High Court: Commercial Court judgments, 2022

Norwich Pharmacal relief is exceptional and cannot be used for wide-ranging disclosure or evidence-gathering. An applicant must show a good arguable case of a…

A party cannot use CPR 40.8A to reopen issues which were, or should have been, raised when the relevant judgment or order was made. A contractual provision…

Equity does not provide a general power to award compound interest in support of a common-law damages claim. The established jurisdiction is confined to…

A pending foreign appeal can constitute a special circumstance making enforcement of an English judgment based on the foreign judgment inexpedient under CPR…

An anti-suit injunction may be granted on a quasi-contractual basis where a foreign claimant seeks to enforce obligations derived from a contract containing an…

Fraudulent misrepresentation requires a materially false representation of fact, intended to be relied on and in fact relied on, made knowingly, without belief…

A contractual right to terminate for material breach requires a substantial breach with serious consequences for the innocent party. An easily remediable…

A contractual power to approve or reject a proposed franchise location must ordinarily be exercised honestly, rationally and for the purpose for which it was…

A general prohibition on assignment or transfer is not subject to a broad rule excluding every transfer occurring by operation of law. The critical distinction…

A foreign judgment is not a judgment for multiple damages merely because a separate default-interest obligation is calculated by reference to the judgment…

On a summary judgment application involving complex financial contracts, the court must assess whether the claim has a realistic prospect of success.…

A contractual financing requirement must be construed from the language used, read in its contractual and factual context. A requirement for a written…

In assessing consequential costs, the court may order indemnity costs where the conduct of the litigation or the parties’ wider dealings takes the case outside…

Contractual rights under interlocking lease and security documents must be construed as a coherent scheme. A lessor’s election to demand a Termination Sum…

A contractual option to sell or refinance an asset, coupled with an indemnity for any resulting shortfall and accumulated losses, must be exercised within the…

Where numerous insurance claims raise a common construction and causation issue, the court may select lead cases and determine appropriately formulated…

Under Limitation Act 1980 section 35 and CPR r. 17.4, a late amendment adding a cause of action is permitted only where it arises out of the same or…

The fraud or iniquity exception removes legal professional privilege where communications are made to further fraud or equivalent underhand conduct. It applies…

A civil court should determine privilege against self-incrimination issues by reference to the particular document, evidence or proposed use that creates the…

A joint venture to acquire and develop land does not, without more, establish an overarching development contract with plot purchasers. Entire agreement…

For disclosure purposes, a party has control of documents held on a present or former employee’s personal email account or device where the relationship gives…

A commercial trust created as security for contractual funding must be construed principally by reference to the funding agreement. Statutory trustee powers…

An arbitral tribunal’s decision may constitute an award even where the tribunal reserves power to revisit or vary its terms in specified circumstances.…

A party who relies on a legal characterisation of a contractual provision, and on legal consequences flowing from that characterisation, must plead the case…

An attribution of antiquity is ordinarily an expression of opinion, not a contractual promise that an object is authentic. Contractual effect requires an…

The court may grant information orders under the Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust jurisdictions to trace cryptocurrency and identify persons involved in its…

A contractual exclusion of implied terms concerning quality is construed according to its ordinary language. A reference to terms implied by law can include…

The court has a complete discretion when deciding whether to permit a contemnor to purge contempt and discharge coercive or punitive orders under Civil…

A challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is confined to the tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction. The statutory categories are exhaustive: the…

A fraud claim should proceed beyond strike-out only where the pleaded primary facts could justify an inference that the defendant knew the representation was…

A contract is construed by identifying what was expressly agreed and then determining objectively what bargain the parties made, having regard to context and…

Where a party abandons a discrete and significant part of its case without a determination on the merits, the court may make an immediate costs order. The…

On an application for strike-out and summary judgment, the court may examine whether the pleaded case has a sufficiently arguable evidential foundation. A…

A contractual engagement to provide services may impose obligations governing how the parties deal with one another, even where the contract guarantees no…

An anti-suit injunction will ordinarily be granted where the applicant establishes, to a high degree of probability, a binding jurisdiction agreement covering…

An asymmetric arbitration clause expressed as an option becomes an operative arbitration agreement when the option is exercised by an unequivocal communication…

In contempt proceedings involving service in Ukraine, where the state has reserved its position under Article 10 of the Hague Service Convention, alternative…

