Does how you dress affect how you are perceived? A recent tweet (from the USA) contained a complaint from a lawyer that a judge had upbraided them in court for not wearing a tie. The lawyer asserted that there were…
In Canary Riverside Estate Management Ltd v Circus Apartments Ltd [2018] EWHC 1376 (Ch) Master Shuman provides an succinct summary of the principles relating to pleading dishonesty. Part of a Reply that alleged dishonesty was struck out. THE CASE The claimant…
There is an interesting passage in the judgment of HHJ Klein (sitting as a judge of the High Court) in UK Learning Academy Ltd v The Secretary of State for Education [2018] EWHC 2915 (Comm). It relates to the statements of…
The Witness Evidence Working Group is carrying out a survey of the use of witness statements in the Business & Property Courts. Here I provide a link to the post and a reminder of the comments that some judges have…
The new Senior Court Costs Office Guide has been published. This replaces the 2013 version with immediate effect. It is available on the link in the page here. The new guide Deals with all changes since 2013. Deals with the electronic…
I am grateful to solicitor Shimon Goldwater for sending me a copy of the judgment of Mrs Justice Moulder in Mayr -v- CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP [2018] EWHC 3093 (Comm). It relates to the principles to be applied when…
There was a nice tweet earlier today from pupil barrister Miranda Grell explaining she had just appeared in her first relief from sanctions application and had found this blog useful. This reminded me that it may be a good time…
The blog post yesterday on Litigation in a tough world let to more responses that I could possibly have mentioned. It has led to a lot of comment and support on Twitter, from solicitors, from the Bar and from many…
We have one surviving lawyer – Sarah Ann. This week she switched teams – to “Collaborative” and turned her hand to garden design, even getting her hands dirty in the process. Her team won. This series continues for another week….
The case of Busby v Berkshire Bed Company Ltd [2018] EWHC 2976 (QB) was one of those cases that centred on credible evidence. It is an example of where witnesses can be totally honest but mistaken in their recollection. The judge…
The Lord Chief Justice’s Report for 2018 is available if you follow the link here. Much of it is important. I have selected extracts that may be of particular interest to litigators. (There is an argument that some key indicators that…
In Wallett & Ors v Vickers [2018] EWHC 3088 (QB) Mr Justice Males overturned a decision in favour of the defendant and awarded damages to the estate of a deceased driver. The important procedural issue is that the defendant were not…
The decision of the Administrative Court in Solicitors Regulation Authority v James [2018] EWHC 3058 (Admin) has already received wide publication. The Court overturned a decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal not to strike off solicitors who had been dishonest. It…
The Court of Appeal pilot scheme for live streaming will start on Thursday, details are available on the Court and Tribunals Judiciary website. THE FIRST MATCH… The first case to be heard with live streaming concerns West Ham United football…
In Red Bull GmbH v Big Horn UK Ltd & Ors [2018] EWHC 2794 (Ch) Master Clark completed the judgment”I conclude by noting the regrettable extent to which this judgment has been lengthened by the determination of the procedural points of…
NB THIS DECISION WAS NOT ACCEPTED AND EFFECTIVELY OVERRULED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL IN Global Assets Advisory Services Ltd & Anor v Grandlane Developments Ltd & Ors [2019] EWCA Civ 1764. It was held that the court does have a…
The judgment of Master Brown in Whitaker v Richard Slade & Company Plc [2018] EWHC B17 (Costs) may have some interesting implications for solicitor and own-client costs. In particular the finding that an agreement in relation a specific sum for work…
I am grateful to Barrister Kevin Latham for sending me details of the decision of HHJ Venn in Waring -v- McDonell [2018] EW Misc B11 (CC). A link to the full decision is also available at the foot of Kevin’s…
There are several series on this blog which features judges giving advice to advocates. In his keynote address to the Bond Solon Experts conference Lord Justice McFarlane gives advice to experts. As ever the aim of this post is to…
The 101st update to the Civil Procedure Rules apply from 8th and 30th November 2018. The main development is a procedure whereby applications to set aside default judgment may be heard by video link. SETTING ASIDE DEFAULT JUDGMENTS: HEARD BY…
The judgment of HHJ Platts in Wrightson -v- Flor Projects Limited [2018] EWHC 3036 (QB) provides, amongst other things, an important warning on the need to plead and particularise a case properly. The case shows that when a claimant has…
The judgment in Cowley Property Investment Ltd v Oxford Karting Ltd [2018] EWHC 2824 (Ch) contains a consideration of the rule that documents in an agreed trial bundle are admissible. It is a case all about proving things without calling evidence….
