Fountain Court members Derrick Dale KC and Louise Merrett – along with Mark Phillips KC, William Willson and Angus Groom of South Square – have obtained from the High Court declarations and injunctions restraining a receiver appointed by the South Carolina Court from acting as the receiver of Cape Intermediate Holdings Limited (‘CIHL’).
After a 3-day expedited trial, Mr Justice Mann granted the relief sought on behalf of CIHL. Declarations were made that it was the directors who had the authority to act on behalf of CIHL and that the receiver appointed by the South Carolina Court had no authority to act for and on behalf of the Claimants. The injunctive relief was granted on a worldwide basis, which included South Carolina.
Mr Justice Mann considered that the Court had sufficient interest in the internal governance of an English company to warrant making such a worldwide order. He found that, although this case involved a clash of jurisdictions between the English Court and the South Carolina Court, this was an exceptional instance where the English Court should intervene and make the orders. In this case, considerations of comity had to give way to the protection of English private international law and British national interests (following the approach set out in the antisuit case law: see in particular Hoffmann J in Barclays Bank v Homan [1992] BCC 757 and Lord Goff in Airbus Industrie GIR v Patel [1999] AC 119).
Derrick and Louise were instructed at trial by Signature Litigation LLP (partners Paul Brehony and Josh Wong, with associates Claire Colonnese and George S. Bazinas), on behalf of the Claimants.