Where a party alleges that a judgment gives inadequate reasons, the court may consider whether additional reasons should be provided. In doing so, the judge…

On a without-notice application to enforce an arbitration award, materiality is judged objectively by whether the undisclosed matter would have influenced the…

An interlocutory comment or procedural ruling by an arbitrator is not necessarily an award. The court determines that question substantively, having regard to…

Under the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No 2) Regulations 2003, appropriation of financial collateral is effective where the arrangement provides for that…

A freezing order must be construed sensibly in its procedural and substantive context. Where an order is granted in support of substantive proceedings in…

Solicitors’ authority to accept service is determined objectively from the correspondence and its commercial context. A confirmation that solicitors are…

For jurisdiction under Article 6(2) of the Lugano Convention, the essential question is whether there is a sufficiently close connection between the original…

An accountant does not owe a client a professional duty to advise on a proposed legal challenge unless there is a retainer or an assumption of responsibility…

Consequential matters after judgment should ordinarily be resolved promptly and proportionately. Short oral hearings should generally be fixed within 7 to 14…

Contractual remuneration provisions are construed objectively by balancing the language, the agreement as a whole, the factual matrix and commercial common…

An anti-suit injunction requires the applicant to establish, with a high degree of probability, that a binding arbitration agreement exists and governs the…

An agreement resolving costs must be construed objectively, having regard to its wording, contractual background and context. An agreement concerning the costs…

Security for costs is directed to costs incurred in proceedings which the applicant seeks to pursue. An intervener enforcing an undertaking in damages is not…

Foreign judgments in personam may be enforced at common law where they are final and conclusive, were given by a court recognised as having jurisdiction, and…

Interim injunctive relief will be refused where, although there is a serious issue to be tried concerning the threatened suspension of contractual performance…

Confidentiality for legal privilege is not determined by whether information is private in an absolute or binary sense. The court must apply the objective test…

Permission to appeal requires realistic prospects of success on an identified ground, or some other compelling reason. A proposed appeal has no realistic…

The State Immunity Act 1978 is a complete code governing state immunity in England and Wales, construed against customary international law. State-sponsored…

Summary judgment may determine claims involving dishonesty, but the court must proceed with considerable caution. The court must consider both the evidence…

Section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 permits a court to order a non-party to pay litigation costs. The order is exceptional and must be just in all the…

Where enforcement proceedings are stayed pending a challenge to an arbitral award in the courts of the seat, the stay is a case-management measure. The court…

A contractual notification clause requiring notice of a claim and reasonable detail of its nature does not necessarily require every constituent element of the…

Jurisdiction obtained through a party satisfying the gateway for service out cannot be transferred to another claimant by later assignment. A claimant cannot…

Relief from sanctions for a late acknowledgement of service should be determined by the three-stage approach in Denton v TH White Limited: seriousness and…

Under section 73(1) of the Arbitration Act 1996, a party must raise the substance of each jurisdictional objection during the arbitration before advancing it…

Where a contract makes transfer of an asset conditional on payment of all sums due, “due” means due. It does not mean admitted, undisputed, finally determined…

A notice under sections 5(a)(i) and (ii) of the ISDA Master Agreement is valid if, read in context, it communicates clearly and unambiguously the failure to…

Business interruption cover for disease, enforced closure and prevention of access responds to Covered Events identified by their substance. A disease occurs…

A business interruption policy aggregating losses connected with a single occurrence requires an identifiable, unitary occurrence which meaningfully explains…

Under a business interruption policy, the insured loss is first established by applying the insuring clause and causation provisions. Limits of liability…

Where an application seeks release of funds held under an order made in separate proceedings, the court should consider carefully whether it has procedural…

An arbitral notice which disclaims particular relief does not necessarily remove the underlying dispute from the tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction. In a…

Under English conflicts rules, a legal person’s capacity to enter an English-law contract is governed by the law of its incorporation. A foreign restriction on…

A person who proposes to acquire shares may become a party to a shareholders’ agreement by executing and delivering a deed of adherence, even if the transfer…

Restitution following rescission is directed to restoring the parties to the actual status quo ante, not to placing them in the counterfactual position they…

Indemnity costs are exceptional, but may be ordered where the conduct of the litigation or the circumstances of the case take it outside the norm. A…

