Castle Water Ltd v Thames Water Utilities Ltd

Castle Water Ltd v Thames Water Utilities Ltd

The court held that disclosure must be tailored to the issues for trial, applying the principles of reasonableness and proportionality under PD51U. Model C disclosure was ordered for specific, focused categories of documents likely to evidence industry standards, practices, or benchmarks relevant to the completeness...

Source-derived case information.

Parties
Claimant: Castle Water Limited; Defendant: Thames Water Utilities Limited
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
29 May 2020
Procedural Posture
Commercial Contract Dispute (disclosure Application) / Second Case Management Conference (cmc) – Determination of Disputed Disclosure Issues
Outcome
Application granted in part; Model C disclosure ordered for specified issues with focused scope; certain disputed wording endorsed.
Legal Topics
Disclosure Obligations, Implied Terms, Industry Standards, Reasonableness and Proportionality in Disclosure, Known Adverse Documents
Commercial Law Contract Law Civil Procedure Disclosure Obligations Implied Terms Industry Standards Reasonableness and Proportionality in Disclosure Known Adverse Documents

Source-derived case record

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Parties

Castle Water Limited

Claimant

Thames Water Utilities Limited

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Commercial Contract Dispute (disclosure Application) / Second Case Management Conference (cmc) – Determination of Disputed Disclosure Issues

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Scope and application of disclosure obligations under PD51U
  2. 2 Appropriate disclosure models for disputed issues
  3. 3 Obligation to disclose known adverse documents

Ratio Decidendi

The court held that disclosure must be tailored to the issues for trial, applying the principles of reasonableness and proportionality under PD51U. Model C disclosure was ordered for specific, focused categories of documents likely to evidence industry standards, practices, or benchmarks relevant to the completeness and accuracy of customer data. The obligation to disclose known adverse documents extends to reasonable and proportionate checks for such documents, but does not require continuous or unlimited searches. The court rejected overly narrow or granular approaches to disclosure and endorsed the inclusion of certain disputed wording to ensure fair resolution of the issues.

Court Disposition

Application granted in part; Model C disclosure ordered for specified issues with focused scope; certain disputed wording endorsed.

Orders

  • Defendant to provide Model C disclosure for documents evidencing industry standards, practices, or benchmarks as specified in the judgment.
  • Defendant to disclose known adverse documents relating to accounts or SPIDs not expressly identified by the Claimant, subject to reasonable and proportionate checks.