Contract adjudications are meant to provide a speedy, cost-effective and conclusive means of resolving disputes and, as a High Court case showed, judges are extremely reluctant to see them deteriorate into satellite litigation. A construction company referred its dispute with two other companies to an
Motor insurance policies commonly cover motorists in respect of injury or damage to property caused by, or arising out of, the use of a vehicle on a road or other public place. The Supreme Court has given authoritative guidance on the meaning of that phrase
Public authorities are evidently focused on serving the public at large and the extent to which they owe legal duties of care to individuals has long been an area of heated legal debate. The Court of Appeal gave authoritative guidance on the issue in a
The existence of oral agreements is easily asserted but very hard to prove, and that is one good reason why important deals should be in writing and professionally drafted by a lawyer. In a case on point, a businessman received nothing following the multi-million-pound stock
When interpreting contracts, judges follow the wording actually used as their guiding light in discerning the intention of the parties. That was certainly so in a High Court dispute concerning a major project to construct a state-of-the-art new innovation centre for a Russell Group university.
The whole point of contract arbitrations is that the parties agree in advance that they will be bound by the arbitrator’s decision. However, as a case concerning a dispute between two professional football clubs showed, the High Court retains power to intervene in cases of
An architectural designer who was controversially found to owe friends a duty of care, although she had provided her services in respect of a garden landscaping project free of charge, has defeated their six-figure professional negligence claim. A couple with whom the designer was on
Many thousands of people volunteer their services to charities and other bodies that benefit the public – but do they have any contractual rights? The High Court tackled that issue in the case of a water polo coach who claimed that he had been banned
The trouble with contracts that have not been professionally drafted is that what may appear trivial inaccuracies or ambiguities can later come back to bite you. In a case on point, a civil engineering agreement left the role – and even the identity – of
Attempts to re-litigate dismissed claims under the guise of a different cause of action are generally viewed as an abuse of court process. However, in a guideline ruling, the Court of Appeal permitted a gambling club to pursue a deceit claim against a bank, notwithstanding
