‘Much has been written on the Supreme Court case of Bresco v Lonsdale and it has most recently been relied on by a party in the adjudication enforcement case of WRW Construction Ltd v Datblygau Davies Developments Ltd. However, as will be discussed in this blog, it was of limited assistance.’
Practical Law Construction Blog, 28th July 2020
‘The percentage of clinical claims against the NHS being resolved before issue has continued to climb to new levels, although claimant legal costs have also increased over the past year.’
Litigation Futures, 21st July 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The colossal impact of Covid 19 and the steps taken to address it are leading to a ‘plethora of defaults’ warns Mario Draghi. This emerging increase in disputes arises from circumstances like contractual failures in supply chains, disputed insurance claims, insolvency issues from business failures, employment losses and property disputes e.g. between landlords and tenants.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 1st July 2020
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘The Chancellor of the High Court has said “the one thing” he really wants to come out of the coronavirus crisis is “blue sky thinking” about how to improve commercial dispute resolution.’
Litigation Futures, 7th July 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In R (Maguire) v HM Senior Coroner for Blackpool & Fylde & Others [2020] EWCA Civ 738, the Court of Appeal considered whether the enhanced procedural duty to investigate death under Article 2 ECHR applied to the inquest touching upon the death of a vulnerable individual subject to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (“DoLS”) under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 living in a care home. The Court of Appeal’s judgment is an important authority on the scope of the substantive positive duties on the state to protect life under Article 2 ECHR.’
Dispute Resolution Blog, 30th June 2020
Source: www.lexisnexis.co.uk
‘Adjudication is a quick and comparatively cheap method of dispute resolution and for those reasons is attractive to insolvent companies seeking to recover debts. However, a respondent was likely to be able to restrain the insolvent company from referring the matter to adjudication on the basis that it would be futile to do so, since any positive decision was unlikely to be enforced as a result of the very fact of the company’s insolvency. Therefore, any award lacked practical utility. Following the decision of the Supreme Court in Bresco v Lonsdale, that is no longer the case.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 17th June 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has given judgment in what is being hailed as a landmark case in the construction and insolvency spheres. The decision has not only eliminated any doubt that there is jurisdiction for an insolvent company to adjudicate against a respondent with a potential cross-claim, but it has also endorsed the use of adjudication as a helpful tool for liquidators.’
3 Hare Court, 22nd June 2020
Source: www.3harecourt.com
‘Lord Justice Coulson’s judgment included the proposition that an insolvent Company could only adjudicate a dispute with a creditor in circumstances of mutual debts in “exceptional circumstances”. Subsequent caselaw has explored the extent of these “exceptional circumstances”.’
3PB, 18th June 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘A legal challenge to The FA’s decision to end the 2019/20 football season in Steps 3-7 of the English football National League System without promotion or relegation on account of the COVID-19 pandemic has been dismissed. The arbitral panel, chaired by Lord Dyson with Charles Flint QC and Andrew Green QC, rejected the challenge brought by South Shields FC, a club sitting in an automatic promotion position at the point of cessation of the season.’
Blackstone Chambers, 11th June 2020
Source: www.blackstonechambers.com
‘The touchstone of all ADR procedures is that parties enter into them voluntarily. However, there is an increasing body of case law in the English courts that suggests mediation should be seriously considered:
a. before litigation is entered into. Failure to do so may result in adverse or impacted
costs for a client, even if successful; and
b. in the course of litigation (instigated by the parties and increasingly with court
directions) an unreasonable refusal of a request to mediate may have bearing on
Part 36 offers and costs.
3PB, 8th June 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘High Court activity has already recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels following a sharp slump during the height of the outbreak, new research has found.’
Litigation Futures, 15th June 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The coronavirus pandemic and the current and continuing lockdown imposed by government has led to a number of consequences for the resolution of commercial disputes, and the administration of justice. First is where trials are being adjourned to uncertain dates, currently unable to take place due to the inability or unwillingness of people to attend court. Second is what is going to happen when the lockdown is eased or lifted, and disputes, which have been building up in the normal course, enter the system creating a backlog. Judges are understandably concerned that the courts and arbitral tribunals could face and potentially be overwhelmed by a wave of commercial cases. A number of these disputes will have arisen due to the parties’ inability to honour their contractual obligations due to the lockdown with complicated issues of law as to the remedies available.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 8th June 2020
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘Courts across the jurisdiction have struggled for years to run small claim and fast track lists efficiently in order to reduce the backlog. Coronavirus lockdown has brought this to a head, as cases are adjourned and the huge backlog is set to rise. Waiting several months, if not years, to have a case of modest value heard is contrary to the interests of justice. Memories fade, individuals cannot enforce their rights until the issue is litigated, the deserving go uncompensated, and the pressure to under-settle increases.’
No. 5 Chambers, 1st June 2020
Source: www.no5.com
‘NHS Resolution has added one provider to its mediation panel following what it said was a “highly competitive retender” process that saw the existing three reappointed.’
Litigation Futures, 9th June 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘More than a third of public bodies expect to have formal disputes as PFI contracts come to an end, the National Audit Office has found.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th June 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
A group of senior former judges and legal academics has called for an acceleration in the take-up of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the face of commercial contract disputes arising from Covid-19.
Litigation Futures, 4th June 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In Duchy Farm Kennels Ltd v Steels [2020] EWHC 1208 (QB), the High Court addressed the consequences of a party breaching the confidentiality clause in a COT3 settlement, noting that the issue of law arising regarding the status of the clause had not been the subject of a previous appellate ruling.’
3PB, 2nd June 2020
Source: www.3pb.co.uk
‘Might fear of the courts being overwhelmed by an anticipated flood of cases, after eventual emergence from lockdown, begin a trend amongst the judiciary to be more proactive in its encouragement of mediation? Colin Manning investigates.’
Counsel, June 2020
Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk
‘With many people working by remote means, combined with the reduction in court sitting days, clients are increasingly looking to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes. Tom Russell discusses the benefits of ADR in more depth. The full article is available to read here.’
KCH Garden Sq, 22nd May 2020
Source: kchgardensquare.co.uk
‘This was a case about the enforcement of an adjudicator’s decision (as so many are) and involved many of the usual arguments (as so many do), such as did the adjudicator have jurisdiction to reach the decision and was there a breach of the rules of natural justice? Unusually, the judge also had to consider an application to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, something I’m not really familiar with but, luckily, Helena White has already talked about that in her blog. That means I don’t need to mention whether enforcement proceedings should have been started in England or Northern Ireland, and leaves me to look at the jurisdiction and natural justice issues in more detail.’
Practical Law Construction Blog, 13th May 2020
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