HSM LAW
HSM Supports Leadership Cayman and Congratulates Alyson Parsons
The HSM Group displays its commitment to Caymanians by supporting Alyson Parsons, HSM Marketing Manager, to take part in the Leadership Cayman 2025 Programme. Alyson successfully completed the programme and graduated alongside 21 other esteemed leaders on 12 July 2025. Read more +
Caymanian Attorney Lisa Donalds Joins HSM
HSM Chambers is pleased to announce the addition of Lisa Donalds to its legal team. Lisa joins as an Associate and is a part of the litigation team specialising in family law. With over 10 years of experience in the Read more +
Prosecution Possibilities for Discrimination Under Cayman’s Labour Act
Since the 1980s employers in the Cayman Islands have understood that they might face repercussions for unfairly dismissing an employee, but as a result of a recent charge brought before the Summary Court of the Cayman Islands, employers now face Read more +
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in the Cayman Islands
When seeking to enforce a foreign judgment in the Cayman Islands, it is essential to understand the legal framework governing such enforcement. In this article HSM Partner Kerrie Cox highlights the key principles and procedures concerning the recognition and enforcement Read more +
Cayman Islands Grand Court Reviews Law Governing Applications to Strike Out
Alexander Davies, HSM litigation attorney, applied on behalf of a defendant to proceedings, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited, to strike out the plaintiff’s claim for want of prosecution. The claim for damages flows from a personal injury sustained when the plaintiff tripped on stairs on her employer’s premises in 2014. Proceedings were protectively issued in 2017. Following a protracted history, including an interlocutory appeal to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal heard in 2019, and several changes of attorneys by the plaintiff, the case had ground to a halt. The key issue had become the plaintiff’s claimed permanent disability due to chronic pain, and whether this was caused by the index injury. The defendant’s nominated expert in chronic pain, whom had examined the Plaintiff in 2018, was by January 2024 no longer available to give evidence due to having retired.
Giving judgment on the application, Hon. Asif J. K.C. found that the plaintiff had caused or contributed to inordinate and inexcusable delay in bringing her claim, which had resulted in genuine prejudice to the defendant, and the test for striking out the claim was therefore satisfied. Rather than striking out the entire claim, however, the learned Judge instead restricted the scope of the claim, debarring the plaintiff from pursuing a claim based upon the reported chronic pain and associated disability.
The judgment on 10 July 2024 provides a useful summary and review of the law pertaining to applications to strike out proceedings for want of prosecution in the Cayman Islands.