ADR/mediation

Recent Articles

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  27/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  The CJC Review of Pre-Action Protocols – Phase Two Report (Final) now published

  On 15 November 2021, the UK's Civil Justice Council (CJC) published an Interim Report initiating a consultation on pre-action protocols (PAPs).  The consultation closed in January 2022. CMS responded to the consultation with interest, given the potential impact on the legal industry and insurers/insureds alike.It is the responsibility of the CJC, through its designated Working Group (WG), to make recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC). It is for the CPRC to accept or reject those recommendations and draft the revised PAPs.The CJC's response was published in two parts....

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  18/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  UK Supreme Court upholds anti-suit injunction in favour of Paris seated arbitration

  IntroductionThe recent Supreme Court judgment in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance LLC [2024] UKSC 30 has significant implications for arbitration agreements and anti-suit injunctions. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the judgment, its background, and its potential impact on future arbitration disputes.BackgroundThe dispute concerned performance bonds issued by UniCredit Bank GmbH (“UniCredit”) in favour of RusChemAlliance LLC (“RusChem”) to guarantee the construction of liquefied natural gas and gas processing plants in Russia. The bonds were...

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  22/10/2024

  United Kingdom

  Navigating Wasted Costs Orders: Insights from Williams-Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd

  When might it be appropriate to fix the solicitors of a fundamentally dishonest Claimant with an obligation to pay the Defendant’s costs?We previously reported on the striking case of Kirsty Williams-Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd [2024] EWHC 806 (KB) (see here), in which the Claimant in a personal injury claim was found to have been fundamentally dishonest, the court concluding that she had been “thoroughly dishonest” in the presentation of her symptoms, lying to “clinicians, medico-legal experts and this Court about [her] health, functioning, activities...

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  15/07/2024

  Netherlands

  Dutch Supreme Court clarifies legal status and implications of mediation clauses

  In a judgment of 12 July 2024, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) clarified the legal status and implications of mediation clauses in commercial contracts. The ruling confirms that such clauses are either non-binding or obligatory, depending on the wording and the parties' reasonable expectations. The court also emphasised that mediation clauses should not unreasonably impair a party’s access to the courts or arbitration, as protected by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).The case involved a dispute between two companies in the occupational health and...

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  15/07/2024

  England and Wales

  Arbitration agreement does not prevent winding up petition

  The Privy Council has recently delivered a landmark judgment on the interplay between arbitration agreements and winding up petitions. The Board held that the English case of Salford Estates (No 2) Ltd v Altomart Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 1575; Ch 589, which had adopted a pro-arbitration approach to stay or dismiss winding up petitions based on debts covered by arbitration agreements, even if the debts were not genuinely disputed on substantial grounds was wrongly decided. The Board, although hearing an appeal from the British Virgin Islands (BVI)  also gave a direction that Salford Estates should...

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  05/06/2024

  United Kingdom

  Loss of Chance in broker’s negligence claim - Norman Hay PLC v Marsh Ltd

  In a judgment dated 8 May 2024 the Commercial Court has held that where a broker’s negligence has resulted in no insurance policy being available, a claimant is not required to prove on the balance of probabilities that a putative insurer would in fact have indemnified the claimant. Rather, the Court’s assessment of causation and loss needs to involve consideration of the ‘loss of chance’ aspect including whether the putative insurer would have engaged in dealing with the underlying claim against the claimant and whether it would have provided an indemnity of some sort.BackgroundNorman...

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