A consultant could not rely on the contributory negligence of a contractor to whom its appointment had been novated in a claim by beneficiaries of a collateral warranty executed by the consultant. ......

Smith J held that without prejudice exchanges between parties that preceded the conclusion of a settlement agreement should be admissible not only to identify the terms of the settlement agreement but also as to the meaning of those terms. There was no cogent reason of public policy or otherwise fo......

The Pursuers raised an action for payment of a sum that the Defenders had withheld in respect of invoices rendered for work done under a contract between the parties. The Defenders were a Dutch company registered in The Haig with a place of business in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Defenders clai......

The House of Lords held that the normal rule, that statements made in negotiations between parties to litigation with a view to settling it were inadmissible, applied even where it was invoked in relation to negotiations in earlier proceedings between the same parties. The House was not intending t......

Two brothers built up a pharmacy business. A dispute arose as to the ownership of the assets. In 2004 they instructed solicitors to sell five pharmacies and retain the net proceeds in an interest-earning client account until further instruction. A compromise of the dispute between the brothers was ......

The Court of Appeal held that just because a claimant was impecunious did not mean that it would not have been reasonable for him to pay the cost of repairing a vehicle damaged in a road traffic accident. The cost of repairs was dwarfed by the sum run up in credit hire charges. ......

It would not be unjust to award the offeror all of its costs because had the offer been accepted no further costs would have been incurred thereafter. The fact that an offer had been withdrawn did not necessarily deprive the offer of effect on the question of costs. In such a case the defendant sho......

A conditional fee agreement that provided for a 100 per cent success fee and payment of a bonus in the event that the client recovered damages in excess of a certain amount was in clear breach of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 s.58(4). A subsequent deed of variation was ineffective to recti......