Insights

London – June 30, 2021: Crowell & Moring secured a win on behalf of Dana UK Axle in a High Court judgment that culminates more than three years of intense litigation and seven years of engagement between Dana UK Axle and Freudenberg Sealing Technologies.  On June 28, London’s Technology and Construction Court issued its judgment finding fully in Dana’s favor and awarding all of the £11,243,026 claimed and an indemnity for future losses.  The court will award the client interest on this judgment as well, which will be a substantial additional sum.  Freudenberg will be ordered to pay Dana’s legal fees and expenses, the majority of which will be on an “indemnity” basis, and a £75,000 penalty for failing to accept an earlier Part 36 offer, which operates much like an offer of judgment in the U.S.

The English Court of Appeal has recently handed down a helpful judgment, clarifying the test for breach of duty in cases of alleged negligence by valuers. In short: (i) the valuation must fall outside a reasonable margin of error of the ‘correct’ valuation; and (ii) the valuer must have carried out the valuation in a way that no reasonably competent valuer could have done (the Bolam test).

Compensation claims for data breaches have become increasingly common in the UK in recent years. However, 2021 may come to be seen as a turning of the tide, as the English Courts made a number of decisions that will substantially reduce the scope of such claims and/or make them less attractive to funders. This alert looks at a few such decisions and their potential consequences.

The last two years have seen three landmark decisions of the UK Supreme Court on arbitration agreements and procedure. This alert summarizes those decisions and their implications.