On 16 June 2023, the High Court handed down a significant judgment in respect of Section 24(2) of the Limitation Act 1980. The Deutsche Bank and SHI litigation marked the first Commercial Court win for Mr Vik in almost a decade.
The Court, persuaded by the skilful submissions of Mr Vik’s counsel Tom Morris of Landmark Chambers, held that that section 24(2) of the Limitation Act imposes a statutory cap on Judgement Act Interest, meaning that Mr Vik was not liable to pay interest on costs accruing more than six years ago. Mrs Justice Dias, in her judgement, noted that there was ‘surprisingly no direct authority’ on the statutory construction of s.24(2) of the Act prior to this case, reiterating the significance of the judgement. A link to the judgment can be found here.
The decision has introduced clarity to this area of law and is likely to have a significant impact on the enforcement of Costs Orders moving forward.
Congratulations to our litigation partner James Clarke and the wider Brecher team (both past and present) including Thomas Hulme, Charlotte Kessler, Ben Rutledge and Anthony Krensel who have represented Mr Vik in the detailed assessment proceedings, which we understand to be the longest running detailed assessment proceedings ever in this country.
The Judgment and useful links below:
Judgment – https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Comm/2023/1527.pdf
Landmark chambers LinkedIn post – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/landmark-chambers_alexander-vik-gets-first-commercial-court-activity-7079763075817451520-b2wT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Tom Morris Barrister LinkedIn post – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7079747448713162752?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7079747448713162752%29
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