What is a freezing order?
The purpose of a freezing order is to preserve the defendant's assets until judgment can be enforced. It operates by granting an injunction prohibiting the defendant (or anyone on his behalf) from disposing of identified assets. Legally, it does not operate as security over the assets.
Taylor v Van Dutch Marine Holding Ltd
The Supreme Court's decision in Lehman Waterfall I was handed down this morning. DLA Piper represents one of the successful appellants, Lehman Brothers Limited (in administration) (LBL).
The court was asked to consider certain issues relating to distributions in the estate of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE), an unlimited company in administration. Such issues arose due to a substantial anticipated surplus in LBIE and sought to resolve particular lacunas in UK insolvency legislation.
There have been a number of cases in recent years in which a party has sought to utilise the provisions of the CPR in order to obtain information on the opposing party's insurance arrangements, rather than waiting for that party to go insolvent in order to use the procedures provided by the Third Parties Rights Act 1930 or 2010. The recent case of Peel Port Shareholder Finance Co v Dornoch Ltd [2017] EWHC 876 (TCC) looks at this again in light of the discretion which Judges have under CPR31.16 for applications for pre-action disclosure and attempts to shut the door on such actions.
The Court of Appeal, in the case of Grant & Another v Baker & Another [2016] EWCH 1782 (Ch), has held that a judge had been wrong to postpone an order for possession and sale of a matrimonial home indefinitely due to the postponement being incompatible with the underlying purpose of bankruptcy legislation.
Background
Today, thanks to the high-cost of current court fees, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the problem of not getting paid by a customer and then, subsequently, not being able to go to court to get paid.
De Le Cuona v Big Apple Marketing Ltd, Chancery Division, 12 April 2017
Easement to park; illusory; true construction of a deed
Background
This was an appeal by Dr Mohammed Abdulla (the “Appellant”), the husband of Mrs Sarah Amin (the “Bankrupt”), against the decision at first instance in favour of (1) Mr Andrew John Whelan (2) Mr Walter Terence Weir (3) Mr David Ansell and (4) the Bankrupt (together the “Respondents”). The pertinent facts are:
• Mr Whelan was the trustee in bankruptcy for Mrs Amin (the “Trustee”).
Court refuses application for pre-action disclosure of insurance policy
The High Court has refused an application for pre-action disclosure of the public liability insurance policy of a company that, if litigation were pursued against it, was likely to become insolvent.
Background
The Supreme Court in London today gave judgment in the Waterfall I appeal, a dispute as to the distribution of the estimated £8 billion surplus of assets in the main Lehman operating company in Europe, Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE).
LBIE entered administration on 15 September 2008 and has now paid its unsecured creditors dividends of 100p in the £. The Waterfall I Supreme Court appeal addressed some of the key issues as to who should receive the surplus, which we discuss below.
“So-called” Currency Conversion Claims
On 17 May 2017, the UK Supreme Court handed down judgment in proceedings - commonly known as the Waterfall I litigation - to determine claims with regard to the estimated £8 billion surplus arising in the estate of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE).