Asset-freezing warning

Lewis v Eliades and others (QBD TLR 28 February)

English solicitors instructed by overseas lawyers to apply for an international asset-freezing order in the English courts in respect of foreign proceedings under s25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 should do so with extreme caution. Lawyers from other jurisdictions should be made aware of the heavy responsibilities that solicitors and counsel bear to the court and should temper their urgings to proceed to court before the English lawyers had had full opportunity personally to assimilate and enquire into the relevant facts. Such applications often include copious evidence and could involve complex financial or commercial information which was difficult to digest on first reading. Furthermore, the proceedings abroad would often be subject to different legal professional and procedural rules and practices, which, although in no way inferior, might be different and so affect the presentation of the case in court.