According to a list of issues that has recently become publicly available in the Commission Recovery v Marks & Clerk case, a trial early next year is likely to determine important questions that could affect the broader viability for claimants and funders of bringing “opt-out” representative actions under CPR 19.8, which allows claims to be
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High Court grants unfair prejudice petition on grounds of auditor’s flawed valuation of claimant’s shares in contractual exit process
The High Court has broadly interpreted what amounts to a “company’s affairs” for the purposes of an unfair prejudice petition under s.994 of the Companies Act 2006, and also considered the impact on such a petition of an exit mechanism in a shareholders’ agreement: Wells v Hornshaw [2024] EWHC 330 (Ch).
This case is…
Commercial litigation podcast series – Episode 23: General update
In this 23rd episode of our series of commercial litigation update podcasts, we look at the government’s plans for the litigation funding industry, and a consultation on proposals regarding public access to court documents. We also consider two recent cases on costs – more specifically costs against non-parties and security for costs – and a…
Litigation funding: Bill introduced to reverse effect of Paccar and Civil Justice Council invited to review the sector
On 19 March, the Litigation Funding Agreements (Enforceability) Bill was introduced to Parliament, following on from the government’s announcement on 4 March that it would introduce legislation to reverse the effect of the high profile decision in Paccar last July. In that case, as is well known, the Supreme Court held that litigation funding agreements…
High Court grants declaration confirming exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in order to assist Indian court to determine it did not have jurisdiction
The English High Court has granted limited declaratory relief confirming the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts under the jurisdiction provisions of certain counter-guarantees provided to the claimant Afghan bank by the defendant Indian bank: Afghanistan International Bank v Yes Bank Ltd [2023] EWHC 3294 (Comm).
The decision was made against the backdrop of…
Procedure for challenging jurisdiction includes challenges based on validity of service, not just international jurisdiction
The High Court has held that a defendant who wished to argue that proceedings had not been served in time, because orders extending time for service of the claim form should be set aside, should have used the procedure for challenging jurisdiction under CPR Part 11 rather than applying to strike out the claim. The…
Proposed new rule would radically expand public access to court documents
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is consulting on a revised rule 5.4C which, as currently drafted, would lead to parties’ witness statements, expert reports and skeleton arguments becoming public at a much earlier stage of proceedings than is currently the case. While it is clearly important that the press and the public should have appropriate access…
Without prejudice rule: High Court emphasises narrow scope of exceptions
The High Court has granted an application to strike out certain passages from defendants’ witness evidence on the basis that they were protected by the without prejudice (WP) rule and the defendants had not established that any of the recognised exceptions to that rule applied: Ocean on Land Technology (UK) Ltd v Land [2024]…
High Court refuses to stay proceedings commenced in breach of valid ADR clause
The High Court has exercised its discretion against ordering a stay of proceedings that had been commenced in breach of a clause which obliged the parties to refer any disputes to an out-of-court adjudication process, as a pre-condition to commencing litigation. Because the litigation involved other parties and wider issues regarding the project, the court…
Government announces planned legislation to bolster litigation funding by reversing effect of Paccar
The government has today announced that it will introduce legislation to reverse the effect of the high profile decision in Paccar last July (considered in this blog post), in which the Supreme Court held that litigation funding agreements in which the funder is to receive a share of damages are Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs) and…