News & Events

URS v BDW – The winner takes it all…

Introduction On Wednesday 21st of May, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the long-awaited case of URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21.  The judgment was awaited by almost all with an interest in construction law and related professional negligence. BDW…

The Dekagram: 27th May 2025

This week poor preparation of witness statements drives Robert Parkin to exasperation; but his pain is our gain, because he’s been moved to provide us with a handy guide to what evidence should (and perhaps more pertinently) should not be included in statements. Meanwhile Dominique…

The Dekagram: 19th May 2025

In this week’s edition Linda Nelson examines how and when to serve surveillance evidence, and how and when to respond to it; and John Schmitt asks whether it’s necessary to have a claim form re-sealed if it’s been amended prior to service, and urges caution…

The Dekagram: 12th May 2025

This week Thomas Yarrow revisits the vexed question of the use of artificial intelligence in legal research – and our intrepid reporter finds that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. In fact the experience led him to such depths of despair that he…

The Dekagram: 6th May 2025

This week Ben Rodgers relays two tales from the coalface, both relating to applications to resile from admissions. Readers will be interested to know that in both cases the court applied the balance of prejudice test with the result that the defendants’ applications were refused….

The Dekagram: 28th April 2025

This week Conor Kennedy considers a novel point of construction in relation to challenging service of claim forms; the headline is that defendants must take steps to mount a jurisdictional challenge within the tight deadlines provided for in the CPR, but Conor asks whether this…

Multi-million pound settlement in horrific industrial accident

Laura Johnson KC and James Byrne have secured a multi-million pound settlement for a young woman who suffered horrifying avulsion injuries including the total loss of her scalp and right ear when her ponytail became trapped in factory drill. This was a highly unusual and…

The Dekagram: 22nd April 2025

We hope our readers enjoyed the long Easter weekend and grasped the opportunity, as we did, to spend a restful few days away from the coalface. We kept one eye on the courts though, and it’s just as well we did, because last week brought…

Clarity on Intermediaries in Family Law Proceedings

On 10 April 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down Judgment in Re M (A Child) [2025] EWCA Civ 440, providing long awaited guidance for deciding whether and when to grant intermediary assistance to vulnerable parties in family proceedings. An intermediary is someone whose function…

The Dekagram: 14th April 2025

This week the government announced a further consultation on proposed amendments to the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018; Anirudh Mandagere considers the proposals in detail and provides a link for the use of those who wish to respond to them. Alternatively, you…

The High Court handed down its judgment in Butler v Ward [2025] EWHC 877 (KB) yesterday, striking out £2.5million of the Claimant’s Schedule of Loss. Francesca O’Neill represented the Defendant surgeon (instructed by DWF LLP).  The Judgment also raises interesting questions about when summary judgment applications…

Deka members recognised for their exceptional advocacy work

Five members of Deka have been included in the latest rankings published by the Lexology Index. This index features the leading barristers and solicitors at the UK Bar who stand out for their exceptional advocacy work across an array of practice areas. Within Aviation &…