Standstill Agreements & Alternative Extensions of Time for Issuing a Claim

Introduction

Described by one judge as having an ‘obscure popularity’, this webinar considers the practical advantages and drawbacks of entering into a standstill agreement.

Unlike the judge, it is not hard to see why practitioners make use of standstill agreements to avoid possible limitation issues. Such agreements can cause their own problems, among them:

• Is the intention to extend or to suspend the limitation period?
• How is the subject matter to be defined via ‘the Dispute’ or ‘the Claim’?
• Which parties are covered?
• How can standstill agreements effectively be brought to an end?

With or without a standstill agreement in place, extensions of time may also be needed to serve the claim form even within the jurisdiction, especially with an elusive defendant. This is provided for in the court rules at CPR 7.6 in conjunction with ‘the service steps’ requirements of CPR 7.5.

• How can a claimant’s adviser show that ‘all reasonable steps’ have been taken to serve the claim form?
• What does case law tell us?
• Can a later-joined party object to extensions granted before they were joined? (Tintometer Ltd v Pitmans (a firm))

Some familiarity with these issues will be assumed in this webinar.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The appropriate use of standstill agreements
• Anticipating problems in using such agreements
• How to get more time to serve a claim form
• What a court looks for in support of an application to extend the time for service

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 16th October 2026

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