The judgment of Mr Justice Fraser in Beattie Passive Norse Ltd & Anor v Canham Consulting Ltd [2021] EWHC 1116 (TCC) demonstrate some “unusual” conduct in litigation. Not least the claimant’s solicitors wrote to the judge, in the middle of…
In Tonstate Group Ltd & Ors v Wojakovski & Ors [2021] EWHC 1122 (Ch) Mr Justice Zacaroli considered the issue of whether the right to payment under a Damages Based Agreement (DBA). It was held that right to payment under…
Evidence of the degree and knowledge needed in drafting witness statements can be seen in the judgment of Mr Justice Jacobs in Global Display Solutions Ltd & Ors v NCR Financial Solutions Group Ltd & Anor [2021] EWHC 1119 (Comm)….
The Association of Personal Injury lawyers made a presentation yesterday in relation to re-consideration of the law relating to bereavement damages in the UK. It point, in particular, to the differences between the law in England,Wales and Northern Irelan compared…
It is interesting to look at a short extract from the judgment of the Administrative Court in Hertfordshire County Council & Ors v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities And Local Government [2021] EWHC 1093 (Admin). Parliament cannot legislate in…
In Original Beauty Technology Company Ltd & Ors v G4k Fashion Ltd & Ors [2021] EWHC 954 (Ch) David Stone (sitting as a High Court judge) considered the question of whether the court should make a costs order after a…
In Louis Dreyfus Company Suisse S.A. v International Bank of St. Petersburg (Joint-Stock Company) [2021] EWHC 1039 (Comm) Mr Justice Calver reduced a claim for costs substantially, even though costs were being awarded on the indemnity basis. “it may…
Legal Futures yesterday carried a report of the case of Scott -v- Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP. A case in which the respondent failed to file a response in time and an application for an extension of time was refused. Here…
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: SCOTTISH LAW: LIMITATION AND EXTENSIONS OF TIME: A LESSON HERE FOR US ALL
In Johnson v Berentzen & Anor [2021] EWHC 1042 (QB) Mrs Justice Stacey considered a case where a claimant inadvertently fell foul of Scottish limitation law. In Scottish cases proceedings need to be served within the three year period, it…
The judgment in of Mrs Justice Cockerill in King & Ors v Stiefel & Ors [2021] EWHC 1045 (Comm) is a long and complex one. The case is worth reading because of the principles it sets out for pleading a…
The earlier post about judges reading information about lawyers online has given rise to a lot of comments and commentary. There are occasions when judges, as part of their job, get to read things that lawyers wish they had never…
Several people have already remarked that the judge in Ahmed & Anor v Ahmed [2021] EWHC 1021 (Ch) made it quite clear that he had looked up details of one of the advocates online, and these details were mentioned in the…
In Ahmed & Anor v Ahmed [2021] EWHC 1021 (Ch) Mr David Halpern QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) had much to say in relation to manner in which an application was brought before the court. The skeleton…
The decision of Mr Justice Marcus Smith in Pasricha v Pasricha [2021] EWHC 1017 (Ch) contains a consideration of the circumstances in which a court can order costs to be paid to a party when their budget has been limited…
In Axa Insurance UK Plc v Reid (Rev 1) [2021] EWHC 993 (QB) Mrs Justice Eady found that telling lies in a witness statement in a personal injury case passed the custody threshold. A claimant in a personal injury, who…
In Wormald v Ahmed [2021] EWHC 973 (QB) Ms Clare Ambrose (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) considered the difficult issue of whether a protected party can accept a Part 36 offer and its interaction with the need for…
Representing a party at an inquest is always a difficult and sensitive task. In addition to dealing with the grief, and sometimes remorse, involved there are myriad of legal and technical rules to be navigated. That is why this new…
I am grateful to barrister Brian McCluggage for sending me a copy of the judgment of HHJ Backhouse in Amdur -v- Krylov (13/04/21) a copy of which is available here E14YJ570 Amdur v Krylov final 13.4.21 (1). The judge…
Small fortunes could be made by betting that there will be a regular supply of cases on late service of the claim form on this blog (although you would get poor odds). “Dicing with procedural death” appears to be regular…
In Berkeley Square Holdings Ltd & Ors v Lancer Property Asset Management Ltd & Ors [2021] EWHC 849 (Ch) Mr Robin Vos (sitting as a judge of the Chancery Division) held that a sworn statement as to disclosure is not…
Although the judgment of Mr Justice Mostyn in AS v CS (Private FDR) [2021] EWFC 34 relates to family proceedings the principle set out may well be of more general application. The fact that the parties have agreed to a…
In OT Computers Ltd v Infineon Technologies Ag & Anor [2021] EWCA Civ 501 the Court of Appeal upheld a decision that an action brought by a company that was in liquidation was not statute barred. “It is, moreover,…
The judgment of the Court of Appeal today in Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd v Sinclair & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 505 contains an important lesson to litigators considering enforcing a judgment. The claimant had made the defendant bankrupt whilst…
In Berkeley Square Holdings Ltd & Ors v Lancer Property Asset Management Ltd & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 551 the Court of Appeal upheld an order directing that statements made in without prejudice in mediation were disclosable and could be…
In Kingsley Napley LLP v Harris & Anor [2021] EWHC 901 (QB) Margaret Obi, sitting as a high court judge dismissed a claim for professional negligence on the basis that there had not been any loss. There are important lessons…
