Without prejudice meaning

When to seek settlement? This checklist flags common issues that can emerge when negotiating and drafting a settlement agreement. For step-by-step guidance on negotiating and preparing a settlement agreement, consult the following Practice Notes: How to agree and draft a settlement agreement (non-employment claims) Settling disputes—how to document a settlement Settling disputes—drafting the settlement agreement Keep settlement in mind at every stage of a dispute, including pre-action. Consider the full range of resolution routes, such as direct negotiation between the parties or their legal advisers, assessing whether a Part 36 offer is suitable, or engaging in assisted alternative dispute resolution (ADR), for example mediation. Following a rule change in October 2024, the court may now order parties to participate in ADR (see CPR 3.1(2)(o)). Review any contractual duties relating to settlement—such as a tiered dispute resolution clause—and ensure compliance with pre-action protocol requirements that encourage and facilitate settlement efforts. For additional context, see: Settling disputes—what, when and why settle?...

The employee (and their adviser) should consider the following issues: Preparatory steps Gather: a copy of the employee’s most recent employment contract and any other documents setting out contractual terms (these might be found in a staff handbook) a P45 or the latest payslip details of the contractual benefits the employee receives relevant information about the employee’s pension benefits relevant details of any shares or share options held by the employee. Review the Articles of Association, any applicable shareholder agreement and share scheme documents. See also Shares and share options below copies of pertinent open correspondence and without prejudice communications between employer and employee Define the scope of the advice and reflect this in the client care letter/terms of business, i.e.: is the advice limited to the terms and effect of the settlement agreement (to satisfy the relevant condition regulating settlement agreements)? is...

Evidence of bad character Identify material relied on. Confirm it falls within CJA 2003 s98; if not, state its relevance. Set out the basis for admission: gateway(s) under ss101–106, reliance on conviction alone or its circumstances, key facts and proof. For unproven conduct or acquittals: outline facts, disputes, and why admission will not cause collateral litigation. Deal with each ground by the relevant gateway (ss102–106). Important explanatory evidence Under s101(1)(c): show that, without it, the tribunal would struggle to understand other evidence, and its value is substantial. Propensity to commit offences/be untruthful Under s101(1)(d): show convictions evidence propensity (same description/category), why that increases likelihood of guilt, and admission is fair. Consider number of convictions, behavioural tendency, similarities (eg modus operandi), gaps, and whether earlier untruthfulness arose (eg disbelieved accounts or false representations). Correct a false impression Under s101(1)(f): show a false impression per s105...

In this issue: Key DR developments Claims and remedies Cross-border disputes Evidence and disclosure New content Dates for your diary Useful information Collaborate and network with a community of expert lawyers Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments 163rd Practice Direction update 163rd PD update—effective on 1 February and 6 April 2024: The 163rd Practice Direction (PD) changes to the Civil Procedure Rules have received approval from the Master of the Rolls together with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice...

Original news Interserve Construction Ltd v Hitachi Zosen Inova AG [2017] EWHC 2633 (TCC), [2017] All ER (D) 82 (Nov) What are the practical implications of this case? Although the outcome rested largely on the parties’ bespoke terms, the case underscores the need to examine termination provisions with care both when contracting and before attempting to terminate. It also indicates that, when interpreting the parties’ chosen wording, the court is unlikely to construe it in a manner that fails to give operative effect to expressions such as ‘subject to’. What was the background? Hitachi, the EPC contractor for an energy from waste plant in Worcestershire, engaged Interserve as sub‑contractor. Dissatisfied with Interserve’s performance and delay, Hitachi served a notice under sub‑clause 43.1 of the sub‑contract, invoking grounds (h) and (q). Those grounds provided that, if Hitachi failed to proceed regularly or diligently with the works or committed a material breach: ‘…then, subject to Sub‑Clause 43.1A and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies which’...

In this issue: Business tenancies Disputes and remedies Property Disputes in Scotland LexTalk®Property Disputes: a Lexis®Nexis community Additional Property disputes updates Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary New and updated content Trackers Latest Q&A Business tenancies Competing approaches to a tenant’s ‘holding’ in claims for renewal of business tenancies (Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd v Medley Assets Ltd) In Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd v Medley Assets Ltd [2024] Lexis Citation 358, a contested application to renew a business tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) was examined. The landlord relied on ground (f), asserting a reasonable need to recover possession to undertake substantial works. A key ancillary question concerned the scope of the tenant’s ‘holding’, hinging on how that term is construed in LTA 1954, s 30, and whether it aligns with or differs from ‘holding’ in LTA 1954, s 32 (the property to be included in any new tenancy)....

Context Jurisdiction clauses frequently appear in commercial contracts and are typically framed as either: Exclusive jurisdiction clauses (see Practice Note:Jurisdiction agreements—exclusive jurisdiction agreements) Non-exclusive jurisdiction clauses (see Practice Note: Jurisdiction agreements—non-exclusive jurisdiction agreements) Where parties have chosen an exclusive jurisdiction term, the default position is that the English court will ordinarily ‘exercise its discretion… to secure compliance with the contractual bargain’. Such provisions now appear ever more often in trust instruments. Nevertheless, several questions arise concerning: the drafting of such clauses the areas to be covered by such clauses the interpretation and effects of such clauses Two examples of jurisdiction clauses As presently encountered, trust jurisdiction provisions create a series of connected issues, including how they are drafted, what they should cover, and how they are interpreted and what they achieve. Before considering their operation, it is useful to look at a couple of typical illustrations: a Jersey law...

Privilege—the basic principles This Practice Note sets out several of the issues that general privilege principles create for IP practitioners, together with specific statutory IP privilege provisions to keep in view. For broader guidance on privilege as a whole, see: Privilege and without prejudice communications—overview. Privilege exists because a client and a lawyer need to communicate frankly about protecting the client’s interests, without those conversations being disclosable to an opposing party or to the court. Although the following are not the only species of privilege, the two principal forms to focus on in the IP sphere are ‘legal advice privilege’ and ‘litigation privilege’. The rules governing each, as developed through case law, can operate with very different practical effects, and their consequences may diverge considerably. These two forms are sometimes grouped together as ‘legal professional privilege’, yet that phrasing is confusingly close to ‘legal advice privilege’ and will therefore not be used again in this note. Appreciating the differences between legal advice privilege and litigation privilege is of...

Key evidence and disclosure decisions 2016—what do you need to know? ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is no longer maintained and is provided for background only. In addition, some links may not take you to the provisions as they were at the time this guidance was issued. In 2016 there were, among other matters, developments relating to: predictive coding—see below disclosure of confidential information—see below without prejudice communications—see below the court’s duty to scrutinise evidence—see below privilege—see below use of interim witness statements at trial—see below concurrent expert evidence—see below Predictive coding In Pyrrho Investments v MWB Property, the court endorsed, for the first time, the use of predictive coding technology during disclosure. It highlighted the advantages of the approach and set out considerations for deciding whether the software is appropriate in a particular case. Soon after, the Chancery Division in David Brown v BCA Trading again directed the use of predictive coding, this time despite...

ARCHIVED: [ insert name and address of claimant’s legal representative ] [ insert date ] Without prejudice save as to costs Dear [ insert organisation name ] [ Pre-action ] Part 36 offer [ Claimant v Defendant[ —Case number ] ] We write in relation to the above [ potential ] matter, in which we represent [ insert name of your client ]. [ Our client is satisfied that your client’s claim cannot be sustained OR Our client wishes to resolve this issue amicably OR Our client recognises the requirements of the Civil Procedure Rules for parties to seek to settle their disputes ], and we are instructed to advance an offer pursuant to Part 36 of the CPR ('the Offer'). For the avoidance of doubt, the Offer is made with the intention that the consequences set out in Section I of Part 36 shall apply...

[DRAFT] SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT—pre-action settlement [WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND SUBJECT TO CONTRACT [ SUBJECT TO SIGNATURE BY PARTIES AND/OR SUBJECT TO COURT APPROVAL ] ][CONFIDENTIAL] This Agreement is entered into on the day of 20[ insert year ] Parties [ insert name of party ], a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number [ insert company number ]), with its registered office at [ insert address ] (‘Party A’) [ and ] [ ; ] [ insert name of party ], a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number [ insert company number ]), with its registered office at [ insert address ] (‘Party B’). together, the ‘Parties’ Whereas [ Set out the context of the dispute; for instance, if it relates to a contract, identify the contract’s purpose and date, and provide a summary of the parties’ respective obligations, e.g., ‘Pursuant to [ insert type of agreement, e.g., a distribution agreement ] dated [ insert date...

[ ON YOUR LETTERHEAD ] WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS [ SUBJECT TO CONTRACT ] [ Insert date ] [ Insert name and address of other party’s solicitor ] Dear [ insert contact name ] [ Insert subject of letter ] We refer to our open letter of [ today’s date OR [ insert date ] ]. As explained in that correspondence, both we and our client remain assured that, were your client to commence proceedings in relation to the alleged claim described in your letter of claim dated [ insert date ] (the ‘Letter of Claim’), our client would be entirely successful in resisting and defeating any such claim...