Data "lost" and case lost too - poor harvest derails trial

In Vardy, the court held that Ms Vardy deliberately deleted WhatsApp chats with her assistant and her assistant deliberately dropped her phone in the sea resulting in the loss of both "ends" of the end-to-end encrypted chat. Relying on established case law the judge drew inferences in the absence of "potentially significant evidence", Mrs Vardy lost her case and was ordered to pay significant costs.

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Non-party disclosure application can be served outside of jurisdiction

The court has wide case management powers, which include the discretionary power to order a person who is not a party to proceedings to give disclosure of documents relevant to an issue in those proceedings.  CPR 31.17, which codifies the court's powers under section 34 of the Senior Courts Act, governs such applications, which are made by a party to proceedings.  The court's wide powers extend to the granting of permission to serve a non-party disclosure application on a party outside of the jurisdiction, which does not amount to an extra-territorial use of the court's powers.

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Court in the middle: The English Court decides in favour of English jurisdiction in claim for Covid BI losses

The English Commercial Court has confirmed its jurisdiction to hear claims for COVID-related business interruption ("BI") losses under multi-risk insurance policies issued in the Middle East. In doing so it emphasised the Commercial Court's expertise in relation to dealing with both COVID-related BI losses, and foreign law.

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Indemnifying success fees

Commercial Court confirms scope of professional indemnity insurance cover will extend to losses related to accrued contractual rights

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PERMISSION TO SERVE PROCEEDINGS BY NFT FOR VICTIM OF ALLEGED CRYPTOCURRENCY FRAUD

The victim of alleged cryptocurrency fraud was granted permission by the court to serve proceedings on a number of unidentified defendants, by "airdropping" non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the defendant's blockchain wallet addresses, in addition to effecting service by email.

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A tale of two rulings - Which law applies to an arbitration agreement?

When a court is called upon to assess the scope and validity of an arbitration agreement it must firstly identify which system of law to apply. Conflicting decisions from the UK Supreme Court and the French Court of Cassation in relation to Kabab-Ji v Kout Food Group certainly do not help clarify the situation. This, in turn, may have a significant impact on the ability (or inability) to enforce an arbitral award.

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THE BRIEFEST CASE - QUICK UPDATES FOR THOSE DEALING WITH BUSINESS DISPUTES 

The Briefest Case holds several quick updates, highlighting recent useful decisions for those dealing with disputes.

How to effect personal service on an unwilling recipient

A judge has held that personal service had been successful on two separate occasions, despite the recipient's repeated refusal to take possession of the documents which were served. 

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Judgment debt recovery from personal pension funds

In two recent decisions, the English courts have established the principle that debtors cannot protect assets in pension funds when they have a right to withdraw fund cash which could be used to satisfy a judgment debt.

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How to respond when a claim form isn't properly served 

The court could rectify an incorrectly made application to strike out a Claim Form using its powers under CPR 3.10. 

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Claim lost after lockdown error by court service 

In Walton v Pickerings Solicitors and Another [2022] EWHC 2073 (CH), the court refused a retrospective application under CPR 7.6(3) for an extension of time for serving a claim form, notwithstanding the fact that paragraphs (b) and (c) of CPR 7.6(3) had been satisfied.

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Recovering damages for wasted management time

The High Court has held that damages will not be awarded for wasted time management, unless the claim is accurately quantified and substantiated by evidence. 

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