Commercial Litigation UK

  • February 17, 2025

    Former Entain Execs Sue Addleshaw For Privileged Docs

    The former chief executive at the predecessor of Entain and the betting giant's former chair have sued Addleshaw Goddard LLP, seeking the release of privileged advice believed to have been turned over to regulators and prosecutors in a major bribery investigation.

  • February 14, 2025

    Nazi-Looted Art Claimants Face Tough Road To Restitution

    Critics are calling foul on the German government's decision last month to introduce a new arbitration court to adjudicate restitution claims over Nazi-looted art, saying the new court is a step backward from a previously existing advisory commission. The conundrum in Germany is a microcosm of the complicated situation facing many of the victims' families around the world as they engage in what are often decades-long fights to recover priceless pieces of art stolen during the Holocaust.

  • February 14, 2025

    Tribunal Finds Premier League Sponsorship Rules Invalid

    A United Kingdom arbitration tribunal has determined the Premier League's sponsorship rules are "void and unenforceable," but the decision may be moot because the decision does not apply to new rules adopted in November, according to the league.

  • February 14, 2025

    Brown Rudnick Bolsters Firm With Tax Pro From Fieldfisher

    Brown Rudnick LLP announced it added a former Fieldfisher partner to work in the firm's London-based litigation and dispute resolution practice as a tax partner.

  • February 14, 2025

    Arts Council Staffer Wins Claim Over 'Transphobia' Criticism

    Arts Council England forced a manager to resign after she made comments comparing staff who believe sex is binary to racists without giving her the benefit of the doubt, an employment tribunal has ruled.

  • February 14, 2025

    Independence Key For In-House Attorneys At Smaller Firms

    In-house counsel breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when the Unified Patent Court held that they should not be de-facto barred from representing the companies they work for, but it remains unclear exactly where the court will draw the line for smaller businesses.

  • February 14, 2025

    Heineken Can Face €160M Antitrust Claim In Netherlands

    Heineken can face antitrust claims worth over €160 million ($168 million) in its homeland, the Netherlands, after the European Union's highest court ruled that there was nothing preventing the Dutch courts from dealing with the case.

  • February 14, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Spice Girls star Mel B's ex-husband bring a defamation claim against the publisher of The Sun, a hotel sue a former director convicted of embezzling its funds for breach of fiduciary duty, and comedian Russell Brand face a sexual abuse claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 14, 2025

    Zurich Has Key Defense Trimmed In Dental Spa Fire Claim

    A London court has ruled that the company operating a dental practice in Leeds did not misrepresent itself in a policy with Zurich, and the insurer cannot claim it withheld insolvency-related information to deny cover for losses stemming from a fire.

  • February 14, 2025

    Shell Calls Nigerian Oil Spill Claims 'Human Rights Mysticism'

    Shell argued at a London court on Friday that it could not be held liable to thousands of Nigerian villagers for widespread pollution of the Niger Delta area, saying that the claimants' arguments were "human rights mysticism."

  • February 14, 2025

    DWP Staffer Absent For 6 Years Loses Disability Bias Claim

    A former Department for Work and Pensions employee has lost her claim that the government dismissed her unfairly and discriminated against her after she was on sick leave for six years, with a tribunal concluding that nothing could have facilitated her return to work.

  • February 14, 2025

    Tesco Renews Bid For Economic Evidence In Equal Pay Case

    Tesco asked an appeals tribunal Friday to grant it permission to submit expert economic evidence to bolster its case in an equal pay battle with thousands of employees, arguing that a lower tribunal was wrong to refuse its request.

  • February 14, 2025

    ENRC Can't Directly Appeal $120M Cut From SFO Claim

    A London judge Friday refused Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. a direct route to challenge his decision to pare its claim against the Serious Fraud Office over its criminal investigation, a move the company's lawyers say "went behind" its evidence and should have been aired at trial.

