This annual contract law update from our corporate team considers a number of interesting contract law cases from 2019 which highlighted key points for those involved in drafting or managing contracts. The cases chosen deal with formation and certainty of terms, interpretation and implied terms, good faith, severance, loss and remedies, penalties, force majeure, notice provisions, … Read more
We are pleased to release the latest issue of our periodic publication “Cross-Border Litigation”, designed to highlight legal and practical issues specific to litigation with an international aspect. Topics covered in this issue include: Spotlight on recent developments The new Hague Judgments Convention: A potential gamechanger (eventually) Obtaining evidence from US-connected entities: US court widens … Read more
The Court of Appeal has today dismissed an appeal against a decision that a commercial funder of a failed claim was liable for all of the defendants’ costs from the date on which the funding agreement was entered into. There was no basis for interfering with the judge’s discretion in declining to applying the so-called … Read more
In a recent judgment, overturning the High Court’s decision, the Court of Appeal has ordered indemnity costs in favour of a successful defendant where the claimants should have known their claims were speculative/weak and where the defendant had made an early Part 36 offer: Lejonvarn v Burgess [2020] EWCA Civ 114. The present case acts … Read more
The Chancellor has taken the opportunity to clarify aspects of the disclosure pilot which is currently underway in the Business and Property Courts under practice direction (PD) 51U, and to emphasise that disclosure under the pilot should not become a disproportionately costly exercise: McParland & Partners Ltd v Whitehead [2020] EWHC 298 (Ch). The disclosure … Read more
In a judgment handed down this morning, the Court of Appeal has held that an audit client was not required to hand over its privileged documents in response to a notice from its auditor’s regulator requiring the production of documents in connection with an investigation into the auditor’s conduct: Sports Direct International Plc v The … Read more
We have today launched our new series of commercial litigation update podcasts, looking at developments in civil procedure that will be of interest to in-house lawyers and others who deal with litigation in the English courts. In this first episode we look at recent developments in disclosure and privilege. This episode is hosted by Anna … Read more
Obligations to endeavour to achieve some object are commonly agreed in commercial contracts where the relevant party is not willing to take on an absolute obligation to that effect. Typical clauses may require the use of “best endeavours”, “reasonable endeavours” or “all reasonable endeavours”, but it is not always clear what these terms require in practice. In this fifth … Read more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision that a claimant’s unilateral decision not to pursue a claim it had commenced for a substantial period of time did not, on the facts of the case, constitute an abuse of process which justified striking out the claim: Aljawharah Bint Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alibrahim v Asturion … Read more
