In light of the upcoming changes to the EU rules governing jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments, which will apply to proceedings commenced from 10 January 2015, we have published a new client guide to the English court's jurisdiction under the… Read more

The High Court has considered the extent of the court’s discretion to order costs budgeting in cases where budgets are not automatically required. Under the rules in force since 22 April 2014, that means claims for more than £10 million,… 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 EU rules governing jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments will change significantly from 10 January 2015, when the recast Brussels Regulation (No 1215/2012) will apply in place of the current regime.  On Wednesday 19 November, at 12.45 – 1.45pm GMT,… Read more

Parties to litigation sometimes wish to rely on evidence of similar but unconnected past incidents, arguing that what happened then is a good indicator of what happened in the case in question. Such evidence of "similar facts" is tightly controlled… Read more

The Ministry of Justice has asked the Civil Justice Council (CJC) to review the regulations governing DBAs to consider possible improvements, but has ruled out the introduction of "hybrid" arrangements where a lawyer could combine a DBA with some other form of retainer… Read more

A recent Court of Appeal decision provides useful guidance on how the court will determine the effect of a "without prejudice save as to costs" (or Calderbank) offer in a non-money claim: Coward v Phaestos Limited and others [2014] EWCA… Read more

Gregg Rowan, Celina McGregor, Johan Botha and Lyn Harris have published an article in the November edition of PLC Magazine which looks at the impact of the Jackson reforms on e-disclosure and how parties can seek to control the costs of the… Read more

In its high-profile Mitchell decision last November, the Court of Appeal introduced tough new guidance on the court's approach to granting relief from sanctions for breach of a court rule or order under the new CPR 3.9 brought in by the Jackson reforms. The decision led… Read more

A High Court decision handed down yesterday (23 October) has significant implications both for third parties who fund litigation on commercial terms and for defendants who face claims brought with the benefit of such funding: Excalibur Ventures LLC v Texas Keystone Inc and… Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the court's jurisdiction to order pre-action disclosure is not subject to an "arguability threshold". The strength of the applicant's case on the merits, and in particular whether the applicant is able to show… Read more

The Commercial Court has made an order for the appointment of receivers over the foreign assets of two foreign defendants, as well as ancillary orders it considered necessary to render that order effective, to aid enforcement of a London LCIA arbitration… Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld an order requiring the claimant to fortify its cross-undertaking in damages after it obtained a worldwide freezing order against the defendant: Energy Ventures Partners Ltd v Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ… Read more

It sometimes happens that a privileged document ends up in the hands of an opponent or third party, either as a result of inadvertent disclosure in litigation or in some other way, or a privileged document is referred to in… Read more

A convention being held next month at the Guildhall, London, on Shaping the Future of International Dispute Resolution will bring together an extensive cross-section of ADR and arbitration service providers, corporate users and thought leaders to discuss the future direction of… Read more

According to press reports this week, the insolvency exception to the Jackson reforms will end next April, meaning that CFA success fees and ATE insurance premiums will no longer be recoverable in proceedings brought by liquidators, administrators, trustees in bankruptcy, or companies… Read more

A recent decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has refused to impose liability under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on foreign (non-US) defendants for losses incurred by the plaintiffs in securities-based… Read more

The High Court has held that certain communications between a client and lawyers during the course of proceedings were not protected by litigation privilege. The fraud/iniquity exception applied as there was a strong prima facie case that advice was being… Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that the South African subsidiary of an English parent did not have its central administration in England and was therefore not domiciled in England under the Brussels Regulation: Young v Anglo American South Africa… Read more

In a case of first impression in the New York state courts – Gliklad v. Bank Hapoalim, B.M., No. 155195/2014 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. Aug. 11, 2014) – the New York Supreme Court has held that maintaining a branch office in… Read more

To gain the protection of litigation privilege, a party must establish that when a document was created: (i) litigation was in reasonable prospect; and (ii) the document was prepared for the dominant purpose of that litigation. Recent decisions illustrate how… Read more

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal upheld a finding that a director of a holding company had not become a de facto or shadow director of its subsidiary: Smithton Ltd v Naggar and others [2014] EWCA Civ 939.… Read more

The Court of Appeal has reversed a first instance decision that a parent company had assumed a duty of care to an employee of its subsidiary company in respect of his exposure to asbestos dust: Thompson v The Renwick Group… Read more

The Court of Appeal has granted claimants permission to use privileged documents which had been disclosed inadvertently by the defendant (the SFO) in the course of litigation, reversing the decision of the Commercial Court: Rawlinson and Hunter Trustees SA v SFO… Read more

In a recent case, the High Court has implied a duty of good faith into a long-term agreement between two commercial parties: Bristol Groundschool Limited v Intelligent Data Capture Limited [2014] EWHC 2145 (Ch). In doing so, the court endorsed… Read more

In a judgment handed down last Wednesday, 23 July, the Supreme Court said it was open to the Court to reconsider whether a claimant's right to recover a conditional fee agreement (CFA) success fee and after-the-event (ATE) insurance premium from an… Read more

Pre-emption clauses, as commonly found in shareholder, investment and joint venture agreements, are designed to prevent a shareholder selling his shares to a third party without first offering them to the other shareholders. A number of recent judgments highlight the… 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

The High Court has held that a party retained the benefit of legal advice privilege in information provided to her solicitor which the solicitor had disclosed to her opponent in breach of confidence after the retainer had come to an end: Kousouros v O'Halloran… Read more

The Court of Appeal's decision in the high-profile Mitchell "plebgate" case last November introduced tough new guidance on the approach the court should follow in granting relief from sanctions for breach of a rule or court order. The case generated a storm of controversy… Read more