The New Law Journal is likely to soon feature the following article by Rob Kay discussing the very recent English case of Emirates Trading Agency LLC v. Prime Mineral Exports Private Limited [2014] EWHC 2104 (Comm). The decision held that a clause which required parties to have friendly discussions prior to resorting to arbitration – a clause...
Brit Inns Ltd v. BDW Trading Ltd is an illustrative example of where litigation (and in this case, a subrogated claim) can go wrong. Indeed, the judge said “[t]his litigation has gone wrong for everybody.” It does, though, have important aspects that can improve Claimants and Defendants approaches to subrogation claims. Facts A contractor caused flooding...
Historically, and unlike other jurisdictions, English Courts have seen no difference between negligence and gross negligence as a legal concept. In 1843 it was “the same thing, with the addition of a vituperative epithet” (Wilson v. Brett) and in 1997 it was said that “the difference between negligence and gross negligence [is] merely one of...
In anticipation of the London 2012 Olympic Games starting today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has faced a myriad of issues, not least the risks, relating to insuring an event that the UK Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, described as “the biggest security challenge this country has faced for decades”. A quick glance at the sheer...
In the 1850’s, a prominent frontier lawyer, disturbed by what he saw, felt compelled to offer the following advice in a speech to aspiring lawyers: “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.” In England & Wales, the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) are the rules which govern the conduct of litigation. Most readers...
As in the United States, experts in England and Wales often play a fundamental role in litigation. Their opinions influence whether a case is brought, case strategy and settlement decisions. Experts currently have limited immunity for claims of professional negligence. This immunity extends to evidence given by the expert in court and to work which...
“Dangerous and generally a fruitless occupation.”– Justice Akenhead No, Justice Akenhead was not talking about being a lawyer, but stating that it is inappropriate to rank possible causes of a fire in terms of probability in order to select the most probable. In Fosse Motor Engineers Ltd v Conde Nast (2008), Fosse, the owner of...