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Procedure (see also: Environmental impact assessment, European Convention on Human Rights) - West Bromwich Building Society v Mander Hadley & Co (27 February 1998) Court of Appeal

United Kingdom
15/07/1998
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West Bromwich Building Society was engaged in disputes following a collapse in property values. The Investors Compensation Scheme and 259 individual home buyers had brought claims against West Bromwich Building Society and in each case the West Bromwich Building Society was seeking to obtain contribution from the solicitors who had done the conveyancing. However the West Bromwich Building Society, being concerned about 707 home buyers who had not issued proceedings, served writs on 382 firms of solicitors to protect themselves from the expiration of the limitation period. Mander Hadley & Co applied to have these writs struck-out as an abuse of process.

It was unclear what claims, if any, these home buyers would bring. The Court of first instance refused the application and Mander Hadley & Co appealed. The Court of Appeal struck-out the writs as an abuse of process. Proceedings could not be brought when West Bromwich Building Society had no intention of prosecuting them or no idea of the basis for its claim. (Times Law Reports, 9 March 1998)

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