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Ben Holland outlines the final chapter of the West Tankers case The Commercial Court’s decision provides guidance that in future arbitrations or court proceedings, a claim for the costs of proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement may properly be made in English law.Where parties have agreed that disputes should be arbitrated in London, …
Continue reading "Arbitration: Loose moorings"
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David Niven and David O’Brien examine the perils of pursuing indemnity insurers For the deductible to apply to each and every claim without aggregation would have resulted in no pay-out at all under the policy. In high-value professional negligence claims against small firms of solicitors, claimants will often be entirely reliant upon those firms’ professional …
Continue reading "Insurance: Fully covered"
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David Robinson reviews a recent case on an accountant’s duties of care to third-party investors in an existing client In Arrowhead Capital Finance Ltd (in Liquidation) v KPMG LLP [2012], the High Court has provided clarification on an accountant’s duty of care to investors in one of its clients that will be welcomed by both …
Continue reading "Conduct: Call of Duty II"
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Lee Coulthard outlines some common pitfalls in the use of Part 36 A Part 36 offer does not protect a party against its own serious misconduct, and practitioners should be ready to alert the court to such misconduct at the close of any trial where a Part 36 offer is not beaten. When seeking to …
Continue reading "Part 36: Money: that’s what I want"
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Alice Anderson and Sarah Harris look at lessons to be learned from Mayer v Hoar Malice can be established where the defendant had an improper motive and knew that the statement was false or was recklessly indifferent as to whether the statement was true or not. As any seasoned defamation lawyer will know, two of …
Continue reading "Privilege: Nearly free speech"
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Tracy Head examines the tension between Jackson and the Court of Appeal’s declaration to increase general damages The 10% increase in general damages did not appear on the face of the Bill. This absence did not go unnoticed during the Bill’s passage through Parliament and fuelled the debate that a 10% increase was not enough.Lord …
Continue reading "Practice: Examining a gift horse"
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Mark Surguy looks at the costs consequences of not quite winning The trial judge decided that that the notion of ‘success’ depended on who was paying money to whom at the end of the case. He did not think that the claimant had exaggerated his case and felt he had reasonably relied on expert evidence. …
Continue reading "Costs: It’s not winning but taking part that counts"
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Julian Chamberlayne and Kerie Receveur review recent case law on retrospective and discounted conditional fee agreements Following Birmingham City Council v Forde [2009] and Gloucestershire County Council v Evans [2008], which respectively held that retrospective CFAs and discounted CFAs were not contrary to public policy, we have waited many years for decisions applying the principles. …
Continue reading "Fee Agreements: Cheap at half the price"
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David Sawtell reports on the impact of Fairclough Homes on applications to strike out It would only be in a very rare case where, at the end of a trial, it would be appropriate to strike out a case rather than dismiss it on the merits. The purpose of striking out a claim was to …
Continue reading "Procedure: Lucky strike"
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David Robinson contemplates a recent case on the extent of a solicitor’s duties The decision in Shepherd Construction Ltd v Pinsent Masons LLP provides welcome clarification on the extent to which solicitors are required to review and update previous advice.In a decision that will be welcomed by solicitors and professional indemnity insurers alike, the High …
Continue reading "Practice: Does duty call?"
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