Another post that adds to the dozens, if not hundreds, of cases about bundles. The trial bundles were the subject of considerable criticism by Sir James Munby in C (A Child) [2021] EWFC 32. “I forebear from further judicial exhortation…
On the 19th May 2021 I am presenting a webinar on applying to vary a costs budget. Booking details are available here. WHAT THE WEBINAR COVERS Making sure that the budget is, and remains, correct is an important part of…
The death was announced today of Sir Harry Ognall. In January 2018 I reviewed his book A Life of Crime” . This is an appropriate time to pay tribute by reminding people what a remarkable book this is, written by a…
For the second time today I am reporting on a successful application for relief from sanctions. In Melars Group Ltd v East-West Logistics LLP [2021] EWHC 874 (Ch) Mr Justice Adam Johnson granted an appellant relief from sanctions following a…
In Soriano v Forensic News LLC & Ors [2021] EWHC 873 (QB) Mr Justice Johnson granted relief from sanctions to a defendant who served witness evidence late. However the defendant’s failures were serious and significant and the defendant had no…
In Burleigh House (PTC) Ltd v Irwin Mitchell LLP [2021] EWHC 834 (QB) Deputy Master Hill QC allowed a defendant’s application for summary judgment. The defendant solicitor’s terms and conditions contained a prohibition against the assignment. The current claimant was…
In Persimmon Homes Ltd & Anor v Osborne Clark LLP & Anor [2021] EWHC 831 (Ch) Master Kaye provides a “cut out and keep” guide for anyone involved in attempting to vary a costs budget. There are important points made…
The post earlier this morning on the warnings given in Finvest Holdings Sarl -v- Lovering [2021] 3WLUK 579 inrelation to inaccurate time estimates has led to some responses on Twitter. Practitioners have highlighted the difficulties, a judge expressed their concern that…
There is another aspect of the judgment in Finvest Holdings Sarl -v- Lovering [2021] 3WLUK 579 HHJ Pelling (sitting as a High Court Judge) that merits examination. The judgment emphasised the need for accurate time estimates. THE CASE The judge…
Another aspect of the judgement of Master Davison in Mustard v Flower & Ors [2021] EWHC 846 (QB) was a decision in relation to expert evidence. The Master refused the claimant’s application to rely on amended medical reports. Those reports…
In Mustard v Flower & Ors [2021] EWHC 846 (QB) Master Davison refused a defendant’s application to amend its defence to plead fundamental dishonesty on a “contingent” basis. The judgment deals with important issues as to how a defendant must…
In Finvest Holdings Sarl -v- Lovering [2021] 3WLUK 579 HHJ Pelling (sitting as a High Court Judge) granted a claimant relief from sanctions when the claimant failed to comply with a peremptory order. There is a detailed discussion of the…
An earlier post looked at the decision of Mr Justice Mostyn in Bux v The General Medical Council [2021] EWHC 762. Part of that judgment dealt with the duties of experts to disclose an interest they have in the case. This…
The post yesterday covering a case where counsel’s advice was altered led to some interesting discussions on Twitter. This led to a thread where one lawyer said that they had not been taught how to instruct counsel at any time…
In Barrow & Ors v Merret & Anor [2021] EWHC 792 (QB) Richard Hermer QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) considered the guidance given in Gestmin in the context of a road traffic accident. It is a reminder…
In Berkeley Square Holdings Ltd & Ors v Lancer Property Assets Management Ltd & Ors (Claimant amendment application) (Rev 1) [2021] EWHC 750 (Ch) Mr Robin Vos (sitting as a judge of the Chancery Division) rejected an argument that a…
Someone reading counsel’s advice would normally assume that they were reading all of it. There is a danger (I have not seen before) of advices being altered before being passed on. In Equitable Law Capital, Re [2021] EWHC 763 (Ch)…
The judgment of HHJ Hodge QC (sitting as a High Court judge) in Wigan Borough Council v Scullindale Global Ltd & Ors [2021] EWHC 779 (Ch) has much of interest. The judge’s observation that “one of the particular pleasures of…
In Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation v Hardy [2021] EWHC 817 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a High Court judge) awarded indemnity costs against a litigant in person. “There are not two sets of rules for litigation in this…
In SKX v Manchester City Council [2021] EWHC 782 (QB) Mr Justice Cavanagh considered the exercise of the discretion under Section 33 in the context of a claim for sexual abuse. The context was somewhat unusual in that the judge…
In Mather v Ministry of Defence [2021] EWHC 811 (QB) Mr Justice Freedman refused the claimant’s application for a split trial. “The law reports are littered with cases where a preliminary issue seemed a good cost-saving exercise, but where…
Today is April 1st. The headline to this post may be slightly deceptive, but for good reason. I wanted an opportunity to thank the many dozens of people who were kind enough to support my 10,000 steps a day in…
My colleagues Craig Ralph and Andrew Hogan have delivered a webinar “Personal Injury Costs 2021” which is now available on the Kings Chambers website. THE WEBINAR The webinar takes you through the hot topics relating to personal injury costs. …
I am delighted to report that from today I have become an associate tenant at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. THE ANNOUNCEMENT “A huge welcome to Gordon Exall who joins 4-5 as an Associate Tenant. He brings first class expertise…
WITNESS STATEMENTS IN THE BUSINESS AND PROPERT COURTS: GESTMIN PRINCIPLES NOW ENSHRINED IN THE RULES
From the 6th April this year some of the key principles from the judgment in Gestmin SGPS S.A. -v- Credit Suisse [2013] EWCA 3560 (Comm) are effectively enshrined into the rules. Key parts of the Gestmin principles are included in the Appendix to…


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