As we approach the deadline of 31 October, it is difficult to predict what will happen. But the prospect of a no-deal Brexit – either then or at some later date – remains a very real possibility. In this blog post we consider the implications of such an outcome for commercial litigation involving the English … Read more
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that there was no good reason to validate service retrospectively where the claimant’s solicitors had purported to serve proceedings on the defendant’s solicitors shortly before the claim form expired without first confirming that the solicitors were instructed to accept service: Woodward v Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd [2019] … Read more
The High Court has held that section 1140 of the Companies Act 2006 permits service on a director, of all documents relating to proceedings against that individual, at the address they have registered at Companies House: Brouwer v Anstey [2019] EWHC 144 (Ch). The court applied the decision of Master Marsh in Key Homes Bradford … Read more
The government has published a draft statutory instrument, the Service of Documents and Taking of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Matters (Revocation and Saving Provisions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, which will mean that the EU Service Regulation (1393/2007) and Taking of Evidence Regulation (1206/2001) no longer apply to the UK when it leaves the EU. … Read more
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal held that a stay of proceedings applies to the service of the claim form in the same way that it applies to any other procedural step: Grant v Dawn Meats (UK) [2018] EWCA Civ 2212. Accordingly, the period of a stay will not count towards the timeframe … Read more
In a recent judgment, the Senior Master of the High Court rejected an application for an extension of time to serve a claim form on one of the defendants to an action in circumstances where the claimants had taken a deliberate decision not to serve on that defendant: Viner v Volkswagen Group United Kingdom Limited … Read more
The High Court has held that there was no good reason to validate service retrospectively where the claimant’s solicitors had served proceedings on the defendant’s solicitors shortly before expiry of the claim form without having obtained confirmation that the solicitors were instructed to accept service: Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd v Woodward [2018] EWHC 2152 (Ch). … Read more
The Court of Appeal has given a wide interpretation to the interaction between the “necessary or proper party” gateway and the relatively new gateway permitting claims against the same defendant arising out of the same or closely connected facts (gateway 4A): Eurasia Sports Ltd v Mahchi Aguad [2018] EWCA Civ 1742. The court in this … Read more
In a recent decision, the Supreme Court declined to order that steps taken by the claimant to draw the claim form to the attention of the defendant by email should amount to good service despite the claimant (a litigant in person) having failed to jump through the necessary procedural hoops for email service. The result … Read more
