header-logo header-logo

09 January 2026
Issue: 8144 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Law digest
printer mail-detail

Law digests: 2 & 9 January 2026

Costs

Estate of Euan McIntyre Lindsay (deceased) and another v Outlook Finance Ltd (in liquidation) and another [2025] EWHC 3241 (KB)

The King’s Bench Division ruled on consequential matters following the setting aside of a 2014 judgment (the Manchester judgment) obtained by fraud. The court had previously established that the judgment should be set aside against both Outlook Finance Ltd (first defendant) and Mr Butcher (second defendant) due to fraud perpetrated by Derek Fradgley (deceased), even though Mr Butcher was not complicit in the fraud. On costs, the court awarded the Lindsay family (claimants) their costs on the standard basis, subject to a 25% reduction to account for their initially unfounded allegations of fraud against Mr Butcher. The court ordered repayment of previously paid costs from the Manchester proceedings and set aside the earlier cost assessment. Permission to appeal was granted on the point of whether the equitable jurisdiction to set aside a judgment extends to setting it aside against a non-fraudulent party, but refused on the second ground concerning

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

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

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

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’ 
back-to-top-scroll