As a junior litigator in the 1990s, it was drummed into me that if you were challenging the jurisdiction of the English court, you should be very, very careful not to do anything in the proceedings other than bring that challenge. If you didn’t heed this advice, the court would likely find that your client had submitted to the jurisdiction of the English court, leaving you with a very unhappy client, pointless delay and wasted costs. Continue reading
On 3 October 2016, a new Practice Direction (PD) 51L came into force. It provides for the voluntary use in the Senior Courts Costs Office of the revised new format for the parties’ bill of costs for use in civil litigation. Continue reading
The Lehman v Exxonmobil (EMFS) case recently decided by Blair J in the Commercial Court has many interesting nuggets relating to the valuation of securities for the purposes of the calculation of loss. In the case itself, these arose out of the failure of Lehmans to honour repo agreements, but are also of more general application. This post will address just one of those valuable discussions, namely the difference between what is reasonable and what is rational in the context of the exercise of a contractual discretion. Continue reading