On 18 September 2025, the Chancellor of the High Court, the Rt. Hon. Sir Julian Flaux announced the long-awaited publication of the updated Practice Statement in relation to schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans (the "New Practice Statement"). Revision of the existing Practice Statement was, in large part, driven by the rise in contested schemes and restructuring plans which, in turn, has put significant pressure on the Court system.

Why is this case of interest?

The ongoing litigation between Mr Palmer and Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court relates to the guilty verdict handed to Mr Palmer who was acting as an administrator and charged with an offence contrary to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 (TULRCA).

Gawain Moore, Ashley Armitage and Oliver Wheeler discuss the sanctioning by the Business and Property Courts in Leeds of the first creditor-led Part 26A restructuring plan.

The Supreme Court’s decision in BTI v Sequana & Others represents the most significant ruling on the duties of directors of distressed companies of the past 30 years. It is the first occasion on which the Supreme Court has addressed whether company directors owe a duty to consider or act in accordance with the interests of the company’s creditors when the company becomes insolvent, or when it approaches, insolvency (the creditor duty). The judgment is lengthy, but can be boiled down to the following key points.

A recent High Court case has provided welcome clarity for LPA and fixed charge receivers as to the scope of their duty of good faith and potential conflicts of interest. Walker Morris’ Housing Management & Litigation Partner Karl Anders and Banking, Restructuring and Insolvency Director Owen Ormond explain.

Why is this case of interest?

HMRC has issued a consultation on the announcement in last year’s Budget to introduce legislation to restore HMRC’s position as a secondary preferential creditor in company insolvencies. This may impact upon pension schemes.

There have been a number of recent instances, including this year, of quoted companies calling general meetings to seek shareholder approval to remedy dividends that were paid unlawfully. Invariably these have been for non-compliance with a statutory formality rather than because the company did not have sufficient distributable profits to make the dividend.

Why are companies prepared to suffer the embarrassment and expense of going to their shareholders to fix the breach rather than simply doing nothing?

The Court of Appeal has reiterated some important rules for funders involved in debt purchase. Banking Litigation specialist Alasdair Urwin looks at the recent case of Bibby Factors Northwest v HDF and MCD [1].

Buyer beware

This case concerned a factoring agreement, pursuant to which a funder (Bibby) purchased unpaid invoices from another company (the Assignor), including debts owing from the defendant companies (the Customers).

In Stevensdrake Ltd v Hunt and others ^[1] the liquidator of Sunbow Limited, Mr Hunt, had brought a claim against Sunbow's former administrators. Mr Hunt entered into a conditional fee agreement (CFA) with the solicitors instructed to pursue the claim (Stevensdrake). The CFA stated "if you [Mr Hunt] win your claim, you pay our basic charges, our disbursements and a success fee". A settlement was agreed but one of the former administrators failed to pay the agreed sum.

The definition of a contract for the sale of goods under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SOGA) is one in which the seller transfers the property in the goods to the buyer for money consideration, i.e. the price.

Under section 49 of SOGA, an unpaid seller can claim for the price of the goods if either: (1) the property in the goods has passed to the buyer; (2) or payment of the price is expressed to be payable on a certain day irrespective of delivery