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13 February 2015 / Jeremy Gordon , Jolyon Connell
Issue: 7640 / Categories: Features , Commercial
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Dust off your old files

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Practitioners may be allowed to revive cases which might previously have appeared statute barred, say Jolyon Connell & Jeremy Gordon

In the recent case of FHR European Ventures LLP and others v Cedar Capital Partners LLC [2014] UKSC 45, [2014] 4 All ER 79 the Supreme Court determined that a bribe or secret commission obtained by an agent in breach of a fiduciary duty is held on trust by the defaulting agent for his beneficiary principal. Despite a number of articles considering that judgment and some of its implications, one consequence of potentially great significance to practitioners has been somewhat overlooked: limitation. This article considers that point specifically and highlights how the Supreme Court’s decision in FHR may allow claims which were once considered to be statute barred to be advanced in a new manner.

Underlying principles

Section 21(1) of the Limitation Act 1980 provides as follows: “No period of limitation prescribed by this Act shall apply to an action by a beneficiary under a trust, being an action—(a) in

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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