There is a short passage in the judgment in GPP Big Field LLP & Anor v Solar EPC Solutions SL [2018] EWHC 2866 (Comm) that shows (not for the first time this year) that those responsible for drafting witness statements often…
This week one of our lawyers on the Apprentice got fired. Law Graduate Kurran did not make the grade, he got to take the taxi ride of shame. That leaves solicitor Sarah Ann as the only lawyer remaining. Kurran’s team…
There is a short passage in the judgment of Mr Justice Pepperall in Berhad v Frazer-Nash Research Ltd & Anor [2018] EWHC 2970 (QB) in relation to late service of evidence before an interlocutory hearing. The judge held that the Denton…
In D (A child : parental alienation) [2018] EWFC B64 HHJ Clifford Bellamy had to deal with the unusual situation in which an expert witness e-mailed counsel who had cross-examined him. “I was surprised, therefore, to receive an email from Mr…
The Bar Council has circulated links to a number of papers written in support of Justice Week : “a series of personal accounts giving first-hand insight into the crises occurring across the system.” Every one of these deserves the widest publicity…
In Bhogal & Anor v Knight [2018] EWHC 2952 (Ch) the appellants failed in their appeal following an order that the respondent pay the costs of their initial application. The procedure described in the judgment is instructive. It was yet another…
In the judgment today in Suez Fortune Investments Ltd & Anor v Talbot Underwriting Ltd & Ors [2018] EWHC 2929 (Comm) Mr Justice Teare allowed an application by the defendants that the true identity of a witness be disclosed. The witness…
We have already looked at the judgment of Mrs Justice Cockerill in Recovery Partners GP Ltd & Anor v Rukhadze & Ors [2018] EWHC 2918 (Comm). It is worth looking at what the judge had to say about the witness evidence before…
This if the time of year that several legal directories are published. It leads to an inevitable pattern of behaviour. Thanks to law lecturer John Bates we can all now understand the coded language of the legal directory. THE PATTERN…
There has been a recent trend on Twitter for people to share their “favourite” moments of intervention from the bench. Here is an edited collection (there is talk of these going into a book to raise money for charity). “DJ…
In Recovery Partners GP Ltd & Anor v Rukhadze & Ors [2018] EWHC 2918 (Comm) Mrs Justice Cockerill made some important observations that apply to every aspect of litigation. We looked at the case yesterday: a stark reminder was provided of the dangers…
I am grateful to Sam Hayman from Bolt Burdon Kemp for sending me a copy of the High Court decision in Ayton -v- RSM Bentley Bennison & Ors [2018] EWHC 2851 (QB). It is one of those cases that illustrate…
In Recovery Partners GP Ltd & Anor v Rukhadze & Ors [2018] EWHC 2918 (Comm) Mrs Justice Cockerill provides a clear and stark reminder of the significance of the statement of truth and need for all relevant parties to sign it….
Our lawyers have yet to the decent thing and get fired. Both were in the losing team this week. Their entire team got called back in to get fired. Both survived. Their fancy high heeled shoe was beaten by a…
The post earlier today on the deficiencies in a witness statement that led to it being excluded provides a good opportunity to reprise certain key points. Not only was the excluded statement essentially “commentary” and “opinion” it also failed to…
I have noted, many times, on this blog the dangerous tendency of some practitioners to conflate witness statements with submissions. Witness statements express opinions, comments on documents and the law and do not give the source of information and belief. …
Suffolk Law Centre has produced a short video, available on Youtube, to highlight the human impact of court closures. THE VIDEO The video shows the human cost (and the actual cost) of travelling to court centres that are now a…
The judgment in Gill v Heer Manak Solicitors [2018] EWHC 2881 (QB) is one of those cases that will get costs lawyers excited. However it is not so much a case about costs as a case about evidence, or the absence…
Lord Justice Coulson used the judgment in Wheeldon Brothers Waste Ltd v Millennium Insurance Company Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 2403 to remind (some) litigators of some key principles in relation to appeals on findings of fact. He emphasised that the Technology…
In Bank St Petersburg PJSC & Anor v Arkhangelsky & Ors [2018] EWHC 2817 (Ch) Mr Justice Hildyard considered the appropriate costs order after a lengthy trial. THE CASE There has been a lengthy trial (between February – July 2016) where…
In Kay, R (On the Application Of) v Scan-Thors (UK) Ltd & Anor (Costs) [2018] EWHC 2842 (Admin) the Divisional Court dealt robustly with arguments made by an interested party attempting to resist an order for costs. “Put bluntly, these submissions…
Last year we looked at those things that caused litigators stress and fear. This year we are looking at annoying things from “the other side”. That can mean from beyond the grave, or those people who are instructed to represent…
The final paragraphs of the judgment in Anderson & Ors v Sense Network Ltd [2018] EWHC 2834 shows that some of the claimants in that case were unable to establish their losses. Indeed two of the claimants may have suffered no…
The judgment in AIG Europe Ltd & Anor, Re [2018] EWHC 2818 (Ch) has already been the subject of some consternation, starting as it does with the words ” This case concerns the reorganisation of a major insurance company to prepare…
In Devoy-Williams -v- High Cartwright & Amin [2018] EWHC 2815 (Ch) Mrs Justice Falk upheld a decision that an action was struck out and that relief from sanctions should not be granted. It is a reminder (amongst other things) of…
In Lyons v Fox Williams LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2347 the Court of Appeal turned down the claimant’s appeal. The claimant had been unsuccessful in an action for professional negligence against a firm of solicitors. He was equally unsuccessful on appeal….
This week the teams were involved in selling goods and services at a bodybuilding expo in Birmingham. Our two lawyers are on the same team and this week it was the winning team. Lawyers and bodybuilding, it seems, are a…
There have been numerous cases in which parties have attempted to give expert evidence in witness statements. Another example can be seen in the decision in New Media Distribution Company Sezc Ltd v Kagalovsky [2018] EWHC 2742 (Ch). An attempt to…
You must be logged in to post a comment.