  • February 14, 2025

    Magomedov Must Pay £7M Costs Amid 'Secrecy' Over Funding

    Imprisoned oligarch Ziyavudin Magomedov must pay £7.3 million ($9.2 million) in interim court costs after losing his claim over an alleged Russian state-led conspiracy to strip his assets, as a judge criticized on Friday the "secrecy" surrounding who funded the litigation.

  • February 14, 2025

    Repair Biz Denies Liability For $17M Bridgestone Tire Failure

    A Turkish aviation maintenance provider has denied a claim by Bridgestone that it is responsible for a retreaded aircraft tire that separated at takeoff in 2021, which led to the Japanese manufacturer being sued for almost $17 million by an airline.

  • February 14, 2025

    Gov't Botched Procurement Over Late Email, Service Co. Says

    A communications services provider has alleged in court filings that the Department for Work and Pensions botched a procurement process by thinking it had to disqualify the company for failing to respond to an email.

  • February 14, 2025

    Kuwaiti Co. Bids To Claw Back $1.2B From Saudi Prince

    A Kuwaiti telecommunications business urged a London appeals court on Friday to find that a Saudi prince should not be able to dodge a $1.2 billion arbitration debt, arguing that the royal can validly be served documents in England.

  • February 14, 2025

    Eswatini Embassy Not Immune From Chauffeur's Bias Claim

    Eswatini is not immune from a chauffeur's discrimination claim because his role was not closely linked to the governmental activities of the African nation's mission in the U.K., a tribunal has ruled.

  • February 14, 2025

    Former ICJ President Joins London's Twenty Essex

    A prominent arbitrator who spent three years as president of the International Court of Justice has joined Twenty Essex in London, the barristers' chambers said on Friday.

  • February 13, 2025

    Asda Manager's Firing Over Nipple Tweak Threats Ruled Fair

    An employment tribunal has dismissed a manager's unfair dismissal claims against Asda supermarket, ruling that he was fostering an unprofessional culture at work by allowing a colleague to make comments about tweaking the manager's nipples. 

  • February 13, 2025

    Drilling Contractor Appeals HMRC Win Over £6.7M Tax Bill

    A drilling contractor serving offshore oil and gas rigs took its fight against HM Revenue and Customs to the U.K. Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing the tax office was wrong to restrict the company's tax deductions by £6.7 million ($8.4 million).

  • February 13, 2025

    Qatari Royal Loses Fight Over 70-Carat 'Idol's Eye' Diamond

    A Qatari sheikh can't force a fellow royal to sell him a £10 million ($12.5 million) 70-carat diamond, as a London court ruled Thursday that there was no desire to sell and therefore no promise to sell that was broken.

  • February 13, 2025

    Immigration Officer Loses Pay Bid After Calling Boss A Nazi

    An employment tribunal has declined to secure the pay of a former chief immigration officer who was sacked after likening his superior to top Nazi Heinrich Himmler, ruling that his whistleblowing allegations are unlikely to hold up.

  • February 13, 2025

    IT Biz Must Revisit $25M Earnout From Fixnetix Acquisition

    A global information technology service company has been ordered to reevaluate a deferred payment of up to $25.7 million arising from its purchase of a trader, as a judge found Thursday that the sellers could challenge how some revenue streams were calculated.

  • February 13, 2025

    Former SFO HR Boss Loses Claim He Was Forced Out

    A former head of human resources at the Serious Fraud Office has lost his case that he was forced to quit the white-collar crime agency because executives "deliberately and increasingly undermined" him and hired someone else to take over his duties.

Expert Analysis

  • CPR Proposal Affirms The Emphasis On Early Mediation

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    While the recent proposal to incorporate mandatory alternative dispute resolution into the Civil Procedure Rules following a 2023 appeal decision would not lead to seismic change, given current practice, it signals a shift in how litigation should be pursued toward out-of-court solutions, say Heather Welham and Cyra Roshan at Foot Anstey.

  • How Law Firms Can Handle Challenges Of Mass Claims

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    With a wave of volume litigation possibly about to hit the U.K. courts, firms developing mass claim practices should ensure they heed the Solicitors Regulation Authority's May warning and adopt strategies to ensure regulatory compliance and fair client representation, says Claire Van der Zant at Shieldpay.