A recap recording the essential terms of a commodities sale may constitute a concluded contract, supplemented by later negotiations which settle outstanding…

A professionally negotiated commercial contract is construed principally by its text, read with the relevant contractual provisions, purpose, factual…

An anti-suit injunction will ordinarily restrain proceedings brought in breach of an English jurisdiction or arbitration agreement where the agreement is…

An extended civil restraint order requires two separate stages. First, the court must have jurisdiction because the party has persistently issued claims or…

A contractual termination clause permitting termination where a party commits a wilful, persistent or material breach ordinarily concerns an actual breach…

In construing a poorly drafted commercial contract, the court must read the language in its factual and commercial context, giving effect to the parties’…

A split trial is exceptional and requires a real and substantial advantage over a single trial. The court must undertake a pragmatic balancing exercise…

A proposed amendment after judgment, particularly one seeking to revive a claim defeated by strike out or summary judgment, requires a real prospect of success…

The Hague-Visby Rules time bar in Article III, rule 6 applies in principle to claims for misdelivery occurring after discharge. Its wording concerns delivery…

Contracts governed by an express choice of English law remain subject to that choice unless a later choice of law is demonstrated with reasonable certainty.…

Whether to bifurcate a trial is a discretionary case-management decision requiring a pragmatic balancing exercise. The court should assess how the case is…

A passport impounding order under Senior Courts Act 1981 section 37 is an exceptional, ancillary measure. Although a real risk that a defendant will leave…

On an application for summary judgment or strike out, the court may decide a short point of law or construction where the necessary evidence is available and…

An arbitrator’s power to grant interim measures under article 26 of the UNCITRAL Rules includes power to order provisional payment on account of a money claim…

Permission to appeal may exceptionally be granted for some other compelling reason despite there being no real prospect of success, where a uniquely important…

A solicitor’s lien for unpaid fees may be relevant when the court determines the extent of disclosure, but it does not automatically override the Civil…

An intermediary may be authorised to negotiate fundamental contractual terms without having authority to conclude a binding contract. Whether a contract has…

A commercial framework agreement may be established from the parties’ intended arrangement and the way it operated. Subsequent conduct may assist in…

An application for judicial recusal is determined by asking whether the fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts and context, would…

Strike-out and summary judgment applications are governed by whether the claim has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The court must avoid…

A charterer’s demurrage claim depends on whether laytime was suspended by fault attributable to the owner. Where the owner acts pursuant to express charter…

A charterparty performance warranty based on good-weather speed and consumption is ordinarily assessed by the conventional good-weather method, although that…

The inclusion of an Angel Bell exception in a post-judgment worldwide freezing order is a discretionary question turning on all the circumstances. There is no…

An underwriting agent authorised to receive insurance premiums must account for all premiums received, subject only to contractually permitted deductions.…

Summary judgment requires a defence to have no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason for trial. The court must avoid a mini-trial, but may…

A person asserting a statutory direct right against an insurer may be restrained from suing outside an agreed arbitral forum where, in substance, the right…

A jurisdiction clause in an insurance policy may provide a true non-exclusive alternative between the courts of the country of issue and the courts of England…

A freezing order supporting enforcement of a foreign judgment remains concerned with preserving assets, rather than execution, until the foreign judgment has…

Foreign constitutional judgments which expressly quash executive acts may fall within the exception to the foreign act of state principle. That exception does…

For the purposes of establishing jurisdiction under CPR 6.33(2B)(b), a claimant must show a good arguable case that the defendant is party to and bound by the…

Where a breach of contract consists of positive acts assisting a competing transaction, causation is ordinarily established as a question of historical fact.…

Where bank statements are ordered under the Bankers Books Evidence Act in support of a freezing order, the appropriate start date depends on the requirements…

The court has an absolute discretion to allow more than 14 days for payment of a judgment debt. An extension requires proper justification, ordinarily…

A challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is a de novo rehearing, although the court may consider the tribunal’s reasoning with care and adopt…

A guarantee which covers liabilities arising during its currency may continue to respond to contingent liabilities accrued before termination, even where the…

On an application for an interim injunction, the court must first ask whether there is a serious question to be tried and then assess the balance of…

A contractual waiver must be construed objectively and in the context of the agreement as a whole. A waiver of claims arising from underlying transactions does…

