Overview

This extensive review from Allen & Overy covers all the latest developments in litigation and dispute resolution, including arbitration, conflict of laws, contracts, damages, disclosure, CPR changes and trusts.

In the last edition of this briefing, we considered a number of cases in which contractual counterparties were trying to escape from what had become, in the current economic conditions, a bad bargain. In this issue, we consider several cases where counterparties have claimed that there was never a contract in the first place.

The arguments made in this regard included that the contract was ‘subject to contract’, that it had not been signed, and that the email acceptance was not effective (see Thomas & anr v BPE Solicitors and RTS Flexible Systems v Molkerei Alois Muller Gmbh & Co).

We also feature Senior Master Whitaker’s decision in Gavin Goodale v Ministry of Justice in which he considered the disclosure of electronically-stored information. This decision highlights why it is so important for parties and their advisers to take a well-planned and proportionate approach to such disclosure so as to avoid a hugely expensive and impractical review of a mountain of documents.

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