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The UK government has announced that it is proceeding with plans to introduce compulsory mediation as a mandatory procedural step in all Small Claims in the County Court. All parties in cases allocated to the Small Claims track (ie most claims valued below £10,000) will be required to attend a free mediation appointment with a … Read more
Following the UK government’s announcement last week that it will sign and ratify the Singapore Convention, many UK and foreign businesses are now turning their minds to what that means for international commercial disputes with a UK connection. The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation establishes a global framework for the direct … Read more
A second edition of our text on class actions in England and Wales, co-authored by Herbert Smith Freehills lawyers, has been published in the UK by Sweet & Maxwell. The work takes the reader through the life cycle of a class action claim and includes a chapter devoted to the settlement of class actions. Focusing … Read more
The High Court has held that statements made in a “without prejudice” mediation paper were admissible as they were to be used to rebut allegations of fraud, by showing that the claimants had known about, and approved, the transactions said to constitute the alleged fraud: Berkeley Square Holdings v Lancer Property Asset Management Ltd [2020] … Read more
A recent Court of Appeal decision has highlighted the need to exercise caution when referring to privileged material in settlement agreements. The court held that the claimant was not entitled to withhold from inspection communications that had been incorporated into a settlement agreement with one of five defendants. That was despite the fact that, at … Read more
The High Court has held that correspondence marked “without prejudice save as to costs” and which described the conduct of prior “without prejudice” (WP) negotiations (including a mediation and subsequent discussions) was admissible in an application for costs against the claimant’s lawyers: Willers v Joyce & Ors [2019] EWHC 937 (Ch). The court accepted that … Read more
Jan O’Neill Professional Support Lawyer, London The UK Government has published legislation to effectively revoke the implementation of the EU Mediation Directive (2008/52/EC) after Brexit. The Cross-Border Mediation (EU Directive) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) were made on 1 March 2019 and will come into effect on exit day, whenever that occurs. Why? The development … Read more
A recent Court of Appeal decision has given rise to concern regarding the extent to which litigation privilege is available to protect an organisation’s internal deliberations on its settlement options in a dispute. In WH Holding Ltd v E20 Stadium LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2652 (outlined here) the Court found that litigation privilege applies only to documents … Read more
On 6 March, the Civil Justice Council held a workshop to discuss the recommendations made in its interim report on ADR, which was subject to consultation late last year. The interim report addresses concerns regarding a perceived underuse of ADR within some sections of the civil justice system and suggests a variety of possible corrective measures. The … Read more