In a negotiated commercial contract, a payment default notice is effective if it clearly demands payment required by the contractual default clause. It need…

An application for security for costs involves two stages. The court must first decide whether a qualifying condition under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule…

An application under Senior Courts Act 1981 section 34 and CPR 31.17 is a claim and may originate proceedings against a non-party for the purposes of Practice…

An interim mandatory injunction should not be granted where the proposed order is insufficiently certain to reflect contractual obligations, damages appear to…

A fiduciary relationship outside established categories requires an objectively assessed relationship in which the alleged principal is entitled to expect…

For service out of the jurisdiction, the claimant must show a good arguable case within a gateway, a serious issue to be tried, and that England is clearly or…

A success fee payable on completion of a defined transaction is not ordinarily payable merely because a different transaction achieves a similar commercial…

Sentencing for contempt requires the court first to assess harm and culpability, then aggravating and mitigating features, before determining the proportionate…

Where proceedings are managed through sample claimants, early disclosure should be confined to material properly relevant to the generic issues and the…

In competition proceedings, disclosure from a third party must be proportionate to the issues and justified by a precise and narrow request. When exercising…

On a summary judgment application, the court must determine whether the respondent has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. It must avoid a…

The scope of a waiver of legal professional privilege is determined objectively by identifying the transaction or issue in respect of which the privileged…

Where misappropriated money is used to improve property, tracing depends on identifying a substitute asset and establishing the value added by the expenditure.…

On an application under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 24 or rule 3.4, the court should not conduct a mini-trial. A fact-sensitive claim should proceed where…

At an interlocutory privilege hearing, the court may determine the general question whether privileged documents are likely to require consideration at trial…

A civil restraint order may be made only against a person who is shown to be the real party behind the litigation. Where the evidence suggests that the named…

A general civil restraint order may be made where the applicant establishes persistent claims or applications certified as totally without merit, and an…

A general civil restraint order requires persistent issuing of claims or applications that are totally without merit. The order must also be necessary to…

A person or entity cannot become a company director merely by declaring itself to be a de facto director. Appointment must occur through the company’s…

The court has a broad discretion under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 44.2, as to whether costs are payable, their amount and when they must be paid. An…

Permission to appeal requires a ground with a real prospect of success, or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. A challenge presented as an…

On a without-notice application for service out of the jurisdiction, the applicant must disclose facts material to the court’s limited jurisdictional inquiry…

Declaratory relief is discretionary and should be granted only where it serves a useful purpose, is just in all the circumstances and is expressed with…

A settlement agreement is enforceable where its commercial terms can reasonably be given meaning, even if the document lacks strict legal precision. A clause…

For a challenge under sections 30 and 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996, substantive jurisdiction includes whether a valid arbitration agreement extends to the…

Where proceedings begun in an EU member state before the end of the Brexit transition period later become related to UK proceedings, Article 67 of the…

A spread-betting firm may classify an experienced trader as an elective professional client where it gives clear written warnings about the protections lost…

An agent managing a principal’s trading portfolio owes undivided fiduciary loyalty. The agent must act honestly in the principal’s best interests, avoid…

A claim cannot proceed against defendants where the Particulars of Claim identify no recognisable cause of action against them. Further information may…

Under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the statutory right to appeal on a question of law remains available unless the parties have agreed sufficiently…

An order excluding the quantification of damages, restitution or indemnity from a trial does not ordinarily exclude issues of causation, reliance or…

A third party’s direct claim against a liability insurer is characterised by its substance, not by its description under foreign law. Where the claim…

Summary judgment may be given where a claimant has no realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success and no other compelling reason for trial. The court…

Extensions of time to challenge an arbitral award are exceptional because the Arbitration Act 1996 promotes speedy finality. The court must assess all relevant…

Under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51, the court has a broad discretion to make a non-party costs order where it is just to do so. A commercial funder may…

A force majeure clause referring to inability to transfer title is not necessarily engaged by an inability to deliver a vessel in accordance with contractual…

To establish civil contempt, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent knew the order, breached it, and knew the facts making the…

A proposed appeal must have a real prospect of success or another compelling reason for permission. An alleged evidential deficiency in a party’s own case does…

A case management stay cannot be used as a disguised forum non conveniens application. Where the English court has mandatory jurisdiction under article 25(1)…

