Litigation Notes

Court of Appeal finds trustees not entitled to withhold certain privileged documents in response to subject access request from beneficiaries of Bahamian trust

In the most recent chapter of the Dawson-Damer trust litigation, the Court of Appeal has held that a law firm acting for the defendant trustee in the …

High Court affirms orthodox application of directors’ no conflict duty in insolvency

The High Court has ruled that directors breached their duties by taking up the company’s business opportunity for their own benefit, even if the company …

High Court declines to adjourn five-week trial due to COVID-19 pressures

Courts relax rules on agreeing extensions to procedural deadlines in light of COVID-19 disruption

A new Practice Direction (PD 51ZA) took effect yesterday. It is designed to introduce additional flexibility for parties to agree extensions of time …

Morrisons wins Supreme Court appeal against finding of vicarious liability in data breach class action

Today the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Wm Morrisons Supermarkets Plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12, bringing to its conclusion a case …

COVID-19: The evolving picture for remote hearings in the English courts

In our post last Friday, we outlined how the courts were adapting to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis, and in particular the announcement from …

COVID-19 pressure points: Will this be a valid basis for avoiding contractual obligations?

With the continuing rise in the number of cases of COVID-19 worldwide declared to be a …

COVID-19: Impact on civil litigation in England and Wales

With the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak continuing to take hold on nearly all aspects of day-to-day life, what does this mean for the continued …

Article published - Funders’ liability for adverse costs: scrapping the cap

As explained in this previous post, the Court of Appeal has recently dismissed an appeal against a decision which declined to apply the so-called …

High Court finds "control" for the purposes of disclosure includes third party documents that the litigating party can access under a standing consent short of an enforceable right

In a recent decision, the High Court found that the documents of two of the defendant's subsidiary companies were within its "control" for the purposes …

Master finds privilege does not apply to documents held in solicitors' client files due to the fraud exception

High Court orders security for costs against member of Association of Litigation Funders  

In a recent decision in the group litigation brought in respect of the Ingenious Media film partnerships, the High Court has granted the defendants’ …