Commercial Litigation UK

  • April 19, 2024

    Sudan Granted Two-Year Grace Period In £1.5B Debt Row

    Long-standing creditors of Sudan were granted a two-year stay of their claim against the nation on Friday, with a London judge agreeing with the creditors that the country should be given time to stabilize its financial situation in the wake of political turmoil.

  • April 19, 2024

    BA Staff Get Fresh Shot At Holiday Pay Claim After Agnew

    British Airways and six of its staff have both won appeals over how their holiday pay was calculated, as a judge ruled on Friday that the years-long case must be reheard following a 2023 U.K. Supreme Court decision.

  • April 19, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen U.K. holiday resort chain Butlins target Aviva and a huddle of insurers, Meta and WhatsApp tackle a patents claim by telecommunications company Semitel, an ongoing construction dispute between Essex County Council and Balfour Beatty, and Formycon AG hit a pharmaceutical company for infringing medical products. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 19, 2024

    Grant Settlement Proves Pull Of Offer That Can't Be Refused

    Hugh Grant's decision to settle his case against News Group to avoid the "most likely" outcome of paying millions in legal fees even if he won demonstrates the effectiveness of a common cost-saving legal mechanism despite criticism the media giant is being allowed to avoid scrutiny.

  • April 19, 2024

    Prince Harry Beats Tabloid's Bid To Push Back Privacy Trial

    Prince Harry and others suing the U.K. arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire won their battle to avoid a preliminary trial on whether their claims were brought too late after a judge refused Friday to push the case back, ruling the main trial should go ahead as planned. 

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO Wanted Whistleblower Fired, Ex-GC Says

    Former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch thought a finance department whistleblower was "trying to destroy the company" and wanted him fired, the software company's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in a criminal fraud trial over claims Lynch conned HP into buying the British company at an inflated price of $11.7 billion.

  • April 18, 2024

    EU Antitrust Chief Says Merger Tool Not A 'Power Grab'

    The European Commission's top competition enforcer said Thursday the agency has taken a measured approach to using its newly asserted power to review mergers that fall short of local thresholds, as the European trading bloc's high court mulls a challenge of that authority from DNA sequencing company Illumina.

  • April 18, 2024

    Pawn Shop Owes VAT On Auction Sales, EU Court Says

    A Portuguese pawn shop must pay value-added taxes of €308,000 ($327,000) from sales commissions of auctioned items because the auction is not part of the exempt loan, the Court of Justice of the European Union said Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ericsson Can't Push Lenovo's FRAND Claim Out Of UK

    Swedish telecom Ericsson has failed to force Lenovo's claim over patent licensing terms out of the U.K., as a London judge on Thursday concluded that the English courts are "clearly the most appropriate" forum for the Chinese multinational's case.

  • April 18, 2024

    Law Firm Can't Block Investors From Group Negligence Claim

    Williams & Co. Solicitors cannot block 134 property investors from bringing a joint negligence claim over failed property development projects because U.K. laws say "in plain English" that multiple parties can join a claim, a London appeals court ruled Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    Police Inspector Can Relaunch Her Equal Pay Fight

    A female police inspector has won the chance to relaunch her equal pay battle against London's police force, with an appeal tribunal ruling Thursday that she had an arguable case that the force's part-time pay scheme discriminated against women.

  • April 18, 2024

    Dexcom Asks EU Court To Toss Abbott Med Tech Patent

    Medical device maker Dexcom Inc. has asked Europe's patent court to revoke Abbott Diabetes Care Inc.'s patent for glucose monitor screens, firing back at its rival in a sprawling international battle over the technology.

  • April 18, 2024

    Insurers Face Appeal Over Refusal To Cover Bribery Loss

    A holding company took its fight for an insurance payout to the Court of Appeal on Thursday, urging justices to force its insurers to cover its claim for losses it sustained when its acquisition of a construction contractor went south due to bribery and corruption allegations.

