Dilemmas of Draft Judgments - A Best Practice Guide to PD 40E

Introduction

The practice of judges circulating a draft judgment to the parties' legal advisers before delivering it in court is now an established one.

It is the subject of Practice Direction 40E.

Intended to help the sides prepare submissions for consequential matters, the practice has created a set of dilemmas which case law is addressing.

In this webinar we look at several of the dilemmas and explain what they mean in practice.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Who is allowed to see a draft judgment?
• How should lawyers respond if they disagree with anything?
• What should happen if the contents are revealed before a draft judgment is handed down?
• Can a judge change the outcome when delivering judgment?
• The response of a judge if the parties settle their dispute and ask the judge not to deliver the judgment (Kingsley Napley LLP v Harris)
• Does it help to make it a condition of the settlement that the judgment will not be delivered (Beriwala v Woodstone Properties (Birmingham) Ltd)?

This webinar was recorded on 6th April 2022