Law firms

Signature Litigation: Contractual interpretation – eyes on the Financial List

You're reading your free article. Your next one is available in 30 days. Log in or subscribe for full access.

Abdulali Jiwaji

Partner, Signature Litigation

[email protected]

Sarah Kelly

Associate, Signature Litigation

[email protected]

Disputes over contractual interpretation find their way to the courts relatively frequently, leaving judges to unpick the wording of complex commercial agreements which will often have been negotiated in detail over many months. The courts will have to weigh up the natural meaning of the words in the contract after hearing arguments driven by the commercial implications of different interpretations for the parties involved, and what one might conclude after applying business common sense. The establishment of the Financial List is itself testament to the complexities encountered by the court in resolving financial markets disputes, and in these types of cases the exercise of contractual interpretation can involve more complexities than most.

(more…)