Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Court finds serious harm but awards £1 due to deliberately false case: Wright v McCormack [2022] EWHC 2068 (QB) (England and Wales)

Published on: 25 August 2022

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert

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Article summary

Wright v McCormack [2022] EWHC 2068 (QB) (01 August 2022)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This is (hopefully) a one-off matter and a timely prompt for litigants to carefully check the accuracy and truthfulness of their pleadings and any witness material they intend to rely upon at trial. Although the claimant obtained damages, the judgment was notably scathing, particularly in finding that he had advanced a ‘deliberately false’ case about disinvitations from academic conferences. The claimant had sought to use those disinvitations to argue that the words complained of caused serious harm to his reputation. The court noted that, because serious harm bears on quantum, the inaccuracies surrounding the disinvitations were central to the claim. The case also stands as a stark warning that any errors within a case should be squarely addressed. The court found that the ‘deliberately false’ position was maintained until shortly before trial and, on the judge’s findings, would have been persisted with at trial had the defendant not produced evidence...

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