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In a 1999 Court of Appeal decision it was held that s.47 of the Financial Services Act 1986 (the Act) did not create a new, wider duty of disclosure than that already existing at common law or in equity.

The paper aims to examine the judicial approach to some aspects of contract damages in England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand.

The paper is an analysis of judgments of the three jurisdictions and academic commentary.

Generally, there is uniformity in the assessment of damages in the jurisdictions discussed as is illustrated with liquidated damages and the adherence to the judgment of the House of Lords. However, the same adherence is not evident in the case of lower court judgments in the controversial area of “consequential loss”. Although not a remedy, it is an integral part of the assessment of damages process when included in exception clauses.

The research highlights the need for knowledge of the legal issues to ensure that the contract covers what is intended so that a party is not without a remedy when the contract fails.

This paper is based on a talk given by Philip Ryley and John Virgo to the Association of Pension Lawyers at their annual conference in Bournemouth in November 1998. In it the authors provide an outline of some of the key legal issues that have arisen out of the pensions mis‐selling litigation.

The purpose of this study is to reflect on the author’s decade as a columnist for New Library World and Information and Learning Science.

This paper provides literature review and commentary on this topic that has been addressed by professionals, researchers and practitioners.

When a patron approaches a librarian with a question, and the resources are discovered that can aid and support that patron in finding a solution to his or her dilemma, the stock of the librarian rises, reminding the public that with all the changes around the profession since the advent of the internet, the human touch, that face-to-face interaction and personal communication skill, still remains a significant instrument in the librarian’s customer services toolkit.

The value in exploring this topic is for others to acknowledge that which has been gained over time by an experienced library colleague.

Training clinical child psychologists necessitates explicit attention to the importance of developing cultural competencies for practice in diverse communities. This case study, comprising relevant social history, cultural models of child psychopathology and conceptual analysis of complex systems in bicultural Aotearoa New Zealand, offers salutary lessons for clinical practice internationally. In New Zealand, indigenous perspectives on children's mental health needs are holistic, encouraging trainee practitioners to recognise the systemic influences of extended family, school and community. Accommodating the expectations, values, and hegemony of both Māori and European populations requires service providers to acknowledge a broad interpretation of evidence‐based practice. In terms of true scientific progress, future best practice will require a rapprochement between the traditional knowledge of indigenous cultures and the empirically‐derived insights of psychology as an international discipline. The imperative to share power in decision‐making moves the debate beyond conventional multicultural sensitivities. Moral and political issues are inextricably entwined with clinical and professional activities.

Does the mere mention of a trust conjure up images of equity‐speak in favour of Great Aunt Maud? Does a constructive trust give you sick building syndrome? Does tracing send you back to the drawing board? The following paper may be just what you need. It explains the concept of a simple trust, and how its fundamental principles manifest themselves in the court‐imposed constructive trust, paying particular attention to the vexed issue of knowledge, the linchpin of constructive trusteeship and the cause of great confusion among those called upon to analyse it. This paper will then examine the related concept of tracing, and amplify how the principles underpinning these remedies are employed by the courts to maximum effect, by reference to recent cases. The inevitable conclusion is that the use of ill‐fitting equitable concepts in a complex and fast‐moving world of commerce is an outmoded approach, which, if anything, creates more problems than it solves.

Explores judicial attitudes in professional negligence cases affecting liability for property investment advice. Focuses on the standard of work required to discharge the legal duty of care and on apparent contradictions in approach by the courts. Reviews a series of cases which are taken to exhibit traditional attitudes to professional liability and studies modern cases which are irreconcilable with those attitudes. Includes liability to third party mortgagors and to third party mortgagees in an analysis of the duty of care, and considers the implications of the perceived expansion of the advisor′s professional duties, which include potential conflicts of interest and the dichotomy between the standards current among professionally qualified and unqualified practitioners. Suggests that judicial attitudes are influential in shaping the practice of property investment advice, but that this intervention is fraught with difficulties as it creates uncertainty among professional advisors about the nature of the tasks undertaken.

The founding principle of contracts is the freedom of the parties. The parties are free to choose their terms and follow any modality of communication, oral or written. As they can freely make a contract, they can freely modify or unmake it. Written contracts have a clause, No Oral Modification Clause (NOM Clause), precluding oral modifications of the contract. Irrespective of it, business persons make oral agreements modifying the contract, and later, dispute its validity. If the parties are free to contract, why should the oral agreement not be binding? In a NOM Clause then, ineffective? The United Kingdom Supreme Court, in MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd, explores this fundamental question on contract law.

This summer the Court of Appeal will hear a case which could affect the right of lessees to appoint a surveyor of their choice to act as a receiver and manager of their leasehold flats in place of their landlord, so as to enable urgent repairs to be carried out to their flats and common parts. The case concerned is Evans v Clayhope Properties Ltd and the point to be decided is whether such a receiver appointed in those circumstances can recover from the landlord in advance of the trial his fees and expenses incurred in executing the repairs he was appointed to do. In a situation where the lessees have insufficient funds and the landlord is said to be the only party with the necessary finance to meet the receiver's costs, the High Court ruled late last year that it could not order the landlord to pay the receiver's fees and expenses, in advance of the trial. The residents have appealed and this paper examines the recent developments in the law which enabled receivers and managers to be appointed in respect of leasehold blocks of flats. The paper also looks at the work and duties of a receiver and finally asks the crucial question — does the system work?