Court of Appeal confirms reflective loss rule will bar claims of former shareholders of a dissolved company because the principle must be determined at time of alleged loss

25 November, 2022
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the High Court to strike out a claim by the former shareholders of a dissolved company against an investor on the basis that all the losses claimed were barred by the reflective loss principle: Burnford & Ors v Automobile Association Developments Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1943. As a … Read more

Freezing orders brought onto the blockchain and service of proceedings via NFTs

20 June, 2022
The challenge of enforcing court orders in respect of cryptocurrencies may become easier, following the settlement announced last week between the Bitcoin Association for BSV and Tulip Trading Ltd (TTL). This follows the significant case brought by Dr Craig Wright against a number of blockchains and their developers in 2021: Tulip Trading Limited v Bitcoin … Read more

Court of Appeal rejects novel argument that fraud victims should give credit for the “time value” of cash received as part of a fraudulent transaction

15 February, 2022
In the context of a claim brought by the victim of a fraud against the perpetrator, seeking damages for consequential loss of investment opportunity in relation to certain fraudulent transactions, the Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the fraudster who had argued that the victim was obliged to give credit not only for … Read more

Commercial litigation podcast series – Episode 10: General update

06 October, 2021
In this 10th episode of our series of commercial litigation update podcasts, we give an update on recent developments relating to privilege, the disclosure pilot, representative actions, and two recent Supreme Court decisions on liquidated damages and lawful act economic duress respectively. This episode is hosted by Anna Pertoldi, a partner in our litigation team, … Read more

High Court finds acceleration clause is susceptible to rule on penalties, but declines to apply the rule as the amounts in question were payable in any event under a separate clause

13 September, 2021
In a recent judgment, the High Court held that a clause in a settlement agreement requiring immediate payment of all outstanding amounts in the event of a late payment (an acceleration clause) was capable of falling within the penalty doctrine, but an obligation to pay a daily sum accruing pro rata on any outstanding amounts … Read more