‘Greenwashing’ is the practice of a company providing information on its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies, or its products and practices, with the intent to present an environmentally responsible public image that masks harmful business practices.
Latest Articles
US-UK Data Access Agreement: Top Five Things to Know
In May 2020, we published a blog post about the US-UK Data Access Agreement, a first-of-its-kind reciprocal agreement between the US and the UK. Under the agreement, law enforcement agencies in either country could obtain stored electronic data from communications service providers (CSPs) in the other country for the purpose of countering serious crime via a much-streamlined process, thereby overhauling the infamously sluggish mutual legal assistance process.
Courts continue to deter satellite litigation on witness statements
Despite having broad case management powers in respect of trial witness statements that do not comply with the procedural rules, judges are notably unwilling to impose the more draconian sanctions available to them. This week, in McKinney Plant & Safety Ltd v The Construction Industry Training Board, a claimant who had committed multiple breaches of the rules and had exacerbated those breaches by being entirely dismissive of the defendant’s objections, escaped with a relatively lenient adverse costs order.
Irremediable Mistakes
It is common for contracts to contain termination provisions that only allow for termination for a remediable breach if notice of the breach is given and the breaching party is allowed time to remedy it. For a party considering the application of such a clause, an obvious question is: what breaches do the courts consider capable of remedy? The High Court of England and Wales recently considered this in Stobart Capital Ltd v Esken Ltd. While not making new law, the case is a good reminder that the answer is maybe more than you think.
So¦ A crisis has arisen? Don’t Panic!
A crisis can take many different forms. Depending upon the nature of the business in question, a crisis can mean a crippling cyber-attack, material fraudulent activity coming to light, a whistleblower raising serious allegations of impropriety, or something else entirely that is unique to the business.
UK Supreme Court rules on whether a product is defective
A decision of the UK Supreme Court has reaffirmed recent judicial guidance on the approach to defects under the UK’s product liability regime and held that actions including the issuing of official notices and alerts by regulators and the manufacturer, and the voluntary withdrawal of the product range from the market, are not prima facie evidence of a defect alone and should be considered in light of other evidence.
Crypto-nite: Court of Appeal to consider whether cryptocurrency software developers owe a duty of care to currency owners
In Tulip Trading Ltd v Bitcoin Association for BSV and Others the High Court considered whether software developers of cryptocurrency networks could owe a duty of care to owners of digital assets that have been lost or stolen.
Data Disputes: How the English Class Action Landscape is Shaping Up
The number of class actions brought in the UK is likely to grow considerably. In particular, we expect Claimant firms to continue making claims for misuse use of data where an issue affects a large number of individuals.
What Are You Implying?
In Yoo Design Services Ltd v Iliv Realty PTE Ltd the Court of Appeal has, once again, shown itself to be averse to exercising the ‘extraordinary power’ to intervene in a contract by implying a term in anything other than the most clear-cut cases. While it is understandable that claimants, in the absence of any helpful express terms, make claims based on the implication of terms, a party doing so must appreciate the height of the hurdle to be cleared.
Court Rejects Attempt to Commence Claims for 3,500 Claimants in Single Claim Form
The High Court of England and Wales has provided guidance on when it is permissible to combine several individuals’ claims in a single claim form.