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17 January 2025
Issue: 8100 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
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Law digests: 17 January 2025

Contract

Salem and another v Salem and others [2024] EWHC 3311 (Ch)

This was an application seeking summary dismissal of an application to enforce a term in a settlement deed. The court held that the relevant term (clause 6.5) was an unenforceable ‘agreement to agree’ on expert determination, as there were no sufficiently objective criteria to assess the reasonableness of the parties’ endeavours to agree a binding process. Even if clause 6.5 was binding, the court found that it imposed a time-limited obligation on the parties to agree a binding process for expert determination, unless an extension was agreed in writing.


Costs

Lewis v Francis and another [2025] EWHC 17 (Admin)

The primary question was whether the magistrates' court was correct in law to determine that it had the power to order costs against the applicant where the finding of an unnecessary act was on the basis that the evidence presented was too weak to satisfy the criminal standard of proof. The court ruled that the district judge's decision to order

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Slater Heelis—Probate & Court of Protection team

Slater Heelis—Probate & Court of Protection team

Slater Heelis brings Probate and Court of Protection expertise together with new dedicated team

Clarke Willmott—Antonia Power

Clarke Willmott—Antonia Power

Antonia Power joins Clarke Willmott in Taunton

Haynes Boone—Chris Acton

Haynes Boone—Chris Acton

Chris Acton joins Haynes Boone as chair of UK derivatives platform

NEWS
Civil practitioners face changes spanning debt recovery, workplace harassment and possession claims, alongside guidance on insolvency challenges and children proceedings

Finding matrimonial wealth is as challenging as dividing it, as family disputes draw practitioners into asset tracing, offshore structures and insolvency

Agreement between opponents offers no guarantee that a court will approve a retrospective increase to a costs budget
Climate change belongs on every lawyer’s agenda, with risks extending far beyond environmental practice into commercial advice, litigation and access to justice
Workplace bullying and harassment can no longer be left solely to HR, as financial regulation scrutinises culture, character and fitness
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