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In a shift from a line of first instance decisions, the recent Court of Appeal decision in Rowe & Ors v Ingenious Media Holdings PLC & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 29 (Rowe) has narrowed the circumstances in which a defendant may be required to provide cross-undertakings in damages as a condition of an order for security for costs to “rare and exceptional” cases.

In the recent case of Re Euro Accessories Ltd [2021] EWHC 47 (Ch), the company’s majority shareholder, Mr Gilsenan, had amended the company’s articles of association to enable him to purchase the shares held by the minority shareholder (Mr Monaghan) at “fair value”.

The Panel of Recognised International Markets Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance) has announced a public consultation on its draft revised Arbitration Rules (the Rules).

With the introduction of the Financial Services Bill (the FS Bill) into Parliament in October last year and regulated firms working hard towards transitioning away from LIBOR by end 2021, this post focuses on the FCA’s proposed new powers to address so-called “tough legacy” contracts.

In Guest Supplies Intl Ltd v South Place Hotel Ltd and another [2020] EWHC 307 (QB), the High Court held that communications with one’s solicitor, referenced in a witness statement, can constitute a waiver of legal professional privilege notwithstanding any express denial of waiver. This decision has echoed the Court’s approach in PCP Capital Partners v Barclays Bank [2020] EWHC 1393 (Comm), suggesting that judicial consensus has been reached on the waiver of privilege when relying on legal communications in litigation.

The Covid-19 pandemic and surrounding economic uncertainty is likely to lead to a significant rise in disputes.

The Court of Appeal has provided helpful guidance on the effect of the words ‘subject to contract’ in the context of negotiations.

Parties should be alive to the complications that an action for rectification may cause, if brought alongside or in the alternative to an action raising a point of construction.

English courts have a wide discretion to authorise service of a claim form. CPR 6.15(1) grants that “where it appears to the court that there is good reason… the court may make an order permitting service by an alternative method or alternative place”.

The scope and application of legal advice privilege for foreign in-house lawyers has been clarified by the English Commercial Court.