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Part 36: Rating the offer

Tom White and Claire Curtis report on the effect of currency fluctuations on Part 36 offers ‘The only reason that Novus “beat” its own offer was not because it had recovered a higher proportion of its claim, but because the value of sterling had fallen significantly against the dollar.’Part 36 is intended to provide a …
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Practice: Costly estimates

James Morrison outlines a recent application for security for costs ‘The one-page summary filed by the defendant gave no indication of hourly rates or time allocated between different fee earners: fundamental shortcomings in the view of the court.’In Agents’ Mutual Ltd v Gascoigne Halman Ltd (t/a Gascoigne Halman) [2016], the defendant sought additional security for …
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Insights By Penningtons Manches: Angry endings

Clare Arthurs and Phillip D’Costa highlight recent case law on frustration ‘AA argued that the contractor agreement was frustrated on or by 5 October 2011, because by that date the franchisees had made clear that they regarded the franchise agreements as void or terminated or both.’ Frustration: the feeling of being upset or annoyed as …
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Sanctions: Budgeting blunder

Maura McIntosh reports on a recent application of the Mitchell sanction ‘The decision acts as a reminder that costs budgets must be filed in time or a party risks facing serious restrictions on its recoverable costs.’ In the recently reported case of Jamadar v Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2016], Jackson LJ delivered the …
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Expert Evidence: Unexpected expert in bagging area

James Driver provides a reminder of the court’s powers over expert evidence ‘Disclosure can extend beyond an expert’s final or draft report, to other documents and correspondence in which an expert has expressed their opinion.’The recent decision in Allen Tod Architecture Ltd v Capita Property and Infrastructure Ltd [2016] serves as an important reminder that …
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Costs: Sense and susceptibility

Ieuan Jones explores a controversial decision implementing the proportionality test ‘Many see BNM as a bellwether that the new test will be applied in a way that could potentially severely diminish a party’s costs, even if it is decided the costs were reasonably incurred.’ Following the controversial costs decision in BNM v MGN Ltd [2016], …
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Modern Slavery Act: One year on

Sandra Paul and Sophie Wood consider the impact of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 over the past year ‘Companies need to go beyond a tick-boxing exercise and really engage with the process of identifying and taking action to tackle slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains.’The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015) which came …
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Remedies: A walk in the park

Kayleigh Bloomfield looks at Wrotham Park damages ‘The Wrotham Park remedy attempts to quantify a sum which might reasonably have been negotiated between the parties as a quid pro quo for giving permission to the wrongdoer to act contrary to his or her contractual obligations.’ Restrictive covenants may be instinctively characterised as belonging to the …
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Enforcement: Hooray for Horton

Alex Fox and Rebecca Andrews-Walker weigh up the recent decision in Horton v Henry ‘The Horton appeal decision will inevitably leave trustees in bankruptcy disappointed at pensions rights now being out of reach in the usual course of events.’ When this topic was last considered two years ago, there was a real danger of pension …
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Procedure: Fee high fo fum

Tom White and Emma Holmes return to the problem of court fees ‘The courts will take a very dim view of deliberately misstating the value of claims and paying lower fees accordingly.’In 2015 we saw some substantial rises in court fees, including, in particular, fees for issuing claims. This rise in fees saw vehement opposition …
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