An automatic stay under CPR 15.11 is properly treated as a sanction arising from a failure to keep proceedings under judicial management. An application to…

For an arbitration clause requiring each party to appoint an arbitrator within a specified period, an appointment is valid when the proposed arbitrator has…

A company director who diverts business opportunities, staff time or company assets to a personal venture breaches statutory and fiduciary duties, even if the…

On an application to set aside a regularly obtained default judgment, the applicant must show either a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or…

An unreasonable refusal to mediate does not automatically justify indemnity costs. It is one factor within the court’s broad discretion under Civil Procedure…

A Norwich Pharmacal order is an exceptional remedy for obtaining necessary information about an arguable wrong. The applicant must establish an arguable…

Directors must disclose information and opportunities relevant to their company and must not exploit them while holding office. That duty applies even where…

The Quincecare duty requires a bank to refrain from executing a payment instruction while it has reasonable grounds to believe that the instruction is an…

Where an adjournment application succeeds, the court may order the application costs to be costs in the case, particularly where success was contested and the…

Under Article 9(3) of Regulation 593/2008, the court must ask whether the relevant obligations were or had to be performed in the foreign country, whether the…

A claim struck out on a technical basis should not automatically be certified as totally without merit where the order says nothing about the underlying legal…

A claimant must comply with an order requiring evidence from an individual who purported to act for it, unless it proves that obtaining the evidence is…

Permission to make a late amendment requires the proposed case to have a realistic prospect of success and to be properly particularised. A short and…

International carriage by road falls within the CMR Convention where the contractual places of taking over and delivery are in different countries, even if the…

Third-party disclosure should be ordered where the documents sought are likely to support the applicant’s case or adversely affect another party’s case, and…

An application to stay execution under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 83.7, concerns enforcement of an existing judgment or order. It does not permit the…

For costs purposes, the successful party is ordinarily the party that succeeds overall in the litigation, rather than merely on an individual issue. Where…

The principle in Henderson v Henderson is a procedural power concerned with preventing abusive and duplicative proceedings. In an arbitration seated in London…

On a strike-out or summary judgment application in an unlawful means conspiracy claim, the court must apply the relevant procedural threshold without…

For CPR gateway 3, the anchor claim must involve both a viable real issue and an objective reason for the court to try it. A claim may remain a real issue even…

A novation takes effect at the time specified in an executed effective-time supplement where that document confirms satisfaction of the contractual conditions…

For limitation purposes under DISP 2.8.2R(2)(b), the relevant “complainant” is the person who refers the complaint with the requisite capacity and holds the…

An introducer’s fee is payable only within the contractual scope agreed. An alleged extension of a tail period must be objectively established, and a variation…

In a business sale, a representation that projected earnings reflect current trading may be an actionable representation of existing fact, even where the…

At trial, a party may amend its pleading where the amendment causes no unfairness, difficulty or prejudice. Permission should be refused where an amendment…

Claim dismissed. In an unjust enrichment claim arising from an international bank transfer, “at the expense of” requires a legally recognised transfer of…

A detention ordered by a criminal court under the law of the state falls within an insurance exclusion for loss arising from action taken under criminal law or…

Section 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996 protects a person who disputes an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction and has taken no part in the arbitral process. A…

The duty of a firm instructed to investigate alleged corporate wrongdoing includes objectively advising on (and documenting) the risks, limits and likely…

For the purposes of Insolvency Act 1986, a debtor does not enter into a transaction merely because a company acts through him. The separate legal personality…

The identity of a person communicating with a lawyer attracts legal professional privilege only where the communication itself is privileged and disclosure of…

A successful party’s costs recovery should not ordinarily be reduced merely because it failed on some arguments. A reduction may be appropriate where an…

A director may incur personal liability in deceit for making fraudulent representations to induce an investment, even where the director acted for the company…

For limitation purposes, a claimant has actual or constructive knowledge when the claimant knows, or could with reasonable diligence discover, enough to…

On an application to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, the claimant must show that England and Wales is clearly and distinctly the most appropriate…

Where a fair trial cannot take place, the court should generally adjourn the hearing. Inconvenience to the opposing party or other court users is ordinarily…

A solicitor advising on a private-equity transaction must identify significant legal risks created by the drafting within the scope of the retainer. The…

