REUTERS | Edgar Su
November 19, 2018

The new Singapore Convention: will it be the New York Convention for mediation?

REUTERS | Edgar Su
November 19, 2018

The new Singapore Convention: will it be the New York Convention for mediation?

We are soon to have a new international regime for the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements, which it is hoped will achieve for mediation what the New York Convention has for international arbitration.

The UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation was finally approved in June 2018 by UNCITRAL (the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law). To be known as the Singapore Convention, it is the culmination of nearly four years of negotiations within a UNCITRAL working group, involving representatives from over 85 States and 35 NGOs. It is accompanied by a corresponding Model Law (which replaces the existing Model Law on Conciliation).

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REUTERS |
November 8, 2018

Costs budgeting: both sides must play by the rules or else

Running an action in the multi-track worth less than £10 million but £50,000 or more and you are not a litigant in person? Your case will be subject to costs management under Part II of CPR 3 unless the claimant is a minor, fixed costs apply or “the court otherwise orders”. That means that not later than 21 days before the first case management conference (CMC), budgets must be filed and exchanged, and an agreed budget discussion report filed no later than seven days before the first CMC (see CPR 3.12-13). Continue reading →

REUTERS | Daniel Munoz
November 2, 2018

Proportionality: the new political correctness

Proportionality is something that is considered from the pre-action stage, right through to assessment of costs. It has become a term that is familiar to some and feared by many. On 1 April 2013, a new test of proportionality came in to force by virtue of CPR 44.3(2)(a), whereby costs that are disproportionate in amount may be disallowed or reduced even if they were reasonably or necessarily incurred. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Nigel Roddis
October 26, 2018

Computer has frozen: CMOC Sales & Marketing Limited v Persons Unknown and 30 others

In his pioneering judgment in CMOC Sales & Marketing Limited v Persons Unknown and 30 others, HHJ Waksman QC (sitting as a judge of the High Court) has confirmed that the court has jurisdiction to grant freezing injunctions against persons unknown. This follows his previous interim ruling on this point when he granted what is believed to be the first freezing injunction against persons unknown. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Sergio Perez
October 22, 2018

Privilege and internal investigations: what next for practitioners after ENRC?

Writing earlier in 2018, I commented on the inconsistency of approach between two recent cases to consider legal professional privilege: Andrews J’s decision in Director of the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corp Ltd, and that of Sir Geoffrey Vos in Bilta (UK) Ltd (in liquidation) & others v Royal Bank of Scotland Plc & another. The Court of Appeal recently decided the appeal in ENRC, and given that Sir Geoffrey Vos was on the bench, it will come as no surprise that it is Bilta that finds itself on the right side of history. Continue reading →

REUTERS | John Kolesidis
October 19, 2018

What claimants need to consider before entering into a litigation funding agreement

As the litigation funding market grows, claimants are faced with increased choice when sourcing funding and have more leverage when agreeing terms than ever before. Whilst “off the shelf” products exist, the majority of arrangements are tailored to the facts and the economics of each specific case, and there is often a good deal of room for negotiation between the parties to the agreement. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Carlo Allegri
October 15, 2018

Underpayment of court fees and applications to strike out or reallocate: was Lewis and others v Ward Hadaway a storm in a teacup?

This blog considers the development of the law since the case of Lewis and others v Ward Hadaway (a firm) in 2015, when the defendant tried to strike out a claim on the basis of the underpayment of court fees by the claimants. It will consider whether there is any recent trend of applying the case successfully and whether the case can be used to defeat applications to reallocate claims. Continue reading →