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04 December 2008 / Victor Joffe KC , James Mather
Issue: 7348 / Categories: Features , Commercial
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The vanishing exception?

Part 2: Victor Joffe QC & James Mather continue their refl ections on controversial cases on ability to pay
 

In Giles v Rhind [2003] 1 BCLC 1, [2003] All ER (D) 340 (Oct) the Court of Appeal held that there was an exception to the no reflective loss principle where the defendant had by his own wrongdoing so destroyed or disabled the company that it was unable to pursue its claim against him.

The facts in Giles v Rhind

In breach of his service agreement with the company SHF, D set up a competing company, to which he induced SHF’s major customer to transfer its business. SHF issued proceedings against D, but went into administrative receivership, and was forced to discontinue because it had no funds to provide the security for costs which it was ordered to pay on D’s application.

The claimant, a shareholder in SHF, then brought proceedings against D claiming damages for breach of a shareholders’ agreement to which they were both party. Th e claims included

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

Senior appointments in insurance services and commercial services announced

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Aviation disputes practice strengthened by London partner hire

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Residential property lawyer promoted to partnership

NEWS
he 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
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
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
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
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
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