Herbert Smith Freehills has launched a new Civil Fraud and Asset Tracing blog, which you can find at https://hsfnotes.com/cf or via the “More blogs” link above. This blog contains the latest legal and practice developments in relation to civil fraud in England, and other jurisdictions. You can subscribe to the blog by entering your e-mail address … Read more
Herbert Smith Freehills recently held its annual disputes client conference exploring some key legal and compliance risks facing major corporates. The event was attended by close to 100 clients. After opening remarks by Damien Byrne Hill, head of dispute resolution for the UK and US, there were presentations on the impact of data on disputes, … Read more
The Commercial Court has confirmed that an individual investor, with substantial means and more knowledge and experience than the average person, may still be considered a ‘consumer’ for the purposes of Article 17 of the Recast Brussels Regulation (No 1215/2012), even when contracting to trade a specialised product such as cryptocurrency futures: Ramona Ang v … Read more
A recent Court of Appeal judgment provides further assurance that jurisdiction clauses within standard form ISDA documentation will not readily be displaced by contrary jurisdiction clauses in related contracts: BNP Paribas SA v Trattamento Rifiuti Metropolitani SPA [2019] EWCA Civ 768. Upholding the first instance decision, the Court of Appeal gave effect to an English … Read more
Sometimes what appears to be an agreement is not in fact binding, for example because it is incomplete or its terms are uncertain, or perhaps because the necessary contractual intention is lacking. Conversely, a binding agreement might be reached despite appearances to the contrary, for example where parties commence work before a formal agreement is signed. In this first of … Read more
As we have previously reported, guidance recently issued by the European Commission suggests exclusive English jurisdiction agreements entered into between October 2015 and exit day may not, in the case of a no-deal Brexit, come within the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005. Anna Pertoldi has published a post on Practical Law’s Dispute … Read more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that a defendant’s offer to accept £100,000 in settlement of both the claim and its unpleaded counterclaim was a valid “claimant’s offer” under CPR Part 36: Calonne Construction Ltd v Dawnus Southern Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 754. The decision confirms that a defendant can be treated as … Read more
The High Court has confirmed that the Disclosure Pilot operating in the Business and Property Courts since 1 January 2019 applies to all proceedings currently on foot in those courts (apart from those specifically excluded), regardless of whether orders for disclosure were made prior to that date. Accordingly, any applications for further orders regarding disclosure … Read more
