Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Bromwich, associate, and Marina Boterashvili, partner, at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP examine Aviator LLC v Spribe OÜ. The decision treats rules giving preclusive effect to earlier judgments as substantive, rather than merely procedural, for the purposes of Rome II. If upheld on appeal, an English court may need expert evidence of foreign law before deciding what effect a previous decision has on a later claim.
The authors also review recent authorities on estoppel arising from arbitral awards, interlocutory decisions and pure questions of law. The Supreme Court’s decision in Skatteforvaltningen v MCML stresses that estoppel attaches only to the ‘immediate foundation’ of a decision—not every step in its reasoning. The doctrine’s limits therefore remain as important as its finality.
