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Civil way: 8 February 2019

07 February 2019
Issue: 7827 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Beating the tardy defendant; new workers’ rights; Forced Backdate (not Backstop); success fees deaded

LATE AoS OR DEFENCE?

An acknowledgment of service filed late but before judgment in default has been requested or applied for is a bar to that judgment being entered. That’s the position if Andrew Baker J got it right in Cunico Resources NV and others v Daskalakis and another and another case [2018] EWHC 3382 (Comm). He there held that, following a late acknowledgment, the claimants were not entitled to a default judgment pursuant to a subsequent application (on notice and not by way of request, because the claimants were contending for service out of the jurisdiction—see CPR 12.10). I suggest that the position would be the same in respect of a late defence followed by a request for judgment in default.

The judge followed Unilever plc v Pak Supermarket [2016] EWHC 3846 (IPEC) but declined to follow McDonald & McDonald v D&F Contracts Ltd [2018] EWHC 1600 (TCC) although he had some doubt as to whether the latter

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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