On 22 December 2020, the High Court ruled on an ex parte interim application involving allegations of fraud in relation to a cryptocurrency initial coin offering (ICO). An ICO, similar to an initial public offering or IPO, is a fund-raising exercise but which seeks to raise finance through the creation of a cryptocurrency or cryptographic … Read more

In an article published on our global class actions hub, Jonathan Ripley-Evans and Fiorella Noriega del Valle of our Johannesburg office consider the process for certification of class actions in South Africa and the significant hurdles involved, as illustrated by the South African High Court’s refusal to certify a shareholder class action against a company’s … Read more

This annual contract law update from our corporate team considers a number of interesting contract law cases from 2020 which highlighted key points for those involved in drafting or managing contracts. The cases chosen deal with formation, variation, interpretation, good faith, force majeure and notice provisions. In each case there is a brief summary of the … Read more

In a recent decision concerning the scope of extraterritorial application of the SFO’s section 2 powers, the Supreme Court held that the SFO does not possess the power to compel a foreign company to produce documents held outside the UK: R (on the application of KBR, Inc) (Appellant) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office … Read more

On 12 February, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in a high profile jurisdictional challenge relating to group claims brought against Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its Nigerian subsidiary in connection with alleged pollution in the Niger Delta.  The decision will be of great interest – and potential concern – to all UK domiciled … Read more

In a procedural judgment in the British Airways Data Event Group Litigation, the High Court has granted a modest extension to the cut-off date for claimants to join the litigation, and has confirmed that the costs of substantial media advertising to attract claimants will not be recoverable if the claims succeed: Weaver v British Airways Plc … Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that, where personal devices belonging to the defendants’ employees and ex-employees potentially contained relevant documents within the defendants’ “control” for the purposes of disclosure, the court had jurisdiction to order the defendants to request the employees and ex-employees to deliver up those devices for inspection by the … Read more

The High Court has found that a defendant who accepted a claimant’s Part 36 offer after the expiry of the relevant offer period could ask the court to determine costs, even though the offer contained a term as to costs: Pallett v MGN Ltd [2021] EWHC 76 (Ch). Where a Part 36 offer is accepted … Read more