The Court of Appeal has considered the proper approach to awarding damages for the loss of a chance where a claimant has been deprived of a claim in litigation because of its lawyers’ negligence. It held that when courts value… Read more

In a recent decision, the High Court found that an auditor was not liable for break costs of some £32.7 million incurred as a result of its negligent advice in relation to the accounting treatment of interest rate swaps, as… Read more

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal judgment which potentially expanded the availability of "Wrotham Park" or negotiating damages, and signalled a return to more orthodox reasoning in relation to the award of damages for… Read more

The Supreme Court has held that where a lender advanced money on the basis of an initial valuation, then refinanced the facility (effectively repaying and replacing the original loan) on the basis of a second negligent valuation, the liability of the… Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed the court's approach to issues of causation where a defendant applies to enforce a cross-undertaking in damages: SCF Tankers Ltd (formerly Fiona Trust & Holding Corp) v Privalov [2017] EWCA Civ 1877. A party… Read more

Establishing that a counterparty is in breach of contract is only the first hurdle to obtaining proper redress. It is just as important for the innocent party to show that it has suffered a loss as a result of the… Read more

The Supreme Court has ruled that the owners of a ship that was redelivered early in breach of a charterparty did not have to give credit for the benefit they obtained by selling the vessel for a higher price upon… Read more

The Supreme Court has held that the loss suffered by a lender due to its accountants' breach of duty was extinguished when the loan was repaid by the borrower. It unanimously allowed an appeal against the majority judgment of the… Read more

The High Court has recently considered the approach to assessing "licence fee damages" in a claim against two former employees of Marathon Asset Management, James Seddon and Luke Bridgeman, who breached their duties of confidence by unlawfully removing approximately 40,000… Read more

In a claim for inducing a breach of contract, the Court of Appeal held that a football agent could claim damages for the lost chance of earning commission on a player's transfer, even though he could not establish that he… Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that a buyer under a long term gas sale agreement was confined to the contractual remedy of "Default Gas" and could not also pursue a claim in damages for the sellers' failure… Read more

On an appeal from an arbitration award, the High Court found that a profit share payable to a member of an LLP was capable of being subject to forfeiture where the member was found to have breached his fiduciary duties… Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that a party was not entitled to keep a contract alive for the purpose of claiming ongoing liquidated damages for delayed performance following its counterparty’s repudiatory breach: MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.… Read more

The Supreme Court has held that a principal was entitled to recover payments collected by its agent on its behalf following the agent's insolvency: Bailey and another (Respondents) v Angove's PTY Limited (Appellant) [2016] UKSC 47. The Supreme Court dismissed… Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that a defrauded purchaser's damages should not be reduced on the basis that, as matters transpired, the purchaser was not as badly off as a result of the fraud as might have been expected… Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld an award of only £250 in damages for the defendant solicitors' failure to identify a relevant planning restriction affecting a residential property purchased by the claimants, where that was the cost of the claimants'… Read more

Much interest has been generated by the Supreme Court's decision in Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi; ParkingEye Limited v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67, which introduced a new test for when a contractual provision will be considered penal and therefore unenforceable. David Nitek and Maura McIntosh… Read more

In a judgment handed down this morning, the Supreme Court has in effect re-written the rule on penalties, saying that the underlying rationale of the rule in English law has been misunderstood and that as a result the rule has… Read more

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court has confirmed that the overriding compensatory principle applies in the case of an anticipatory breach of a contract for a one-off sale. This means that events occurring after the date of breach can be taken into account in considering… Read more

Where a party has entered into a contract as a result of a misrepresentation, the question often arises as to whether it can unwind, or "rescind", the contract (eg in a sale of goods contract by returning the goods and… Read more

The Court of Appeal has provided guidance on how to value a defendant's benefit in a claim for unjust enrichment: Littlewoods Limited and others v The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs [2015] EWCA Civ 515. A claimant in… Read more

A majority of the Court of Appeal has held that damages payable to a lender by a firm of accountants should not be reduced to reflect a repayment by the borrower as the repayment did not arise in the ordinary… Read more

The Supreme Court has confirmed that equitable compensation for breach of trust in the context of a commercial transaction, and in the absence of fraud, should reflect the claimant's actual loss resulting from the breach. It should not extend to… Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that it did not infringe EU law to bring a claim for damages for breach of a settlement agreement, and the jurisdiction provisions in that agreement, against a party who had wrongfully commenced proceedings… Read more

A recent Court of Appeal decision has confirmed that the usual contractual rules, including as to remoteness of damage, apply by analogy to the assessment of compensation under a cross-undertaking in damages in a freezing order. However, there is also… Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that an interim injunction should be granted to prevent the defendant's alleged breach, on the basis that damages would be an inadequate remedy due to a limitation clause in the relevant contract: AB v… Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that where a party to a contract has renounced its obligations, damages are to be assessed on the assumption that it would have performed its obligations pursuant to the contract if called upon to… Read more

The High Court has refused to grant an interim injunction, holding on the basis of prior authority that a limitation clause excluding certain heads of liability did not mean that damages would be an inadequate remedy: AB v CD [2014]… Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that an innocent party did not fail to take reasonable steps to mitigate its loss by not permitting the party that was in breach of contract to modify the faulty product it had supplied: Manton Hire &… Read more

In a judgment handed down yesterday, the Supreme Court held that there is no general rule that an authority such as the FSA, seeking an injunction in the course of its public functions, should be required to give a cross-undertaking in damages… Read more