Following the government’s recent announcement of a partial relaxation of the lockdown, the prospect of a return to work is in sight for many people. In some industries such as construction staff are already being encouraged to return to work. As the R number falls, others will no doubt follow. But what are the legal pitfalls which await employers?

It is not uncommon for defendants to professional negligence claims to argue that the claimant should be barred from recovering damages because his or her cause of action is tarred by illegality. However, over recent years, the law has taken a variety of approaches to when illegality will provide a defence. With the issue about to come before the Supreme Court again, Helen Evans and Ian McDonald of 4 New Square explain.

Vicarious liability is "on the move", but how far has it gone? Amanda Savage QC and Nick Broomfield explore the development of the doctrine of vicarious liability in light of the recent decisions of Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 13 and MW Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12.

The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment in ChapelGate Credit Opportunity Master Fund Limited v Money and others [2020] EWCA Civ 246, a case concerning the so-called ‘Arkin cap’. Professional litigation funders can no longer assume (if they ever did) that their liability for a successful party’s costs will be limited to the amount they invested. That remains a possible outcome, but is likely to be rare. However, the impact on the litigation funding market ought to be limited, since the court’s finding was consistent with judicial treatment of the Arkin cap for several years.

Drawing on extensive experience of working with different types of e-Bundle, David Turner QC has created a guide setting ou​t the advantages and disadvantages of different types of standalone e-Bundle, a step-by-step approach to their compilation and how to get the most out of them.