Insights & News

SFO V ENRC: Landmark privilege decision by Court of Appeal

10 September 2018

The Court of Appeal has handed down its much anticipated decision in the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”) appeal. In a judgment that will leave many lawyers breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the Court of Appeal overturned large parts of Mrs Justice Andrews’ first instance decision.

Commercial Court confirms that Recast Brussels Regulation does not permit intra-EU anti-suit injunctions

21 August 2018

The decision in Nori Holdings has reaffirmed that West Tankers remains an authoritative statement of EU law, providing welcome clarity following the introduction of the Recast Brussels Regulation and Advocate General Wathelet’s comments in Gazprom. However, whether or not the UK courts will regain the ability to grant anti-suit injunctions restraining proceedings in EU courts after the UK leaves the EU remains to be seen.

Clive Greenwood and Frances Simm write for Accountancy Age: Compulsory retirement: avoiding the partner pitfalls

Press

20 August 2018

In an article for Accountancy Age, Clive Greenwood and Frances Simm discuss the rules and processes involved when compelling an individual to retire from a business they co-own.

Court of Appeal upholds enforcement of Chinese arbitration award in England & Wales despite allegation of attempted fraud

05 July 2018

One of the attractive features of arbitration is the ease of enforcement of arbitral awards in other jurisdictions. The New York Convention (the “Convention”) provides a regime by which an award made in one Convention state should be enforceable against any assets in any of the other Convention states around the world. A recent Court of Appeal decision shows that the English court will only exercise its power to refuse to recognise or enforce an arbitral award on public policy grounds in limited circumstances.

Supreme Court delivers key judgment on the availability of Wrotham Park “negotiating” damages

02 July 2018

The Supreme Court has considered an important question in relation to damages. In what circumstances can damages for breach of contract be assessed by reference to the sum the claimant could hypothetically have received, known as Wrotham Park damages, in return for releasing the defendant from the obligation he had failed to perform?

You’ve started – so you’ll finish

11 June 2018

Claimants commencing proceedings in the Courts of England and Wales may not be able to end those proceedings simply by serving a notice of discontinuance and can be required to take the matter to trial. In this case the claimants were not permitted to discontinue their claim for the recognition and enforcement of an arbitration award under the New York Convention.

Supreme Court upholds requirement to record variations in writing

24 May 2018

Rock Advertising Limited v MWB Business Exchange Centres Limited is an important case. In fact, the opening paragraph of Lord Sumption’s judgment describes it as an “exceptional” appeal, raising “truly fundamental issues” of contract law.

Liquidator loses protection of a freezing order following serious failings at earlier ex parte hearing

14 May 2018

In Banca Turco Romana S.A. (in liquidation) v Cortuk and Others, the Commercial Court in London has underlined the need for applicants to give full and frank disclosure when seeking relief at ex parte (without notice) hearings.

Service of a Claim Form by email – get it wrong at your peril

27 March 2018

Communicating by e-mail is common practice. However unless you adhere to the procedural steps required by the Civil Procedure Rules service of a claim form by email will be defective. The Supreme Court’s decision considered whether to grant relief from sanctions to an unrepresented party for failing to adhere to the procedural steps.

Directors held to be trustees of company property

08 March 2018

The Supreme Court has held that directors should be treated as being in possession of company property from the time of their appointment because, as fiduciary stewards they are trustees of trust property within the meaning of section 21(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1890 (“the Act”).

This is my advice. By the way, it might be wrong!

05 March 2018

When do solicitors have to warn their client that the advice they are giving may turn out to be incorrect? The Court of Appeal has recently considered this issue.

Early Specific Disclosure Applications – factors the court will consider

22 January 2018

A decision in the Technology and Construction Court (“TCC") sheds light on the applicable test for early specific disclosure and the relevant considerations in making a successful application. Applications for early specific disclosure are relatively rare so the judgment provides helpful guidance.

English courts and overseas defendants: jurisdiction challenges and the “two-fold test”

15 January 2018

When a dispute involves a foreign party or events that took place in another jurisdiction, questions often arise as to where the dispute should be determined.

Compulsory mediation?

11 January 2018

In October 2017 the Civil Justice Council (CJC) published its interim report on the future role of alternative approaches to dispute resolution (ADR). The report makes various recommendations as well as inviting responses. It follows input from a working group tasked in January 2017 to examine uptake of ADR in civil justice. The primary purpose of the report is to find ways to encourage its use.

Disclosure in English litigation: a sea change is coming

09 January 2018

English rules on disclosure (‘discovery’ in many jurisdictions) are set for a major overhaul. Draft rules were published in November 2017. Once approved by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the resulting draft is intended to be introduced as part of a pilot scheme lasting 2 years, potentially beginning in April 2018 and running in the Business and Property Courts. This will cover virtually all High Court litigation. It will not be optional.

Erosion of privilege – Law Society seeks to intervene

08 January 2018

The Law Society is applying to intervene in the upcoming appeal of the landmark privilege decision in Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”).

Use of disclosed documents to threaten new proceedings was a breach of court rules and may amount to a contempt of court by the solicitor and client

12 December 2017

The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) provide that using documents disclosed in existing proceedings (except for the specific purposes allowed) breach the rules. CPR 31.22 provides various exceptions to when a document disclosed in a set of proceedings may be used. Any use outside of the rules could also amount to a contempt of court. Both the client who relied on the solicitor’s advice and the solicitor may be equally vulnerable to the contempt proceedings where there is no evidence of deliberate or reckless misconduct by the solicitor.

A milestone for R&D agreements?

06 July 2017

R&D agreements can often cover commercially significant and highly technical subject areas. In Astex Therapeutics Limited v AstraZeneca AB [2017] EWHC 1442 (Ch) the court has had to decide on the interpretation of an R&D agreement and whether certain “collaboration compounds” were within the scope of the agreement, triggering milestone payments or not.

Validly serving a Statutory Demand is a prerequisite for presenting a Bankruptcy Petition

22 June 2017

The court has stressed the importance of validly serving a Statutory Demand before presenting a Bankruptcy Petition. The creditor must do all that is reasonably required to bring the service of the Statutory Demand to the attention of the debtor. Without effectively serving a Statutory Demand on the debtor, presenting a valid Bankruptcy Petition is impossible.

Putting a squeeze on patent licences

20 June 2017

The recent case of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd v UCB Pharma SA & Celltech R&D Ltd [2017] EWHC 216 (Pat)