Disclosure

A company must disclose documents held by its subsidiaries and which it controls, the High Court has ruled, in a case handled under the disclosure pilot.

Parties that try to use the disclosure pilot for litigation advantage will face “serious adverse costs consequences”, the Chancellor of the High Court has warned, urging judges to take action if they see it.

There is still “a lot of game-playing” in relation to disclosure despite the aim of the ongoing pilot to introduce a new culture into the way the process is handled, it has been claimed.

Redacting comments made by a company’s lawyer on a draft dismissal letter while disclosing other privileged documents was “impermissible cherry picking”, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled.

The disclosure pilot applies to all Business and Property Courts proceedings, including cases where a disclosure order was made before 1 January 2019, the Chancellor of the High Court has ruled.

The Ministry of Defence has been ordered to pay indemnity costs after the High Court ruled that it “has not begun to grapple with its obligations in terms of disclosure” in a procurement challenge.

A Chancery master has criticised the “verbal brawl” into which a landlord and tenant dispute has descended and said the conduct of the case showed why the disclosure pilot was necessary.

The new disclosure rules – potentially lowering the cost of the process – may encourage more partnership disputes to lead to litigation, a specialist solicitor has suggested.

A High Court judge has strongly criticised a City partner who gave a journalist a copy of a witness statement made in support of an application for pre-action disclosure.

A party’s claim to legal advice privilege over two internal emails has been rejected by the High Court, which has also ordered a privileged document disclosed by mistake destroyed.