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In a further twist of the MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd proceedings, the Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal's decision and ruled that a "reasonable endeavours" proviso in a force majeure clause does not require a party to accept non-contractual performance.  The judgment has important implications for the drafting and interpretation of force majeure clauses generally – and the impact of sanctions in particular.

Judgment was handed down last week on the substantial directors' duties and wrongful trading claims brought against former directors of various BHS companies^[1]. The liquidators of those companies were successful in arguing that the directors were liable for wrongful trading (albeit at the latest date of six possible dates argued) and were also successful in bringing the first ever claim for "misfeasance trading"^[2]. Whilst the judgment is very fact specific, it is an interesting analysis of so-called "insolvency-deepening" activity and shareholder value extraction. Moreover, it is a salient reminder to directors of their duties where they are operating in the zone of insolvency. 

In Drax Smart Generation Holdco Limited v. Scottish Power Retail Holdings Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 477, the Court of Appeal considered the sufficiency of a notice of claim made under an SPA.

Welcome to the second edition of the Travers Smith Outsourcing Spotlight. With an election due in July, we look at the likely impact of a Labour Government on outsourcing in the UK.

Two recent High Court decisions illustrate the approach of the English courts to the construction of clauses arguably conferring exclusive jurisdiction for disputes on foreign courts. The High Court concluded that it should override the exclusive jurisdiction clause in Zephyrus but it would not have been prepared to do so in EuroChem. In each case, the High Court ultimately concluded that it had jurisdiction in relation to the parties' dispute.

Dispute Resolution Partner, Huw Jenkin, has been profiled in Financier Worldwide's International Arbitration 2024 Power Players publication. In this Q&A feature, Huw discusses his career to date as well as what motivates him.

The Court of Appeal has affirmed the Commercial Court's decision and its approach to the interpretation of a Warranty and Indemnity policy, rejecting the Insured's claim that there was an obvious mistake in the exclusion clause of the policy. This is an illuminating case for all parties in the W&I market.  

Travers Smith is delighted to announce that it has been awarded "Litigation of the Year – Cartel Defence" at the annual Global Competition Review Awards in a ceremony held in Washington DC on 9 April 2024. The award, for creative, strategic and innovative litigation on behalf of a defendant in a private action for cartel damages, recognises Travers Smith's work in acting for the successful appellants in the UK Supreme Court's PACCAR ruling.   

Introduction 

In recent years, there has been an increasing trend for claims to be brought in the English Courts on behalf of large groups of claimants seeking redress for environmental damage suffered in overseas jurisdictions. Although the English Courts have been reluctant to prevent such claims from proceeding on the basis of early procedural objections from defendants, their size and complexity have presented significant case management challenges (an issue we have previously addressed in this article).

On 5 February 2024, for the first time, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the "CAT") decided on a "carriage dispute", between two competing proposed class representatives ("PCRs"), as a preliminary issue independent of certification.[1] The CAT made clear that unless there are special reasons why the carriage and certification issues should be heard together, deciding carriage disputes as a preliminary issue will be the preferred and automatic approach going forward. In its judgment, the CAT also provided helpful guidance on how such carriage disputes are to be determined in future cases.

In determining a negligence claim against a valuer for an alleged under-valuation of a residential development site, the High Court considered whether it was sufficient when considering the question of liability to focus on the end result of the valuation, rather than the valuer's process of arriving at his result – raising the question of whether a valuer must separately and additionally be shown to have fallen below the standard of a reasonably competent valuer (the Bolam test). In dismissing the claim, the Court gave careful consideration to the apparently conflicting cases applicable to determining valuers' liability and clarified the correct legal test to be applied in such cases.

Our regular round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in law and practice for in-house counsel.

On 12 January 2024, the UK government signed the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Hague 2019), a framework of rules facilitating the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments between contracting states. The contracting states to Hague 2019 are currently all EU member states except Denmark, plus Ukraine and Uruguay.

Our round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in UK law and practice for our international stakeholders.

Travers Smith dedicates significant resource to tackling violence against women and girls. This includes substantial pro bono programmes related to domestic abuse and human trafficking. 

In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court of New Zealand has overturned the Court of Appeal's decision, which struck out Mr Smith's three tortious claims against seven corporate defendants (read our previous briefing here). The Supreme Court has allowed Mr Smith's claims in negligence, public nuisance, and a novel "climate system damage" tort to proceed to trial.

Welcome to the fourth episode in our series of podcasts exploring the people aspects of ESG.

The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) has now concluded its year-long, market-wide study into the housing sector, examining possible competition law or consumer protection issues prevalent across the industry. It looked at a range of issues impacting competition between housebuilders – including land-banking, planning, the involvement of intermediaries, and estate management.

Case Briefing - A sole arbitrator removed on grounds of apparent bias: H1 and another v W and others