  • Potential EPO Reproducibility Ruling May Affect IP Strategies

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    A potential European Patent Office decision in referral G1/23, concerning the reproducibility criteria for patenting commercial products, may affect how disclosures are assessed as prior art and could influence how companies weigh protecting innovations as trade secrets versus patents, says Michael Stott at Mathys & Squire.

  • Insurance Ruling Stresses High Hurdle To Fix Policy Wording

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    In Project Angel v. Axis, the Court of Appeal recently refused to rewrite the exclusion clause of an insurance policy, reminding parties in the warranty and indemnity market to carefully word clauses, as there is a high threshold before courts will intervene to amend policies, say Joseph Moore and Laura McCann at Travers Smith.

  • Taking Stock Of Changes UK Economic Crime Act Will Bring

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    With more than six months since the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act's enactment, it is time to look at the steps organizations can take to prepare for imminent changes, including the new failure to prevent fraud offense and extensions to Companies House authority, say lawyers at Mayer Brown.

  • Sanctions Ruling Opens Door For Enforcer To Clear Up Rules

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    In Vneshprombank v. Bedzhamov, the High Court recently argued against a broader interpretation of the test on reasonable suspicion for asset freezes, offering the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation an opportunity to clarify when freezes should be applied and respond to judicial criticism of its guidance on financial sanctions, says Tasha Benkhadra at Corker Binning.

  • How Gov't Response Addresses Investment Act Concerns

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    The government’s recently published response to a call for evidence on the National Security and Investment Act is largely appropriate to stakeholder concerns raised and demonstrates in its five areas of focus that it is willing to respond to live issues, say lawyers at Watson Farley.

  • UPC Appeal Ruling Clarifies Language Change Framework

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    In 10x Genomics v. Curio Bioscience, the Unified Patent Court recently allowed proceedings to be conducted in English, rather than German, shedding light on the framework on UPC language change applications and hopefully helping prevent future disputes, say Conor McLaughlin and Nina O'Sullivan at Mishcon de Reya.

  • How Generative AI Can Enhance Disclosure Review Processes

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    As recent developments show that implementing artificial intelligence in legal processes remains a critical challenge, the disclosure process — one of the most document-intensive legal exercises — presents itself as a prime use-case, illustrating how generative AI can supplement traditional technology-assisted review, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: The Benefits Of Non-EU Venues

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    In Spain v. Triodos, a Swedish appeal court recently annulled an intra-EU investment treaty award, reinforcing a growing trend in the bloc against enforcing such awards, and highlighting the advantages of initiating enforcement proceedings in common law jurisdictions, such as the U.K., says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • Experian Ruling Helps Cos. Navigate GDPR Transparency

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    In Information Commissioner v. Experian, the Upper Tribunal recently reaffirmed the lawfulness of the company's marketing practices, providing guidance that will assist organizations in complying with the GDPR’s transparency obligations, say lawyers at Jenner & Block.

  • Salvaging The Investor-State Arbitration System's Legitimacy

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    Recent developments in Europe and Ecuador highlight the vulnerability of the investor-state arbitration framework, but arbitrators can avert a crisis by relying on a poorly understood doctrine of fairness and equity, rather than law, to resolve the disputes before them, says Phillip Euell at Diaz Reus.

  • UK Trademark Law May Further Diverge From EU Standards

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    The recently enacted Retained EU Law Act, which removes the principle of EU law supremacy, offers a path for U.K. trademark law to distance itself even further from EU precedent — beyond the existing differences between the two trademark examination processes, say David Kemp and Michael Shaw at Marks & Clerk.

  • Clarity Is Central Theme In FCA's Greenwashing Guidance

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    Recent Financial Conduct Authority guidance for complying with the U.K. regulator's anti-greenwashing rule sends an overarching message that sustainability claims must be clear, accurate and capable of being substantiated, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe

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    A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.

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