The 43rd of a series of annual lectures in honour of the late Dr FA Mann QC (Hon) (1907-1991) will take place in London tonight (18 November). This series of lectures is arranged by the Partners of Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and given under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. … Read more

The High Court has declined to order a defendant to use its “best endeavours” to obtain the data held on the mobile telephones of two of its ex-employees, because it held that the data was not in the defendant’s control for the purpose of its disclosure obligations: Various Airfinance Leasing Companies v Saudi Arabian Airlines … Read more

In its judgment this morning the Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision in the high profile Lloyd v Google case, which would have opened the floodgates for class actions for compensation for loss of control of personal data to be brought on behalf of very large numbers of individuals without identifying class … Read more

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a High Court decision refusing to grant the claimants further time to serve “date of damage pleadings” identifying when they say their cause of action accrued. The result is that the vast majority of the claims in the action, arising out of a 2011 oil spill … Read more

The amendments to the Disclosure Pilot under CPR Practice Direction (PD) 51U, which were published by the Disclosure Working Group in July this year (see our previous post), have come into force today under the 136th CPR PD Update. As previously reported, the amendments streamline the pilot rules, in particular as to the process for … Read more

The High Court has interpreted a jurisdiction clause in an excess liability insurance policy as granting exclusive jurisdiction to the English courts, despite the clause not containing express words to that effect: AIG Europe SA (formerly AIG Europe Ltd) v John Wood Group Plc [2021] EWHC 2567 (Comm). While normal principles of contractual interpretation will … Read more

A recent High Court judgment gives guidance on the new requirements under Practice Direction (PD) 57AC, which applies to trial witness statements signed on or after 1 April 2021 in the Business and Property Courts: Mansion Place Ltd v Fox Industrial Services Ltd [2021] EWHC 2747 (TCC). The decision shows that, in an appropriate case, … Read more

The Supreme Court has held in the context of a personal injury claim (Lord Leggatt dissenting) that direct damage in the jurisdiction is not required in order for a claim to come within the tort jurisdictional gateway in the CPR, so that permission can be granted to serve the proceedings on a defendant outside the … Read more