An adjournment on medical grounds requires properly served, reasoned medical evidence addressing the condition, its effect on participation, prognosis and…

A person cannot become a de facto director merely by unilaterally declaring an intention to assume that office. De facto directorship depends on actually…

A bill of lading issued to a charterer ordinarily operates only as a receipt, with the charterparty containing the contract of carriage. Transfer to a new…

On a summary judgment application, the court may finally determine a short point of law or construction where the evidence is sufficient and the parties have…

In competition claims, strike-out and summary judgment depend on whether the pleaded case has a realistic, more-than-arguable prospect of success. The court…

An anti-suit injunction may restrain foreign proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement even where no arbitration is yet under way. The…

Allegations that an earlier judgment was obtained by fraud require a real case of conscious and deliberate dishonesty, material to the earlier decision and…

An adjournment application made after a summary judgment hearing has concluded will ordinarily fail where the applicant could have sought relief before or at…

An arbitral award may in principle give rise to issue estoppel against a non-party who is a privy in interest, but the exception to the ordinary rule that only…

A challenge to an arbitral award under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 requires proof of a breach of the tribunal’s section 33 duty, a serious…

A contractual variation is construed objectively by reference to what the parties agreed and their subsequent conduct. Where parties agree a price for services…

The common-law rule preventing set-off against freight applies only to payment properly characterised as freight in the narrow legal sense. It does not…

A failure to pay an instalment under a settlement agreement may trigger an acceleration clause, entitling the claimant to lift a stay and enter judgment for…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires a serious issue to be tried, a good arguable case within a jurisdictional gateway, and…

An anti-suit injunction will ordinarily be granted for a clear breach of an arbitration agreement unless strong reasons justify refusal. Delay is relevant, but…

Where contractual payment provisions establish a hierarchy, a payer must use the stipulated method. A non-compliant bank account does not remove an alternative…

On an application to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, the claimant must establish a real issue to be tried, a good arguable case within a…

On a jurisdiction challenge, the court should separate three questions: whether there is a serious issue to be tried, whether the claim passes an available…

Where a judgment debtor breaches both the original information order and the conditions suspending a committal order, and both orders were duly served, the…

On summary judgment, the court must decide whether the opposing case has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. It must avoid a mini-trial…

A bank does not assume responsibility to advise on an interest-rate hedging product merely because it explains products, supplies information or expresses a…

An account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty is an equitable remedy, but its scope is governed by established equitable principles. The court has no…

Recognition and enforcement of a New York Convention award is subject to the limited grounds in Arbitration Act 1996, s 103. If no ground is established, the…

A claim whose principal subject matter is the validity or enforceability of an arbitration agreement falls within the arbitration exclusion from the Recast…

On summary judgment, the applicant must show that the opposing case has no realistic prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for a…

A contractual cash-sweep provision must be construed in its contractual and commercial context. Where the agreement links the provision to deferred…

The Henderson principle applies to successive interlocutory applications as well as final hearings. A party generally cannot raise at a later interlocutory…

A contractual payment obligation triggered by delivery of a compliant preliminary report is not defeated merely because the report is late, unless the contract…

Where a non-proprietary freezing order permits expenditure on living or legal expenses, the defendant must show that no other assets are available for those…

A consent order permitting an amended defence is construed objectively by reference to its language and relevant background. Where the order does not expressly…

A challenge under Arbitration Act 1996, section 68, concerns due process rather than the correctness of an arbitral decision. A tribunal must give the parties…

Section 12(1) of the State Immunity Act 1978 requires service through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office only in proceedings against a State. A…

An applicant seeking relief ex parte must make full, frank and fair disclosure of all material facts. Materiality is assessed objectively by the court, and the…

Cryptoassets, including non-fungible tokens, may be treated as property where there is a realistically arguable case that English law recognises them as such.…

A contract may be formed on agreed recap terms even though the parties continue negotiating detailed terms. Later correspondence does not incorporate disputed…

Permission to appeal requires a realistic prospect of success. A proposed appeal concerning whether documents referred to in documents attached to witness…

An application under paragraph 21 of Practice Direction 51U requires the applicant first to identify documents specifically mentioned or directly alluded to in…

An order appointing an executor to represent a deceased defendant’s estate in litigation should not be set aside or varied where the appointment is legally…

