In a recent judgment, the High Court rejected an application for default judgment on the basis that the defendant’s acknowledgement of service, though late, had been filed shortly before the application: Cunico Resources NV v Daskalakis [2018] EWHC 3382 (Comm). The decision turned on the interpretation of CPR 12.3(1), which sets out the conditions to … Read more

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has clarified the approach to be taken in determining whether the court should allow inspection of a document "mentioned" in a witness statement or statement of case: Blue Holdings (1) PTE Ltd & another v National Crime Agency [2016] EWCA Civ 760.  The decision confirms that there is … Read more

In what may be seen as a surprising decision, the Commercial Court has treated service of particulars of claim on the defendant’s lawyer by e-mail as valid service, despite the fact that the lawyer had not agreed to accept service by e-mail and in any event the purported service was five days late. The court held that the … Read more

The Commercial Court has, with obvious reluctance, struck out a claim on the basis that the claimant was 20 days late in serving particulars of claim:  Associated Electrical Industries Limited v Alstom UK [2014] EWHC 430 (Comm). The judge commented that, if his decision had depended only on what was just and fair between the parties, … Read more

The High Court has refused an application to extend time for service of particulars of claim in circumstances where a fresh action would be time barred, with the result that the claimant will be unable to pursue its claim against the relevant defendants: Venulum Property Investments Ltd v Space Architecture Ltd and others [2013] EWHC … Read more

A recent High Court decision illustrates the need for parties to be clear as to the impact of a stay on procedural time limits in the action: UK Highways A55 Ltd v Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd [2012] EWHC 3505 (TCC). The decision suggests that, where an action has been stayed for a period of time, … Read more

In the context of the phone hacking litigation, the High Court has considered the principles governing which court documents are publicly available: Various claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another [2012] EWHC 397 (Ch). Under CPR 5.4C a non-party to proceedings can obtain, without the court’s permission, a copy of a statement of case or … Read more

We have previously reported on the Court of Appeal’s decision in Swain-Mason and ors v Mills & Reeve [2011] EWCA Civ 14 which, we said, signalled a strict approach to applications for late amendments (see here). The court in that case overturned Peter Smith J’s decision to allow an amendment to particulars of claim on … Read more