the real working model. If a business requires personal service, controls presentation, allocates work closely and integrates the...
Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd
If a contract says variations must be in writing, do not rely on a casual call or email chain to change the deal. Sales, account management and finance teams should...
Cavendish Square Holding BV v Makdessi; ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis
Liquidated damages, default charges, service credits and termination consequences need a legitimate commercial rationale. They should not look like punishment...
Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher
If your contractor agreement says one thing but daily operations say another, the operational reality can win. Substitution clauses, freedom language and...