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Law digests: 17 January 2025

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

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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