Commercial Litigation

The Civil Justice Council’s Civil Litigation Review Working Group has released a report on the rarely used provisions in the CPR for “hot-tubbing” expert witnesses.  Hot-tubbing was introduced in 2013 as part of the Jackson reforms.  It involves judge-led questioning and the court hearing concurrent evidence from experts in a particular field. The working group […]

Sarah Charig considers what effect the shorter and flexible trial schemes have had on practice As is well known, the growing cost of litigation and the delays to court availability have become a great cause of frustration, turning parties to alternative forums. It has, however, been just over a year since two pilot schemes were […]

The Supreme Court clarified the contractual penalty rule in a decision on appeals, Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi and ParkingEye Limited v Beavis.  The Supreme Court held that the underlying rationale for the rule had been misunderstood and the established test was applied over-literally and poorly adapted to modern commerce.  The Supreme Court […]

Fladgate LLP is delighted that litigation associate Leigh Callaway has been elected president of the Junior London Solicitors Litigation Association for a two-year term. The Junior LSLA was created in Summer 2011 to represent the interests of junior civil litigators in London, to provide an environment for learning and social interaction, and to assist junior […]

The Supreme Court clarified the contractual penalty rule in a decision on appeals, Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi and ParkingEye Limited v Beavis.  The Supreme Court held that the underlying rationale for the rule had been misunderstood and the established test was applied over-literally and poorly adapted to modern commerce.  The Supreme Court […]

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) has launched a new Business Arbitration Scheme (BAS) which aims to provide a simple and cost-effective form of arbitration for claims in the region of £5,000 to £100,000 in value.  The CIArb is a non-profit membership organisation whose focus is on providing alternative dispute resolution services and training to […]

In July 2015, the Lord Chief Justice and Master of the Rolls commissioned Lord Justice Briggs to conduct a review of the structure of the civil courts in England and Wales.  Following an extensive consultation with judges, practitioners and court users, on 27 July 2016 LJ Briggs published his much awaited Civil Courts Structure Review: […]

In Pyrrho Investments Ltd v MWB Property Ltd & Ors [2016] EWHC 256 (Ch), the English High Court has recently approved the use of predictive coding in the disclosure stage of High Court proceedings. In a nutshell, predictive coding is the practice of electronic document review carried out by sophisticated computer software rather than by […]

A landmark £14bn class action claim against MasterCard was filed in London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on 8 September 2016.  The claim is the highest value claim to be brought before the CAT and the first major claim to be brought on behalf of multiple UK consumers under the new class action framework introduced by […]

Developments relating to litigation and arbitration in London.

The fashion powerhouse Christian Louboutin (Louboutin) has been litigating to protect its iconic red-soled shoes since 2011.  It began in the United States and has meandered through various courts in Europe, finding its way to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).  Here we take a brief look at Louboutin’s fight to protect its trademark and […]

The Court of Appeal has held that a contract can be varied orally despite containing a clause which requires any variation to be in writing and signed. In MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 553, Rock occupied MWB’s managed offices as a licensee.  During the course of a 12 […]