Whether viewed from the perspective of “Act of God” providing a defence at common law for non-performance of a contract, or, from the perspective of an alternative escape route from contractual liability through a force majeure clause in a commercial contract, the COVID-19 pandemic raises some interesting questions for commercial litigators. Jonathan Dale takes a look. In… Read more »
Stephen Murray discusses The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020 – The latest amendments to the FPR 2010 will come into force, as far as the provisions referred to below are concerned, on 6 July 2020. They contain one amendment of general application and two amendments specifically related to financial remedy work which may be of interest… Read more »
John Chukwuemeka discusses the upcoming Judgment in Re: A (A Child : Remote Hearing) due tomorrow (28 April 2020). 1. In the wake of Re P (A Child: Remote Hearing) [2020] EWFC 32, on 22 April 2020, a Court of Appeal constituted of the President of the Family Division (Sir Andrew McFarlane), Lord Justice Peter Jackson… Read more »
Upon my recent Article entitled “The Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Housing and Real Estate Litigation” I concluded that “we can expect further developments in the area of housing and real estate litigation commensurate with how society is impacted by the coronavirus”. I had not appreciated that further developments would arise within a month of… Read more »
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Crown Court trials are being taken out of the list for April and May, with new trial dates being fixed. Many defendants in custody will therefore be given a new trial date which is outside of their custody time limit. On 7th April 2020 the “Coronavirus Crisis Protocol for the… Read more »
On 23rd March 2020, Boris Johnson announced measures with an intended purpose of limiting transmission of COVID-19 and of attempting to support the NHS during unprecedented times. The mantra ‘stay home, save lives’ has been repeated on just about every platform since that date. Whilst these measures are intended to assist the country in overcoming… Read more »
Prisons are one of the many areas that require specific attention during the COVID-19 crisis, for obvious reasons. A substantial number of prisoners in close quarters, combined with a large turnover in buildings with limited ventilation and often poor cleanliness is a melting pot for the spread of the virus. Over 60 prisons have so… Read more »
David Hoffman considers how to make best use of ADR in the current situation. (This article was written in April 2020 but many principles still apply) A great deal of litigation has suddenly hit serious uncertainty. Many hearings, and pretty much all trials, are being adjourned. This is causing a lot of litigants to want… Read more »
Following the announcements that, from 17 March 2020 no new jury trials lasting longer than three days would begin, and that from 23 March 2020 jury trials would be stopped altogether, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the criminal courts have ground to a halt. But for the last few weeks, the courts have been… Read more »
One of the many consequences of the Government’s COVID-19 strategy has been the closure of restaurants and bars which in turn has forced a number of restaurant businesses into administration. One of the businesses affected is Carluccio’s Limited (“Carluccio’s”). All of the restaurants operated by Carluccio’s have been closed since 16 March 2020, the date… Read more »
Members of the family finance team wish to remind solicitors and clients alike that we are still available as counsel to conduct private FDR hearings, a practice which is now encouraged by Mostyn J and one which appeared within Sir Andrew McFarlane’s Covid 19 guidance for the family courts. A private FDR hearing is a… Read more »