Briefing – Covid: Practice and Procedure

Briefings | Wed 20th Jan, 2021

Although the start of 2021 has not been as auspicious as we would have wished,  Happy New Year from all at 1 Chancery Lane.

Despite everyone’s hopes that 2021 would start more favourably than 2020 ended it seems restrictions to protect the public from the Covid 19 pandemic will be with us for some time.  Inevitably the difficulties this poses and the new challenges for many of home schooling will make for some difficult litigation decisions about trials and other oral hearings.  Increased pressure on litigators might also lead to court deadlines being missed and other mistakes being made.  This briefing provides some practice points to assist you with these scenarios.

Ian Stebbings provides a helpful summary and analysis of the recent High Court decision of Bilta (UK) Ltd v TFS Limited [2021] EWHC 36 (Ch), which was an unsuccessful application for the court to adjourn an imminent trial because key witnesses did not wish to attend given the public health risks, but their evidence was too important for it to be dealt with remotely.  Smith J sets out key principles and the approach the courts should take to applications of this sort.

Robert Parkin’s article on Relief from Sanctions and Covid 19 is a comprehensive guide to the law and procedure for making (or resisting) such applications.  Hopefully none of you will need this sort of assistance but mistakes happen and this guide will help you rectify them, or to defeat applications that lack merit.

Read the full Briefing here: Covid: Practice and Procedure