Whilst staff are away bosses mustn't pry on emails & voicemails As the summer holiday season gets underway, employers being advised to avoid the temptation to dip into employees’ email inboxes or listen to their voicemail messages, unless they have good reason as well as the individual’s prior permission to do so.

With Corporate Divorce on the up: How to part in peace! Divorce lawyers have said that due to the stagnating economy and falling asset values some paying spouses have decided that now is a good time to get divorced as the value of what they have to pay their spouses has decreased Joel Heap, head of DWF’s corporate litigation team in Manchester explains.

The Bribery Act: Ten top tips on sticking to the law With the Bribery Act coming into force on July 1st we spoke to Will Winch, a Solicitor at Mishcon de Reya to get his ten top tips on how to not fall foul of the law

Twitter & Privacy: How do you manage staff's use of 140 characters With the issue of Twitter breaching super injunctions & the privacy of actors and footballers being called into question this seems to be a good moment to discuss a much more wide-spread problem which is that the lack of internet privacy means that in just 140 characters you can get yourself fired by your company.

Ltd or LLP - Is your business structure still the right one? A recent survey by law firm Mishcon de Reya found that 90% of people-based businesses have never considered changing the legal structure of their company; of those that have, 64% have never considered a limited liability partnership (LLP) as an option and 10% admitted that they had never heard of an LLP structure.

Employers urged to respond to consultation on workplace disputes With the deadline fast approaching for the Government’s public consultation on resolving workplace disputes, employers are being urged to respond with their views.

Bribery Act delays mean more preparation time for UK businesses It was has been announced that the implementation of the Bribery Act will be delayed while the guidance around the defence of the Act is finalised. We have spoken to Rupert Nevin, partner at the law firm DWF, who explains that this is good news for businesses throughout the country…

Contracts: Handshake or Handcuffs? “We don’t need a contract, let’s do it on a handshake.” How often have you heard that said? What people really mean is “Contracts are expensive, long-winded documents that no-one understands and I will feel handcuffed to you.”

Caveat e-vendor: The legal framework surrounding e-commerce The rise of e-commerce has been one of the most significant business trends of the last decade. According to the British Retail Consortium, online sales account for 6% of the UK’s retail sales, which increased in September and October 2010 by 19.1% and 12.8% respectively over the equivalent monthly figures for 2009.

Using Twitter to collect business debts An innovative new method for business debt collection has been launched allowing Small & Medium Sized businesses the ability to radically speed up the process collecting their outstanding debts using Twitter.

New parental leave rules explained The new parental leave rules will give parents and adopters greater flexibility in the amount of leave they choose to take following the birth of a child. Chris Inson, partner with leading commercial law solicitors Capital Law explains how the changes will affect businesses.

Is your IP deal-ready? With companies once again considering strategies for growth, mergers and acquisitions are very much back on the agenda. But before embarking on strategic growth plans or selling assets to an interested trade buyer, it is important that companies invest time in making sure their intellectual property (IP) portfolio is in order.

Employment issues: Part-time student workers Many starting at university over the past few days are aware of the need to earn whilst they learn and this is fuelling a boom in part-time working. This growth in part-time students could turn out to be a bonus for small businesses, as many students committed to studying part-time for up to six years will seek part-time work that will support their long-term career plans.

Don't stress about protecting it...Just get on with it! Intellectual property (IP) has become the genie in the lamp of the 21st century business landscape; an overblown smokescreen that entrepreneurs and businesses are afraid to release in fear of idea theft.

A 50 point check-list for business legal security We spoke to Chris Sherliker, founding partner of the London based law firm Silverman Sherliker, who gave us a non-exhaustive 50 point checklist designed to help you avoid some very common legal pitfalls and maximise the legal security of your business.

Protect your brand on the move with new 'app' The London law firm, Silverman Sherliker LLP, has just launched Namesearch TM Legal, an interactive application for iPhone and Blackberry smart-phones that helps you protect your trade marks, business names, logos and brands without being tied to your desk.

Do new medical notes ‘fit’ the bill for SMEs? Is your company ready for ‘fit notes’? If you’re unsure, then you are not alone. A new survey shows that a third of employers are unaware of the system replacing the 62-year old sick note, and a further 64% haven’t received any guidance on how to manage the new notes.

Businesses could lodge VAT claims for using Parcelforce Tens of thousands of businesses could benefit from a loophole and receive VAT payback following the introduction of VAT on some Royal Mail services such as Parcelforce.

Is your business ready for the World Cup? With the England squad finally announced yesterday and manager Fabio Capello now putting the finishing touches to his game plan, UK businesses are being advised to make sure they too have their World Cup strategies in place in time for kick off on 11 June.

Panic up-staffing The phrase "all hands to the pump' has been well used over the past week with staff who work in travel related roles, but can travel businesses suddenly ask their staff to work around the clock to cope with the huge upsurge in business? Victoria Russell, an employment law solicitor looks at the legal implications