England and Wales Case Law

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea v Beko Poland Manufacturing & Ors

Defendants other than Celotex are not liable for costs of the Defence and Counterclaim that was struck out, as participation in related hearings and pleadings was a matter of choice and not necessity. Celotex is to bear costs of today's hearing relating to case management and timetabling, but not costs for unsuccessful applications by other defendants.

Source excerpt

• Strikeout applications
• Costs orders
• Case management
• Pleadings

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N & CJ Horton Property v Ivan Norman & Conjoined Appeals

Conjoined Chancery appeals over alleged money laundering in loan disputes failed because the pleaded facts did not justify an inference that the funds were criminal property.

• Money laundering
• Summary judgment
• Pleading standards
• Illegality defence
• Expert evidence
• Loans & debt recovery

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RR UK (South) Limited v Firstsource Solutions UK Limited

The High Court refused to let the defendant advance an unpleaded agency argument about a fraudster payment, barring revision of the list of issues.

• Break clause
• Agency
• Fraud
• Pleadings
• Case management
• Civil-procedure

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RR UK (South) Ltd v Firstsource Solutions UK Ltd

RR UK (South) Ltd v Firstsource Solutions UK Ltd [2026] EWHC 1210 (Ch) (15 April 2026)

The High Court refused to let the defendant raise an unpleaded agency argument about a fraudster-induced payment, and barred revision of the issues list.

• Lease break clause
• Agency
• Fraud
• Case management
• Pleadings
• Civil-procedure

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Peakstone Commerce Ltd v Rahman

Peakstone Commerce Ltd v Rahman [2026] EWCA Civ 347 (24 March 2026)

The Court of Appeal dismissed a second appeal over rent arrears, holding that the case could properly be decided on the defendant’s own pleaded statutory tenancy.

• Statutory continuation tenancy
• Pleadings and amendments
• Rent arrears
• Procedural fairness
• Landlord-and-tenant
• Civil-procedure

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Peakstone Commerce Limited v Aziz Abdul Hozan Rahman

The Court of Appeal dismissed a second appeal in a rent arrears dispute, holding there was no procedural unfairness in relying on the defendant’s own pleaded statutory tenancy case.

• Statutory continuation tenancy
• Pleadings
• Procedural irregularity
• Rent arrears
• Counterclaim dismissal
• Landlord-and-tenant

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A Whitaker v White Rose Academies Trust & Anor

Employment Appeal Tribunal held the claimant had not pleaded a section 43K(1)(a) whistleblowing worker case against LEG and dismissed the appeal.

• Worker status
• Protected disclosures
• Unfair dismissal
• Unlawful deduction from wages
• Statutory interpretation
• Whistleblowing

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U Prasad v Epsom & St Helier Hospital NHS Trust & Anor

The EAT dismissed an appeal against strike out, holding that Claim 6 was objectively pleaded only against Ms Totterdell, not the Trust.

• Whistleblowing
• Protected disclosures
• Race discrimination
• Sex discrimination
• Victimisation
• Case management

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Merck Sharp & Dohme (UK) Limited v Halozyme Inc

The High Court held Halozyme’s draft infringement pleading was too thin, requiring a compliant statement of case and best endeavours to provide an Alt-B4 sample.

• Patent infringement
• Patent revocation
• Pleadings requirements
• Case management
• Provision of evidence
• Patent-infringement

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East-West United Bank SA v Vladimir Gusinski & Ors

The amendment is allowed because it does not introduce a new cause of action, is within the scope of the original pleading, and is necessary for fairness so defendants know the case they have to meet. The amendment does not cause significant prejudice or require adjournment.

Source excerpt

• Pleadings
• Amendment of pleadings
• Conspiracy
• Limitation
• Prejudice
• Expert evidence

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