Commercial Dispute Resolution Newsletter - October 2018

Overview

Notwithstanding Brexit, the United Kingdom appears to remain the preferred forum for many parties in dispute. Privilege, disclosure and costs are recurring issues. For the purposes of privilege, the English courts have confirmed that labels do not matter: the court will look at the substance of a communication to determine whether it attracts privilege. Many parties continue to play the potentially expensive game of forum shopping, as evidenced by the number of anti-suit injunctions which came before the English courts in the last six months. Further, the courts continued to exercise their powers in support of the many international arbitrations seated in London. There have also been a string of cases which have held that, where there is no express law of the arbitration agreement, the law of the seat of the arbitration governs. This is something parties should keep in mind when drafting dispute resolution clauses.