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Gwendoline Davies and Claire Acklam ask whether a recent Supreme Court decision places a new ‘spin’ on rules for formation of contracts and implying terms ‘It is important to remember that contracting parties’ interests and understanding can differ and diverge.’ In Wells v Devani [2019] the Supreme Court has found that an oral contract was …
Continue reading "Contract: Safe as houses"
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Michael Bennett discusses discontinuance ‘The best approach will usually be to try and demonstrate some form of unreasonable conduct by the defendant and use this to reduce the percentage of the defendant’s costs that the claimant is ordered to pay.’ When a claimant discontinues a claim it may feel like the end of a long …
Continue reading "Procedure: A tricky end"
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Andrew Archer examines a recent application of the adjudication slip rule ‘Decisions of adjudicators should be enforced save in very exceptional cases and in interpreting an adjudicator’s decision the court should consider the context of the referred dispute.’ A recent High Court decision has provided practitioners with a helpful review of the authorities on the …
Continue reading "Adjudication: Back to the drawing board"
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Andy McGregor and Sarah Shaul outline a recent case on guarantees!–more–> ‘The guarantee contained both an unconditional guarantee clause and a separate principal debtor clause; the latter rendered Mr Cohen liable to Barclays for any customer liabilities that could not be recovered from him as guarantor.’ In Barclays Bank plc v Price [2018], Mr Cohen …
Continue reading "Guarantees: Demanding practices"
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Stephen Atherton QC and Malcolm Jarvis review a decision on a novel point under the Lugano Convention ‘It will only be in exceptional circumstances that case management considerations will be permitted to prevail over the English court’s lack of jurisdiction in respect of a co-defendant once the claim against the anchor defendant has been dismissed.’ …
Continue reading "Jurisdiction: Should I stay or should I go?"
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Michael Bennett considers extensions of time in arbitration proceedings ‘Haven draws a distinction between negligent omission and mistake when considering time limits for issuing arbitration proceedings.’ Deadlines in legal proceedings are often strict and immoveable. In this respect, arbitration is no different from litigation. So how can you gain more time if you are late? …
Continue reading "Arbitration: Take your time"
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Clare Arthurs and Nicole Finlayson catch the beat of non-party costs orders ‘Where a non-party does not simply fund the proceedings but substantially also controls or is to benefit from them, justice will ordinarily require the non-party to pay the successful party’s costs.' Non-party costs orders. Seemingly straightforward words, which in Various Claimants v Giambrone …
Continue reading "Insights by Penningtons Manches: Out of tune or a new refrain?"
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Joseph Sullivan reports on the first televised decision in the Court of Appeal ‘The courts have recognised that there are important policy reasons for permitting parties to obtain advice from their lawyers and to prepare for litigation without fear of those communications subsequently being disclosable to their opponent.’ In the recent case of WH Holding …
Continue reading "Privilege: A goal in the pipeline"
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Jason Rix examines contractual discretion and absolute contractual rights ‘Where a contract is found to include a contractual discretion, the authorities show it will be subject to an implied term that the person exercising the discretion does so honestly and in good faith, with regard to the contract.’ Freedom of contract is a common term …
Continue reading "Contracting: Discretion is the better part of valour"
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Kate Raybould looks at duplicity and art dealers ‘In 2016, the buyer raised doubts about the painting following an inspection by an independent expert. Sotheby’s carried out their own review and concurred that the painting was a forgery.’ Privilege has been through the wringer in recent times, largely coming under attack from disgruntled regulators keen …
Continue reading "Expert evidence: A not so old master"
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