The English Commercial Court in Galtrade Ltd v BP Oil International [2021] EWHC 1796 (Comm) has held that an oil trader who rejected off-specification cargo wrongfully repudiated the contract, as the specification requirement in the contract was an intermediate term and not a condition.

New Zealand boat builders beware.

Class actions and litigation funding continue to grow in prominence in New Zealand, despite the lack of a regulatory framework for the same.

The District Court recently dismissed the Commerce Commission’s case against Bunnings for alleged misleading and deceptive representations under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA). In dismissing the Co...

The English High Court decision in Black Sea Commodities Ltd v Lermarc Agromond Pte Ltd [2021] EWHC 287 highlights the importance of parties to commodities contracts expressly including an arbitration clause in the contract. This is particularly when the contract is formed by email or instant messaging negotiations.

The United Kingdom Supreme Court in Triple Point Technology Inc v PTT Public Company Ltd [2021] UKSC 29 has clarified the operation of liquidated damages clauses in the event of termination.  The dec...

The High Court in Development Construction Company Ltd v Mackenzie [2021] NZHC 546 has confirmed  that retention of title (RoT) clauses do not provide contractors with a caveatable interest. This dec...

The revised International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Rules for 2021 (2021 Rules) have now come into force and apply to all ICC arbitrations begun after 1 January 2021.  While the new Rules...

The High Court has clarified the elements of the offence of reckless conduct in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

The English Supreme Court has recently clarified how the governing law of an arbitration agreement should be determined, where the agreement lacks an express choice of law provision.  In an area of l...

Following the Supreme Court decision in Southern Response v Ross [2020] NZSC 126 the Law Commission is now set to release its Issues Paper on Class Actions and Litigation Funding on 4 December 2020. ...

The Court of Appeal in Commerce Commission v Steel & Tube Holdings Limited [2020] NZCA 549 has set aside last year’s High Court decision under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) where it imposed a ...

There are major changes to the Building Act on the horizon that will impact the entire construction sector including manufacturers, builders, building consent authorities, consultants and many others ...

The Singapore Mediation Convention has now entered into force, creating a comprehensive framework for the enforcement of international mediation settlement agreements.

Blackpool Borough Council v Volkerfitzpatrick [2020] EWHC 1523 (TCC) In 2009, Blackpool Borough Council (Principal), as principal, contracted with Volkerfitzpatrick Ltd (Contractor), as head contracto...

The last working day of 2019 saw another judicial review of an adjudication determination (Yousseff v Maiden [2019] NZHC 3471), this time focused on conflict of interest and apparent bias.  Despite j...

We are now on what may be called the “third wave leaky buildings”.

It is important to understand that if the Property (Relationships) Act applies

  Dispute resolution clauses are often relegated to the end of contractual negotiations or standard “boilerplates” are included with little or no thought as to their appropriateness.  Frequently...

The recent stream of alternate dispute resolution methods is part of the zeitgeist where disputants are shying away from Courts and attempting to settle their differences outside the Courtroom steps. ...

Introduction The Minister of Education and others, including four school boards of trustees, issued proceedings against Carter Holt alleging its cladding product, called shadowclad and installed in v...

Admiralty proceedings against a vessel are necessarily territorial in nature. A debtor’s vessel may sail into a certain jurisdiction and be arrested and sold for the benefit of creditors who both ha...

Download full article Johnson v Auckland Council [2013] NZCA 662 Mr and Mrs Johnson purchased a leaky home in a mortgagee sale.  They were aware at the time of purchase that the house might leak.  T...

Alan Sherlock, Partner at Hesketh Henry, has been involved in a number of Admiralty cases, and has experienced the following recent success. In Babcock Fitzroy Limited v The Ship “The M/V Southern ...

In tough economic times when share prices fall, corporate profits drop and companies edge towards insolvency, investors can face the depressing reality of dwindling retirement portfolios. Whether they...

One of Auckland’s oldest law firms, Hesketh Henry, has embraced technology to increase productivity and lower their costs to clients.