Dispute Resolution Update - July 2019

Articles in this edition

Contract law update: recent developments and practical tips

This quarter, our commercial dispute resolution practice group hosted a seminar discussing provisions that commonly feature in commercial contracts. We covered recent case law, offered tips on how to interpret key clauses and discussed how to avoid common pitfalls. This is a summary of some of the key points. - Read more

Contract interpretation: a helpful recap by the Court of Appeal

At the end of March 2019, the Court of Appeal handed down a decision which provided a helpful reminder of the modern approach to interpreting contracts. - Read more

Fail to cooperate at your peril! Court finds that contracting party’s conduct was a repudiatory breach of an implied duty to cooperate

In a recent case, the court implied a duty to cooperate where close collaboration between the parties was required to perform the contract. The court also found that one party’s failure to cooperate was a repudiatory breach that the counterparty could rely on in treating the contract as terminated. - Read more

Court of Appeal sets high bar for parties defending fraudulent misrepresentation claims and dismisses attempt to broaden transferred loss principle

The Court of Appeal has confirmed the presumption of inducement in cases of fraudulent misrepresentation will be “very difficult” to rebut and rejected a claimant’s attempt to recover the loss of its subcontracting sister company via the “transferred loss” principle. - Read more

Insolvency of LLPs – liability and risk for partners

In an article for Accountancy Age, Mark Lim outlines what partners need to know in the event of an LLP’s insolvency. Whilst (as a general rule) liability is “limited” there are situations where members may be ordered to restore property to an insolvent LLP – particularly under the ‘adjustment of withdrawals’ provisions of s. 214A of the Insolvency Act 1986. - Read more

The ‘dominant purpose test’ applies to legal advice privilege for now – but will it stay that way?

The aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (“CAA”), has reportedly asked the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal a High Court ruling that the dominant purpose test applies to legal advice privilege (in this case in the context of multi-addressee emails sent to both in-house lawyers and non-lawyers). - Read more

Law Society report: AI in the justice system

The Law Society has now published the final report of its Technology and the Law Commission investigation into the use of algorithms in the justice system. - Read more

Court of Appeal allows inspection of documents despite the risk of foreign prosecution

The Iranian bank, Bank Mellat, has lost its Court of Appeal bid to withhold customer documents from inspection in the English courts despite the risk that this may expose the bank to prosecution in Iran. - Read more

Client guides

Litigation Costs

We have updated our Guide to Litigation Costs, which provides a general introduction to the recovery of litigation costs from your opponent. It discusses general principles as well as issues that may arise during the course of litigation, providing practical guidance as to how to secure the best recovery. - Read more

Jurisdiction Challenges

We have updated our Guide to Jurisdiction Challenges. We provide an overview of how to challenge the jurisdiction of the English courts if a claim is started here. Next we consider what to do if proceedings are brought in a foreign court in breach of a jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts, or in breach of an arbitration clause. Finally, we consider the impact of Brexit – deal or no deal – as the situation currently stands. - Read more