Litigation Notes

Court of Appeal confirms funders' adverse costs liability not limited to amount of funding provided: Arkin "cap" not a binding rule

The Court of Appeal has today dismissed an appeal against a decision that a commercial funder of a failed claim was liable for all of the defendants' …

Court of Appeal decision highlights indemnity costs risk where claimant pursues speculative claims and unreasonably refuses Part 36 offer

In a recent judgment, overturning the High Court's decision, the Court of Appeal has ordered indemnity costs in favour of a successful defendant …

Chancellor of the High Court clarifies aspects of disclosure pilot at disclosure guidance hearing

The Chancellor has taken the opportunity to clarify aspects of the disclosure pilot which is currently underway in the Business and Property Courts under …

Court of Appeal finds regulator cannot demand production of client's privileged documents unless statute overrides privilege

In a judgment handed down this morning, the Court of Appeal has held that an audit client was not required to hand over its privileged documents in …

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Court of Appeal confirms “warehousing” a claim will not necessarily constitute an abuse of process

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision that a claimant’s unilateral decision not to pursue a claim it had commenced for a substantial …

Rule change to clarify default judgment can't be entered if acknowledgement of service or defence filed before judgment

There have been a number of conflicting first instance decisions on the proper interpretation of CPR 12.3, which sets out the conditions for obtaining …

Jurisdiction and enforcement after Brexit transition – latest developments re UK's accession to Hague and Lugano Conventions

As noted in our previous blog post, where English legal proceedings are started before the Brexit transition period comes to an end, most likely on 31 …

High Court declines to order specific disclosure even though failure to disclose may have breached initial order

A recent High Court decision underlines the strict approach the courts have tended to adopt in considering applications for specific disclosure under the …

Joint Operating Agreement arguably a “relational contract” but Commercial Court declines to imply duty of good faith or Braganza duty

High Court grants proprietary injunction against Bitcoin exchange holding proceeds of ransomware attack

The High Court has held that cryptoassets (in this case Bitcoin) can be treated as property under English law. As such, the owner of a cryptoasset can, …

Court of Appeal confirms instructions to law firm relating to escrow monies were privileged

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision which rejected an application for disclosure of documents containing a client's instructions to its …