2006 City Law News
News items from City Law
12/12/2006 - Defendants fail to establish that a claim is time barred
The English Courts have found against the defendant where the defendant has attempted to argue that a claim was time barred, in two recent actions. Firstly, in Charles Church Developments Ltd v. Stent Foundations and another, Mr Justice Jackson held that:
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12/12/2006 - An agent can have apparent authority to make representations as to the authority of other agents
The Commercial Court has held that an agent can have apparent authority to make representations as to the authority of other agents, provided that his own authority could finally be traced back to a representation by the principal or to a person with actual authority from the principal to make it. Where a principal represented or caused it to be represented to a third party that an agent had authority to act on the principal's behalf, and the third party dealt with the agent as the principal's agent on the faith of the representation, the principal was bound by the agent's acts to the same extent as if the agent had had the authority which he was represented as having. The same principle can also apply at one remove where the third party relied on a representation made by an agent having ostensible (but not actual) authority to make such a representation on behalf of the principal.
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06/11/2006 - Expert banking evidence restricted to what is reasonably required to resolve the dispute
The Commercial Court has ruled that "an expert is entitled to examine an assumed set of facts, which can include assumptions as to what a particular person or party has or has not done, and then give an opinion on whether or not the actions (or inactions) of the relevant person fall below the standard of practice in that profession. Such an opinion can, indeed must, be based on the experience of the particular expert. But the expert's opinion must not reflect what he would or would not have done in certain circumstances. Instead it should say what would reflect the proper standard of practice in the profession concerned in the circumstances being considered."
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06/11/2006 - When proceedings are "brought" for the purposes of the Limitation period
The Court of Appeal has decided that proceedings are "brought" for the purposes of determining whether a claim has been issued within time pursuant to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980, in accordance with Paragraph 5 of the Practice Directions to Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which provides that:
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