A recent High Court judgment has important practical implications for how offers are drafted under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and for the possible costs consequences of offers previously made: C v D & D2 [2010] EWHC 2940 (Ch). Read more

The Court of Appeal has today dismissed the claimants’ appeal in Emerald Supplies Ltd and another v British Airways PLC [2010] EWCA Civ 1284, refusing to allow the action to proceed as a representative action under Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 19.6. The judgment confirms the strict test that applies where a claimant seeks to bring … Read more

The Ministry of Justice yesterday published its consultation entitled “Proposals for Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales – Implementation of Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations”. As anticipated following the government’s announcement to Parliament this summer, the consultation seeks views on Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations that: conditional fee agreement (CFA) success fees … Read more

In its judgment handed down on 27 October 2010 in Oceanbulk Trading & Shipping SA v TMT Asia [2010] UKSC 44, the Supreme Court added a new exception to the ‘without prejudice’ rule. It held that facts communicated between parties in the course of ‘without prejudice’ negotiations should be admissible, if they would otherwise be … Read more

A recent High Court judgment considers the principles that apply in security for costs applications where similar issues arise on both claim and counterclaim (Dumrul v Standard Chartered Bank [2010] EWHC 2625 (Comm)). Following this judgment, if a defendant seeks security for costs in circumstances where the same issues arise on both claim and counterclaim, … Read more

A recent judgment of the Commercial Court demonstrates the difficulty of obtaining a broad order for enhanced or “train of enquiry” disclosure, even where the case involves very large sums and there are allegations of dishonesty: Berezovsky v Abramovich [2010] EWHC 2010. Read more

The law of damages might at times seem the “poor cousin” of commercial litigation, with both litigants and courts focusing much more time and attention on the principles relating to liability. However, two recent judgments show that the assessment of damages can give rise to issues that are every bit as interesting, and problematic, as … Read more

In Law Debenture Trust Corporation PLC v Elektrim SA [2010] EWCA Civ 1142, the Court of Appeal has suggested that the courts should not be too ready to apply the “loss of a chance” approach to assessing damages in a commercial case. Key points This decision is likely to mean that the courts will be … Read more