The Court of Appeal has held that claimant liquidators were in breach of an “unless order” for e-disclosure, overturning the High Court’s decision that there was no breach despite the mistaken omission of certain important categories of documents from the list: Smailes v McNally [2014] EWCA Civ 1296. The result was that the liquidators’ claim was struck out. (Note: The case was … Read more
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the courts will apply the same rigorous approach to a retrospective application to extend time for filing a notice of appeal as they do to an application for relief from sanctions: R (Dinjan Hysaj) v SoS for the Home Department; Fathollahipour v Aliabadibenisi; May v Robinson [2014] EWCA Civ 1633. The guidance set out in the … Read more
As another year comes to an end, it is a good time to look back on 2014 and consider the changes it has brought. Below is our summary of some of the year’s key developments in the world of commercial litigation. We hope you will find it a useful reminder, and perhaps even pick up one … Read more
In circumstances where two claimants had settled their claims against the defendant on a “no costs” basis and a third claimant had continued to trial and lost, the Court of Appeal held that the settling claimants should contribute to the defendant’s costs payable by the continuing claimant for the period in which they had all advanced … Read more
The Court of Appeal has recently held that certain correspondence marked “without prejudice” was admissible in evidence despite this label, because there was no dispute between the parties at the time of the correspondence and the parties had not agreed that the without prejudice rule should apply in any event: Avonwick Holdings Limited v Webinvest … Read more
The Court of Appeal has held that, where a claim was settled by acceptance of a Part 36 offer, the defendant’s two-year limitation period for bringing a contribution claim ran from the date of acceptance, not from the date of subsequent consent orders embodying the settlement agreement and quantifying costs: The Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary … Read more
New EU rules on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments will apply to proceedings commenced from 10 January 2015, in the form of the recast Brussels Regulation (Regulation (EU) 1215/2012). Though similar in most respects to the original version of the Regulation it replaces, the recast Regulation includes some significant changes. The key practical implications … Read more
In a judgment given yesterday (26 November) the majority of the Supreme Court has expressed the view that the strength of a party’s case on the merits is generally irrelevant to enforcement of the court’s case management directions, save perhaps where the case is strong enough to obtain summary judgment: HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Mishal Bin … Read more
