header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
12 August 2010 / Anna Pertoldi , Maura Mcintosh
Issue: 7430 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , CPR
printer mail-detail

Open 24 hours

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Anna Pertoldi & Maura McIntosh explain why it pays to keep a close eye on Part 36 offers

Earlier this summer the Court of Appeal handed down a significant judgment relating to offers to settle made under Pt 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules (the joined appeals of Gibbon v Manchester City Council and LG Blower Specialist Bricklayer Limited v Reeves [2010] EWCA Civ 726, [2010] All ER (D) 218 (Jun). The court held that, contrary to normal contractual principles, a Pt 36 offer may remain open for acceptance even if it has previously been rejected or the offeror has made a subsequent offer in different terms.

As a result of the decision, parties need to review any Pt 36 offers previously made which they no longer wish to keep on the table. If there is any uncertainty, offers should be expressly withdrawn or varied. A failure to do so may mean that, in the eyes of the court, all offers remain on the table.

The judgment has also sought to

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

Read All
Sponsored by
Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Renters’ Rights revolution begins—brace for tribunal chaos

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll