On 30 July 2025 the Jersey Royal Court (Sir Michael Birt, Commissioner sitting with Jurats Cornish and Powell) held the defendant estopped from denying the validity of a deed of indemnity governed by English law against costs incurred by the claimant in the Investec Trust v Glenalla litigation, notwithstanding that his signature was made by his secretary, who also signed her own name as witness to the signature.

Piers Feltham of Radcliffe Chambers (lead editor of Spencer Bower on Reliance-Based Estoppel) gave evidence of the English law of estoppel and contract for the Claimant, and Charles Hollander KC of Brick Court Chambers for the Defendant.

The Court preferred the view of Mr Feltham that the Defendant could be estopped from denying the validity of the document, both as a deed despite its defects, and as a unilateral contract for which consideration was given, by the representations of the Defendant’s secretary as his actually and apparently authorised agent, and his silence when notified of the purported signature.

Read the full judgment here.