The High Court has set aside default judgment obtained against a defendant Council where the claim form and particulars were posted to its offices shortly after the start of the Covid-19 lockdown: Stanley v London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2020] EWHC 1622 (QB). While the court in this case was satisfied that the defendant had … Read more

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