A precedent Reservation Agreement has been added to the sale and purchase of land guides. The agreement is designed to bind the parties to an agreed pre-exchange time frame in which the seller will not deal with third parties, and the buyer will either exchange the offered contract or withdraw on discovery of serious adverse affectations through the usual investigations, searches and enquiries. By this means the parties are able, immediately following agreement and issue of the contract, to be confident that the transaction will proceed in the absence of unforeseen and unexpected circumstances.

By Lawyers has a new publication: Companies. With a comprehensive commentary and precedents, the companies publication deals with not only the incorporation of a new company, but also the ongoing running of a company and the hiccups that can occur along the way. The commentary discusses many issues such as: Appointing company officers; Articles of association; Shareholders agreements; Meetings, resolutions and records; Transfer of shares; and Tax. The matter plan provides the many essential everyday precedents as well as the more complex including: Two shareholders agreements, one concise and one extensive; Share certificate; Two agreements for sale of shares: one concise and one extensive; Deed of trust for purchase of shares by a trustee; Library of option precedents; and All of the necessary consents, minutes and resolutions. The new Company publication is available through the Legal Guides tab on the Forms & Precedents button in the LEAP matter.

Following review, a number of precedents were improved to ensure a better user experience. These include: Initial call record, Police station attendance record, Attendance notes and Letters to the client after attending at the police station.

According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) almost one quarter of firms do not adequately explain leasehold tenure and the associated issues. Accordingly, By Lawyers have reviewed the precedent Report on title – Leasehold in an effort to provide clients with a much clearer understanding of the implications of purchasing a leasehold estate. Plain language communications, particularly with clients, is a primary focus for By Lawyers.

The Family Procedure Rules have been updated to allow all family courts to issue transparency orders.

Part of our series of common legal questions and their answers, we look at the Law Society’s code for completion by post. Read more...

Part of our series of common legal questions and their answers, we look at the difference between holding a deposit as stakeholder or agent for the seller, and holding to order on the sale of land. Read more...

A new article has been published discussing the rise of Artificial Intelligence and asking if it could be useful, or likely to ruin the legal profession. We have one view; the Law Society has another. Only time will tell who is closer to the truth. Read more...

A new Looking to the Future commentary has been included in several relevant matter plans. In the ever-changing landscape of the legal industry, staying up to date with regulatory and legislative changes is crucial. These changes can greatly impact practice, and failing to keep up with them can put clients and firms at risk. By Lawyers already promises to be current, and now we are going further with this new commentary that anticipates what is to come. Read more...

Following a recent in-depth author review, commentary on Legal Aid tendering, cybercrime prevention and business continuity planning have been enriched. Read more...

From 1 April 2021, a new Help to Buy scheme comes into force. For further details see the Help to Buy section in our Purchase of Land commentary. From 1 April 2021, The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 will apply to all private rented sector landlords of residential premises in England, including licences to occupy and houses in multiple occupation, with costly sanctions for non-compliance. For further details see the Buy to Let section in our Purchase of Land commentary.

To assist practitioners working in Debt Recovery – Acting for the claimant, we have published a Debt statement which brings together details of the debt, interest and costs, as well as the payments that have been made towards it. This will be especially useful where payment plans have been agreed with debtors and is designed to work alongside the Invoice, Debt details and Payment tables within LEAP. 1. Insert the debt details in an Invoice table – add another invoice by right clicking on the existing one to record more than one debt amount if required. 2. Insert interest and costs details in the top half of the Debt details table. 3. Insert payment details into a Payments table each time a payment is received – add another payment by right clicking on the existing one. 4. Provided the above information has been entered into LEAP, the Debt statement will be complete. If the information is incorrect, amend the LEAP tables and use the update button in the LEAP ribbon tab to update the document. This document can be produced as many times as necessary to provide successive statements. An accompanying Letter to debtor enclosing debt statement has also been published. Adding these new precedents is part of By Lawyers continuing commitment to enhancing our content and helping our subscribers enjoy practice more.

The Wills commentary has been enhanced to include detailed discussion of the processes involved in the witnessing of a will using video-link. Precedents for client instructions, a practitioner’s checklist and an attendance note have been created, as well as example wording for a will attestation clause. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed

The Purchase of Land commentary has been enhanced to include, in addition to searches of local registers carried out by local authorities, the process for applications for searches of a local authority register which have been migrated to HM Land Registry and are made using the registry’s Search for local land charges service. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

As commentators are suggesting that wills signed during the coronavirus pandemic may be more open to challenges, a new Will Execution Attendance Note precedent has been added to the Wills matter plan to assist with Larke v Nugus requests. The attendance note when coupled with the retainer instructions prompts practitioners to consider and briefly note the situation surrounding the taking of instructions and the execution of the will. These documents, readily completed at the time, will assist practitioners should a request for information ever arise in the future. The opportunity has also been taken to add a precedent To Do List – Wills to the guide in order to assist practitioners with file management.