Causation (Commercial) meaning

Checklist Intensifying geopolitical conflict — including open hostilities, regional volatility, cyber interference and closure of sea lanes — can exert rapid, multifaceted strain on energy-sector contracts. This checklist offers a structured, practical approach to evaluating force majeure (FM) risk in an active conflict or war setting, and to judging whether FM can be effectively invoked under English law. It also maps how that assessment intersects with frustration and contractual termination rights, and sets out drafting considerations for parties to weigh in future transactions so that FM provisions expressly address war risks. It is intended for legal and commercial teams operating across oil and gas, LNG, trading, infrastructure and energy supply chains, where disruption frequently stems from direct physical impossibility at the point of delivery, or indirectly via upstream or downstream domino effects. The objective is not solely to test the viability of an FM claim, but also to enable informed, risk-aware choices in rapidly evolving conflict environments. This checklist focuses on FM arising from war-related physical and operational disruption....

For model force majeure provisions with comprehensive drafting notes, consult: Precedents: Force majeure clause; Force majeure and business continuity clause; Force majeure event definition Practice Notes on force majeure: consequences and contract discharge; clause analysis-a practical guide; key and illustrative decisions Related guidance: Practice Note-Discharge by frustration; Practice Note-Drafting for unforeseen events-commercial contracts; Commercial contracts in difficult times-resources-checklist Legal Issues General comments Force majeure provisions release a party from contractual duties when a disruptive event arises beyond that party’s reasonable control... What to watch out for Under English law, force majeure applies only where expressly included in the contract terms, though the doctrine of frustration may have relevance, and in practice its scope is usually narrower. See Practice Note: Discharge by frustration... General considerations There is no court-approved, universal definition of ‘force majeure’, so the parties’ intended meaning must be...

In this issue: Key DR developments Claims and remedies Cost and funding Case management Scottish Dispute Resolution New content Dates for your diary Useful information Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments Court information HMCTS updates Form N215 certificate of service HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has issued a revised English Form N215 Certificate of Service for civil proceedings, which also brings in a new statement of truth. While the layout has been updated, the details required remain unchanged, with extra notes added to assist with completing the form. For further detail, see: HMCTS updates Form N215 certificate of service—LNB News 27/01/2026 36. Additional permanent courtrooms to boost capacity The government will make four former Nightingale Courts in Fleetwood, Telford, Chichester and Cirencester permanent, creating 11 additional courtrooms across England and Wales to increase capacity for criminal, family and civil work and help cut delays. For further detail, see:...

In this issue: Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Agency and distribution Consumer protection Contracts Contractual joint ventures International Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers New and updated content Advertising, marketing and sponsorship ASA rulings—19 March 2025 A single complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about Haven Leisure Ltd’s claims on holiday pricing. The ASA upheld the complaint. See: LNB News 19/03/2025 11. Agency and distribution Recovery Partners GP Ltd v Rukhadze [2025] UKSC 10 The Supreme Court dismissed the appellants’ appeal against an order to account for profits earned in breach of duty; they were employees of the respondent companies and owed fiduciary duties. The court affirmed strict adherence to the fiduciary ‘no profit’ rule, rejecting arguments for a ‘but for’ causation test and for counterfactual enquiries into whether the gains could have been authorised if consent had been sought. See: Recovery Partners GP...

On the first day of a four-day sitting, the Court of Appeal took submissions from insurer representatives, in proceedings that gather a bundle of six claims heard together as a single test case, involving 13 insurers and 14 commercial policyholders. The outcome is expected to impact thousands of other firms not directly involved in the proceedings. At issue is whether policy wordings that insure against closure caused by a disease event at the premises were engaged by the UK-wide lockdowns introduced from March 2020 to curb coronavirus and control its spread. Gavin Kealey KC of 7KBW, appearing for five insurers, contended in his submission that infections occurring elsewhere in the UK do not amount to a 'proximate cause' of an individual business’s closure. 'These clauses describe situations where the premises are closed specifically by virtue of an occurrence having taken place there', he said...

Overview This Practice Note forms part of our LLB Contract Law series for law students. It surveys the remedies for breach of contract, with damages at the heart of the common law response. Setting remedies within the framework of contract, it explains when a party may terminate—most notably for breach of conditions and of innominate (or ‘intermediate’) terms. It then sets out the expectation principle from Robinson v Harman (1848) 1 Exch 850, stressing that an award should put the claimant in the position they would have been in had performance occurred. The Note next traces the principal constraints on recovery—causation, remoteness, and the duty to mitigate—and discusses leading cases on mitigation to show how these limits operate even once breach is proved. It also considers alternative measures—expectation, reliance and, in rare cases, restitutionary recovery—before addressing quantification, including the contrast between ‘difference in value’ and ‘cost of cure’ illustrated by Ruxley Electronics v Forsyth [1996] AC 344. Finally, it deals with non-pecuniary loss and the contemporary approach to liquidated...

Scope of Practice Note This Practice Note addresses: the doctrine of economic duress—invoked as a defence aiming to avoid a contractual arrangement said to have been concluded under economic pressure (lawful act economic duress receiving Supreme Court confirmation within English law in Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel). It is advanced to render void or avoidable the bargain concluded under such pressure. the doctrine of undue influence—also relied upon as a defence, allowing a party to rescind a contract or unravel a transaction on the basis that they were induced by undue influence exerted upon them. The focus is on the impairment of free will within a relationship of influence. More frequently encountered in domestic relationships, eg husband and wife regarding jointly owned property, rather than a commercial or business setting. The leading authority here is RBS v Etridge the tort of intimidation—not a defence but an independent tortious cause of action, permitting a claimant to pursue damages; sharing features with economic duress...

Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note on breach of contract claims delivers practical guidance and tips for advancing a claim. On receipt of papers or instructions, key steps include identifying the breach, the loss and the remedy sought; evaluating causation, quantum and duties to mitigate; verifying limitation; and preparing, issuing and pleading the claim. It also addresses evidential matters, including disclosure and the engagement of experts, together with practical requirements such as pre-action obligations and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). To aid understanding, a hypothetical breach scenario appears below. Breach of contract claims encompass a wide range of disputes grounded in a contractual relationship between the parties, whether that relationship arises from a written agreement, is formed orally or by conduct, or results from a combination of these methods of creating contractual obligations. Disputes may arise, for example, from: an alleged failure to perform in line with the contractual terms—this might be as seemingly straightforward as non-delivery of goods and/or involve disagreement over whether...