Freehills' litigator, Max Duthie, considers Eddie Jordan's disastrous pursuit of Vodafone's sponsorship dollars in the English High Court, and wonders if lessons can be learned from this and other cases about the way to do business in sport these days, and in particular about the need for clarity in contractual negotiations.
On 4 August 2003, His Honour Justice Langley delivered his judgment in the case of Jordan Grand Prix Limited v Vodafone Group plc1 - it was not pleasant reading for Mr Jordan or for the company that runs his Formula One motor racing team. Jordan Grand Prix Limited had sued Vodafone for, among other things, breach of a $230 million sponsorship contract purportedly entered into during a ten-minute mobile phone call in March 2001. Apart from losing the case, and with it the prospect of millions of dollars in damages, Mr Jordan also had to endure the Judge's hostile comments on his credibility. Justice Langley found parts of Mr Jordan's evidence to have been
