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New rules on witness statements in force from 6 April 2021
09 March 2021The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has approved new rules on preparing trial witness statements of fact in the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales (i.e. the Chancery Division, the Commercial Court, Circuit Commercial Court, Financial List). The new rules apply to trial witness statements signed on or after 6 April 2021 (with certain exceptions) and will have a significant impact. Parties and their advisers need to become familiar with the changes now for any trial statements that may already be in progress.
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Dispute Resolution Update - October 2020
16 October 2020Welcome to our October 2020 Dispute Resolution Update which collates some of our recent insights. We will be hosting our next dispute resolution webinar on the 5th November 'Trading through the pandemic: insolvency issues, risk and contractual performance.' You can find registration instructions here. Thank you for reading the October Dispute Resolution Update.
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Covert recordings – does use in court justify the risk?
13 October 2020With the ubiquity of smartphones, most people have the ability secretly to record a conversation or meeting, but in the context of proceedings before the court in England, key questions are: will the court allow covert recordings to be used as evidence? And will the maker of the recording risk liability to claims from the people recorded?
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Dispute Resolution Update - July 2020
20 July 2020Welcome to our July 2020 Dispute Resolution Update. We've included articles on a range of issues, including features on Covid-19, Professional Services and Sports Disputes. Since our last Update, Covid-19 and the enforced lockdown has turned life upside down for many businesses and individuals. As the world has adjusted, contentious issues have started to emerge. Not only can we help resolve such issues once they arise, we can also work with you to reduce the risk of litigation. If you have any feedback, comments or queries let us know by contacting Paula Barry.
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Important new case on disclosure, but has anyone noticed?
28 April 2020Given the dominance of the coronavirus over all aspects of life, including the law, it would be easy to miss the appearance of a new case about one of the basics of litigation.
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Legal Professional Privilege Update
21 April 2020This guide is intended to provide a brief overview of legal professional privilege. It identifies some practical steps which will help to maintain privilege and concludes with a privilege “flowchart” and table of commonly used terms.
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Implying terms into commercial contracts impacted by COVID-19
31 March 2020We live and work in unprecedented times. The health of the population is rightly the priority, but it is abundantly clear that steps taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are having a very significant impact on the ability of businesses to fulfil obligations in commercial contracts.
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COVID-19: force majeure and frustration flowcharts
29 March 2020The Coronavirus situation may interfere with contractual performance for a variety of reasons. Download here our flowcharts of the issues for those considering whether it is possible to bring contracts to an end (or suspend performance of contractual obligations) without breaching the contract by relying on contractual force majeure clauses or the common law doctrine of frustration.
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Dispute Resolution Update - March 2020
12 March 2020Welcome to our March 2020 Dispute Resolution Update. We’ve included articles on a range of disputes, including summaries of recent cases and guides on key aspects of dispute resolution. With an increasingly globalised and fast changing environment, disputes are an inevitable part of business. Not only can we help resolve disputes once they arise, we also work with our clients to reduce the risk of litigation. If you have any feedback, comments or queries let us know by contacting Rachel Rooksby.
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Terminating contracts: breaking up is never easy...
12 February 2020The UK has now left the EU. However, the precise terms of our departure are as yet unclear. In the face of uncertainty, prudent businesses are assessing contracts, their cost base and their exposure to currency fluctuations. As part of such a review, the well-prepared need to develop exit strategies where arrangements have become, or will become, unprofitable.
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Dispute Resolution Update - January 2020
16 January 2020Welcome to our January 2020 Dispute Resolution Update. We’ve included articles on a range of disputes, including summaries of recent cases and guides on key aspects of dispute resolution. With an increasingly globalised and fast changing environment, disputes are an inevitable part of business. Not only can we help resolve disputes once they arise, we also work with our clients to reduce the risk of litigation. If you have any feedback, comments or queries let us know by contacting Rachel Rooksby.
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Restrictive covenants and team moves: three key employee competition cases in 2019
08 January 2020A significant threat to any business is the risk of employees leaving to set up in competition and misusing confidential information or trade secrets in doing so. We look back at three of the most significant employee competition decisions of 2019 in this constantly evolving area of law.
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Witness statements in the Business & Property Courts: no radical change, but room for improvement
07 January 2020After a consultation period, the Witness Evidence Working Group has published its report on factual witness evidence in the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales (the “B&PCs”), i.e. the Commercial Court, the Chancery Division and the Technology and Construction Court. The report does not propose radical changes, but recommends a number of ways in which the use of witness statements in the B&PCs can (and should) be improved.
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“Once privileged, always privileged”
24 October 2019The Court of Appeal has held that legal advice privilege attaching to communications between a company client and its lawyers survived the dissolution of the company client, even where the Crown had disclaimed its interest in the documents concerned.
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Lloyd v Google: data breach class actions, have the floodgates opened?
16 October 2019The Court of Appeal has granted permission for a US-style (opt-out) “class action” to be brought on behalf of 4.4 million unidentified iPhone users against Google, to be served out of the jurisdiction. Mr Lloyd’s claim seeks uniform damages for unlawful use of browsing data without proof of damage for each individual. This ground-breaking decision overturns the High Court decision and sets the scene for the first UK class action for misuse of data.
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Dispute Resolution Update - October 2019
10 October 2019Welcome to our October 2019 Dispute Resolution Update. We’ve included articles on a range of disputes, including summaries of recent cases and guides on key aspects of dispute resolution. With an increasingly globalised and fast changing environment, disputes are an inevitable part of business. Not only can we help resolve disputes once they arise but we also work with our clients to reduce the risk of litigation.
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Protecting confidential information and IP with search and seizure orders – who inspects seized documents first?
26 September 2019One tool in the armoury of any business that suspects its confidential information has been stolen and/or its intellectual property infringed is the “search and seizure order” (“SSO”) – a court order authorising a claimant’s lawyers to enter an opponent’s premises to search for, copy, remove and detain documents relevant to the alleged wrongdoing. In a joint judgment handed down just before the summer recess, the High Court has clarified the circumstances in which a claimant who is granted an SSO will be allowed to inspect seized material before the defendant does.
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Law Commission confirms legality of electronic signatures
19 September 2019Following consultation, the Law Commission has published its report on the electronic execution of documents and confirmed that, “An electronic signature is capable in law of being used to execute a document (including a deed) provided that (i) the person signing intends to authenticate the document and (ii) any formalities relating to execution of that document are satisfied.”
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Misrepresentation: the truth, the half-truth and anything but the truth
19 September 2019When negotiating a deal, counterparties often exchange pre-contract statements and promises. Sometimes those statements and promises turn out to be wrong. Exaggerations, mistaken beliefs, misleading opinions as well as statements made recklessly might result in an aggrieved counterparty seeking redress.
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Mistakes in contracts – How to assess the parties’ intentions?
18 September 2019The legal remedy of rectification is an equitable remedy that, if granted by the court, may be used to amend a contract that says one thing, but which both parties had intended to say something else – i.e. a common mistake was made. The test to be adopted by the courts in assessing what the parties’ intentions were for the purposes of establishing a common mistake has been unclear and the source of much legal debate for several years. However, the Court of Appeal has now considered the issue and concluded that in certain situations that the correct test is a subjective one.