It is vital to remember that the granting of a freezing order is only the start, not the end, of a potentially long process. Whether you are an applicant or defendant, we can advise you on the next steps after issue of the order.
Service on third parties
The applicant needs to consider which third parties should be notified of the freezing injunction in order to protect its interests.
These would include, for example,
- banks and / or other financial institutions with whom accounts are held;
- the Land Registry (in the event that there are any property interests which are affected by the terms of the order); and
- any other relevant third party.
Ongoing document disclosure obligations
The applicant is also under a duty of ongoing disclosure of relevant claim documents .
What this means is that if documents relevant to the case come into its possession after the granting of a freezing injunction, this has to be notified to the court and the defendant informed as a matter of urgency. This is especially where they render the information which the applicant relied upon at the original hearing incorrect.
This can occasionally be the case in circumstances where the underlying issues had not been fully explored by the time of the original freezing order hearing because of the limited time available to the applicant to make the application.
Changes in financial standing
If an applicant’s financial standing was to change materially, then this also needs to be notified to the court and the respondent.
This is important as the applicant provides an undertaking in damages at the outset of any application and the granting of a freezing order places an additional burden on the applicant and it must be able to meet that undertaking in damages should it later transpire that the freezing injunction should not have been granted.
Our expert team of freezing injunction solicitors at Francis Wilks & Jones can help you with any type of freezing order enquiry. Contact one of our team of friendly lawyers now for your confidential consultation. Whatever your freezing order requirements, let us help.