  • April 18, 2024

    Womble Bond Told Post Office To Withhold Docs From Court

    Womble Bond Dickinson advised the Post Office to "suppress" key documents from the court "for as long as possible" in a case brought by wrongly prosecuted sub-postmasters, according to correspondence disclosed at the inquiry into the scandal Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    Negligence Claims Against Law Firm May Go To Trial

    A London court has ordered 35 investors to clarify their claims against a law firm that they say failed to properly advise them on the risks of sinking an estimated £2.7 million ($3.4 million) into a "worthless" property development.

  • April 18, 2024

    Monex Unit And Drug Co. Settle £19M Contract Dispute

    An Indian drugmaker has settled its £19.4 million ($24.1 million) claim against a unit of foreign exchange giant Monex, alleging it unfairly canceled currency exchange contracts with "no basis."

  • April 18, 2024

    Head Of Chambers Accused Of Bullying By Expelled Barrister

    A barrister told an employment tribunal on Thursday that the head of an English criminal chambers put him through "absolute hell" by bullying him and trying to end his career before expelling him from the chambers.

  • April 18, 2024

    Slater And Gordon Wins Bid To Rebut Ex-Analyst's Appeal

    Slater and Gordon won permission on Thursday to challenge a former costs analyst's appeal that he was harassed for having mental illnesses after arguing that a lower tribunal's ruling suggests the accused individuals didn't know enough about his condition to have done so. 

  • April 17, 2024

    Ex-JPMorgan Analyst Liked 'Winding Up' Autonomy CEO, Jury Told

    A former JPMorgan stock analyst testifying Wednesday in the criminal fraud trial of former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch said that he "took pleasure in winding up Lynch" and once even used a Hitler analogy to describe his performance, but said his critical coverage was never personal.

  • April 17, 2024

    Firefighter, Doctor Unions Lose Appeal Over Pensions Swap

    Trade unions representing firefighters and doctors lost an appeal Wednesday to help their members recover losses resulting from a change to pension plan rules after justices concluded that HM Treasury had the right to pass the cost on to scheme members.

  • April 17, 2024

    Raid On Broker In Cum-Ex Fraud Case Was Lawful, Court Says

    A raid on the London office of commodity brokerage MCML Ltd. following a request from Danish prosecutors investigating an alleged £56 million ($70 million) tax fraud was lawful, a London court ruled Wednesday.

  • April 17, 2024

    Gov't, Employers Face Pressure After Right To Strike Ruling

    The U.K. will face fresh pressure to improve protections for striking workers after the country's highest court declared Wednesday that part of a foundational trade union law is incompatible with employees' human rights.

  • April 17, 2024

    Escobar TM Too Shocking For General Public, EU Court Rules

    A European court refused Wednesday to let cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar's family trademark his name because of its "highly offensive and shocking" associations with drug trafficking and narcoterrorism.

  • April 17, 2024

    Merchants Bring Modified Bid For Swipe Fee Class Actions

    A group of merchants urged Britain's competition tribunal on Wednesday to approve proposed class actions accusing Visa and Mastercard of unfairly imposing interchange fees on retailers for several years, arguing they had sufficiently addressed concerns that led to their initial proposals being rejected.

  • April 17, 2024

    Gazprom Unit Fights Ruling Blocking Russian UniCredit Claim

    A Gazprom joint venture told the U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday that appeal judges in England did not have jurisdiction to grant an anti-suit injunction blocking its €450 million ($480 million) claim in Russia against UniCredit Bank.

Expert Analysis

  • Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach

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    An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • EU Rejection Of Booking.com Deal Veers From Past Practice

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    The European Commission's recent prohibition of Booking's purchase of Etraveli based on ecosystem theories of harm reveals a lower bar for prohibiting nonhorizontal mergers, and may mean increased merger scrutiny for companies with entrenched market positions in digital markets, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms

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    The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.

  • UPC Decision Highlights Key Security Costs Questions

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    While the Unified Patent Court recently ordered NanoString to pay €300,000 as security for Harvard's legal costs in a revocation action dispute, the decision highlights that the outcome of a security for costs application will be highly fact-dependent and that respondents should prepare to set out their financial position in detail, says Tom Brazier at EIP.

  • Extradition Ruling Hints At Ways Around High Burden Of Proof

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Popoviciu v. Curtea De Apel Bucharest confirmed that, in a conviction extradition case, the requested person must establish a flagrant violation of their right to a fair trial, but the court's reasoning reveals creative opportunities to test this boundary in the U.K. and Strasbourg alike, says Rebecca Hughes at Corker Binning.

  • IP Ruling Could Pave Way For AI Patents In UK

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    If implemented by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, the High Court's recent ruling in Emotional Perception AI v. Comptroller-General of Patents, holding that artificial neural networks can be patented, could be a first step to welcoming AI patents in the U.K., say Arnie Francis and Alexandra Brodie at Gowling.

  • UK Review May Lead To Lower Investment Screening Burden

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    The government’s current review of national security investment screening rules aims to refine the scope of mandatory notifications required for unproblematic deals, and is likely to result in much-needed modifications to minimize the administrative burden on businesses and investors, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.

  • What Prince Harry Privacy Case May Mean For Media Ethics

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    An English High Court recently allowed the privacy case brought by Prince Harry and six other claimants against the Daily Mail publisher to proceed, which, if successful, could embolden other high-profile individuals to bring claims and lead to renewed calls for a judicial public inquiry into British press ethics, says Philippa Dempster at Freeths.

  • How European Authorities Are Foiling Anti-Competitive Hiring

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    Lawyers at Squire Patton discuss key labor practice antitrust concerns and notable regulation trends in several European countries following recent enforcement actions brought by the European Commission and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority.

  • When Can Bonuses Be Clawed Back?

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    The High Court's recent decision in Steel v. Spencer should remind employees that the contractual conditions surrounding bonuses and the timing of any resignation must be carefully considered, as in certain circumstances, bonuses can and are being successfully clawed back by employers, say Merrill April and Rachael Parker at CM Murray.

  • The State Of UK Litigation Funding After Therium Ruling

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    The recent English High Court decision in Therium v. Bugsby Property has provided a glimmer of hope for litigation funders about how courts will interpret this summer's U.K. Supreme Court ruling that called funding agreements impermissible, suggesting that its adverse effects may be mitigated, says Daniel Williams at DWF Law.

  • Trial By AI Could Be Closer Than You Think

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    In a known first for the U.K., a Court of Appeal justice recently admitted to using ChatGPT to write part of a judgment, highlighting how AI could make the legal system more efficient and enable the judicial process to record more accurate and fair decisions, say Charles Kuhn and Neide Lemos at Clyde & Co.

  • Why It's Urgent For Pharma Cos. To Halt Counterfeit Meds

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    With over 10.5 million counterfeit medicines seized in the EU in 2023, it is vital both ethically and commercially that pharmaceutical companies take steps to protect against such infringements, including by invoking intellectual property rights protection, says Lars Karnøe at Potter Clarkson.

  • Nix Of $11B Award Shows Limits Of Arbitral Process

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    A recent English High Court decision in Nigeria v. Process & Industrial Developments, overturning an arbitration award because it was obtained by fraud, is a reminder that arbitration decisions are ultimately still accountable to the courts, and that the relative simplicity of the arbitration rules is not necessarily always a benefit, say Robin Henry and Abbie Coleman at Collyer Bristow.

  • How The Netherlands Became A Hub For EU Class Actions

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    As countries continue to implement the European Union Collective Redress Directive, the Netherlands — the country with the largest class action docket in the EU — provides a real-world example of what class and mass litigation may eventually look like in the bloc, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker and Houthoff.

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