‘The Court of Appeal for England and Wales has ruled that a switch of the currency in which payments were made in a ship charter contract would count as ‘reasonable endeavours’ and would avoid the contract not being fulfilled because of a force majeure event.’
OUT-LAW.com, 22nd November 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘The case of Breakshore Ltd v Red Key Concepts Ltd, as heard in the TCC earlier this year, reconfirms the court’s position in respect of when it is appropriate to use Part 8 claims to resist adjudication enforcement hearings.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 11th November 2022
‘Speech by the President of the Family Division: When families fall apart, do they fall too easily into court?’
Courts & Tribunals Judiciary, 31st October 2022
Source: www.judiciary.uk
‘Separating couples should “try almost anything” before turning to the courts, the president of the Family Division has said, arguing that there has “got to be a better way” to resolve child disputes in particular.’
Legal Futures, 2nd November 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘I appreciate that some of you might be reading this blog on your summer holidays, so you may well have far better things to be doing with your time (ordering another piña colada perhaps?). I will therefore keep the blog short – what might be termed a “blogette”. As one would expect over the summer break, there haven’t been many reported TCC cases recently and so the case I want to discuss today is from June, namely ML Hart Builders Ltd (in liquidation) v Swiss Cottage Properties Ltd, which is a judgment of Mr Roger Ter Haar QC sitting as a deputy High Court judge.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 17th August 2022
‘Getting the notice right is important for all construction contracts and NEC is no exception. Failing to issue a notice as required under the contract can have serious consequences and in NEC this is often an issue that arises in relation to the obligation to notify compensation events within an eight week period (clause 61.3 of NEC4 ECC). Another key issue arises in respect of the obligation to issue a notice of dissatisfaction within 28 days of an adjudicator’s decision, as a failure to do so will mean that such decision becomes final and binding, and cannot be challenged by referring it to the tribunal (clause W2.4(1) of NEC4 ECC). Three recent decisions have considered notices of dissatisfaction under NEC, highlighting the importance of getting it right.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 10th August 2022
‘The English courts have adapted quickly to increasingly complex disputes involving crypto assets, a legal expert has said, following a recent ruling in a dispute over the ownership of an account worth roughly £30 million.’
OUT-LAW.com, 5th August 2022
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘In Richards & Anor v Speechly Bircham LLP & Anor (Consequential Matters) [2022] EWHC 1512 (Comm) HHJ Russen QC (sitting as a judge of the High Court) considered, inter alia, the most appropriate costs order to be imposed on the unsuccessful defendant law firm for refusing to consider and engage in mediation. He concluded, wrongly in my view, that a failure to mediate did not justify an order for costs on an indemnity basis.’
Law Society's Gazette, 22nd July 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Putting tax payments or property transactions on blockchain – or issuing a Bank of England-backed digital currency – would help entrench English law as the forum of choice for resolving crypto disputes, the master of the rolls has said in a constitutionally daring intervention into policy-making.’
Law Society's Gazette, 26th July 2022
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Mediation will be made compulsory for all small claims worth up to £10,000, potentially settling 20,000 cases that would otherwise end up in court, the Ministry of Justice proposed today.’
Legal Futures, 26th July 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘I was lucky enough to be asked to give a recent case law update lecture for the Adjudication Society. At the end one of the delegates asked a very sensible question, namely to what extent do matters decided by an adjudicator concerning an interim valuation bind later valuations. It’s an issue that I’ve been asked about before, and it’s also one of those that can promote polarising debate, with some extreme positions taken.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 5th July 2022
‘An extra £5.4 million in funding will help even more families to resolve disputes away from court, such as contact arrangements for children.’
Family Law, 7th July 2022
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘Sometimes it feels that, as an adjudicator, you are damned if you do and are also damned if you don’t. In this case – Liverpool CC v Vital Infrastructure Asset Management (Viam) Ltd (In Administration) – it was both what the adjudicator did do and what he didn’t do that led the judge to issue a declaration that his decision was unenforceable. But how did the judge, HHJ Stephen Davies, arrive at this point?’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 21st June 2022
‘Lord Reed, London International Disputes Week.’
Supreme Court, 11th May 2022
Source: www.supremecourt.uk
‘Family separation cases should “operate in a transactional way, as with conveyancing, rather than under the banner of litigation”, the chair of the Family Solutions Group has argued.’
Legal futures, 14th April 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘While defendants in adjudication enforcement proceedings often assert jurisdictional defences as a matter of course, Eyre J’s judgement in BraveJoin Co Ltd v Prosperity Moseley Street Ltd is a reminder that – in practical terms – they will rarely succeed, particularly where they rely on the absence of a crystallised dispute.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 11th April 2022
‘The NHS in England faces paying out £4.3bn in legal fees to settle outstanding claims of clinical negligence: so reported the BBC in January 2020 following a Freedom of Information Request. Estimates published in 2019 put the total cost of outstanding compensation claims at £83bn; NHS England’s total budget in 2018-19 was £129bn.’
Ropewalk Clinical Negligence Blog, 7th April 2022
Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk
‘The case in question is Bilton and Johnson (Building) Co Ltd v Three Rivers Property Investments Ltd, which was heard by Mr Jason Coppell QC (sitting as a deputy High Court judge). I admit that the case doesn’t tell us anything new about the law of adjudication, but it is a useful reminder of the limits of natural justice challenges to adjudicators’ decisions, as well as the fact that whether an adjudicator’s findings are correct as a matter of law is not material to whether their decision should be enforced.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 18th March 2022
‘Last year I wrote about the judgment in Davies & Davies Associates Ltd v Steve Ward Services (UK) Ltd, where Roger ter Haar QC (sitting as a deputy High Court judge) granted summary judgment on a claim for payment of an adjudicator’s fees and expenses arising from an adjudication in which the adjudicator resigned prior to issuing a decision. The matter has now come before the Court of Appeal in Steve Ward Services (UK) Ltd v Davies & Davies Associates Ltd, with Coulson LJ giving the leading judgment. The court upheld the first instance decision and also allowed the adjudicator’s cross-appeal, finding that the judge was wrong to suggest the adjudicator’s decision to resign was erroneous or that he went outside the ambit of paragraph 13 of the Scheme for Construction Contracts 1998.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 2nd March 2022
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