Don't Step In The Jurisdiction Accidentally

If you are an English company or person resident in England, there may be an alternative to defending proceedings in a foreign court at great cost.

Before taking any steps in the foreign proceedings, it is worth taking advice on whether, if a judgment is obtained in the foreign court, it will be enforceable in England.

We have advised in a number of situations where, after consulting us, the clients have taken no part in the foreign proceedings. This was based on advice that a foreign judgment in the particular case would not be enforceable in England.

A decision of the High Court (Desarrollo Immobililiario Y Negocios Industriales De Alta v Kader Holdings Company Limited [2014] EWHC 1460 (QB)) is a reminder of the danger of a defendant submitting itself to the jurisdiction of a US court, which makes a judgment of the US court enforceable in England, when it might otherwise have been unenforceable.