Under paragraph 3.1(3) of Practice Direction 6B, service out of the jurisdiction requires a real issue reasonably to be tried against a defendant within the…

Upon termination of a bareboat charterparty for an event of default, an owner’s contractual right to repossess the vessel may arise independently of a further…

A marine cargo policy principally insures property, rather than the purely financial success of a storage or trading adventure. Goods need not be owned by the…

Reasonable endeavours required by a force majeure clause ordinarily require steps directed towards performing the contract according to its terms. They do not…

In claims for payment for work or services, the cause of action ordinarily accrues when the work is completed. Contractual provisions concerning invoices or a…

A party may plead a non-admission only where it cannot properly admit or deny the allegation after making reasonable enquiries and considering the information…

On a security for costs application, the court must first identify the successful party. The successful applicant will ordinarily recover the costs reasonably…

A non-damage denial of access clause can extend to disease where its wording covers a danger within a specified radius. The radius requires a local…

A freezing injunction requires a good arguable case, assets against which the order can operate, a real risk of dissipation, and justice and convenience in…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where the authorities on a jurisdictional issue are materially unclear, the proposed argument has a real prospect…

A fiduciary who secretly acquires company property through a nominee breaches the duties to avoid conflicts and unauthorised profit, even where the sale price…

Litigation privilege requires proof that litigation was reasonably in prospect and that the document was created for the dominant purpose of conducting that…

The court will not ordinarily exercise direct jurisdiction to compel a foreign non-party to provide disclosure from abroad. The existence of procedural rules…

Under the GAFTA Default Clause, the value of goods for the purpose of assessing damages for non-acceptance is ordinarily assessed by reference to a true…

On an urgent application under Arbitration Act 1996, the court applies the ordinary interim-injunction principles. Where the injunction would effectively…

A participant in an unlawful means conspiracy need not know the precise method used by co-conspirators or the victim’s precise identity. It is enough that the…

Where claimants unequivocally admit that their claims were brought outside the limitation period, the court may enter final judgment dismissing the claims…

Where related proceedings concern the alleged unauthorised assumption of control of a company, the court may case-manage applications together to secure a…

A contract research organisation’s obligations are determined by the services undertaken, the contractual standard of care, and the trial documents defining…

An application under CPR 3.3(5) to set aside an order dismissing an arbitration challenge without a hearing involves a rehearing. The applicant must show a…

Under the Lugano Convention, the domicile rule is the starting point and the special jurisdictions in Article 5 must be interpreted strictly. For Article 5(3)…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires three conditions: a serious issue to be tried; a good arguable case that a jurisdictional…

Where separately constituted claims are case-managed and tried together, that arrangement does not by itself make the claimants participants in a common…

Declaratory relief is discretionary. The court must assess utility, justice between the parties and whether declarations are the most effective means of…

Where a commercial contract is formed partly orally, partly in writing and partly by conduct, the court may examine the parties’ dealings as a whole to…

On interim applications, the unsuccessful party will generally pay the successful party’s costs, subject to the court’s discretion and all the circumstances…

A solicitor’s professional indemnity policy does not ordinarily cover liabilities arising from a commercial funding arrangement merely because the solicitor…

A charterparty negotiated on “subjects” remains non-binding until the subjects are lifted. Where the subject qualifies the parties’ agreement as a whole, it…

A statement made to induce investment may constitute deceit where it conveys a materially false fact and the representor knows it to be false, lacks belief in…

An English court may order disclosure even where compliance could breach foreign criminal law. The decision is discretionary and must take account of comity…

A force majeure clause may permit termination even where both contracting parties are affected by the same event, provided the contractual conditions for…

A court may grant declarations after judgment in default where they are necessary to secure the claimant the fullest justice, particularly where the order will…

A failure to pay an invoice does not necessarily amount to repudiatory breach. The question is whether, objectively, the conduct clearly shows an intention to…

Permission to amend a defence should be granted only where the proposed case has a realistic prospect of success. The court must apply the summary judgment…

Under Civil Procedure Rules Part 24, the court may decide a short point of law or construction where the evidence is sufficient and a trial could not…

A foreign judgment from the DIFC may be enforced in England and Wales at common law where it is final and conclusive, for a definite monetary sum, and given by…