Commercial Litigation UK

  • February 07, 2025

    HSBC Seeks To Quash Discrimination, Whistleblowing Claim

    HSBC urged the Employment Tribunal on Friday to toss out a claim from a former compliance manager for disability discrimination, harassment and unfair dismissal against the bank, saying her claims had no real prospect of success and should not be allowed to move to a hearing.

  • February 07, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Investec Bank PLC sue two diamond tycoons, London florist Nikki Tibbles file a claim against an "imitator company," a direct descendant of the Cartier family launch a claim, and a Coronation Street actor hit footballer Joe Bunney with a defamation claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 07, 2025

    Investor Can Sue Trading Brokerage For $4M Debt In England

    An investor can bring claims against a Dubai-based trading brokerage in England, over her allegations that it sold its clients to a consultancy to avoid paying her the remainder of a $4.1 million debt, after a ruling by a London court on Friday.

  • February 06, 2025

    Investors, Italy Tussle Over $23M Awards Enforcement Suit

    Renewable energy investors looking to enforce tens of millions of euros worth of arbitral awards against Italy accused the country on Wednesday of trying to prolong the litigation through jurisdictional arguments that the D.C. Circuit has already rejected, while Italy argued that the underlying facts here are different.

  • February 06, 2025

    Sitcom Writer Faces Libel Claims For Blog Reader Comments

    Comedy writer and activist Graham Linehan must face claims that he defamed an actor he accused of harassing women, as a London judge ruled Thursday that readers' comments on the writer's blog suggested the actor is a pedophile.

  • February 06, 2025

    DWP Staffer Loses Disability Bias Claim Over Office Days 

    The Department for Work and Pensions has beaten a slew of disability bias claims brought by a current employee because her remote work needs clashed with her office-based role, an employment tribunal has ruled. 

  • February 06, 2025

    Ex-Bank Exec Fired For Hotel Spend Can't Sue CEO, GC

    A Manchester bank's former chief commercial officer can't revive her claims against the chief executive officer and two other senior officials after already agreeing to withdraw them, an employment tribunal has ruled. 

  • February 06, 2025

    Lemon Gin Linked To City Not Norwich FC, Maker Says

    A spirits producer has told a court that claims by Norwich City FC that its lemon-flavored gin infringed the football club's trademarks are false because its "Norwich City" drink was created as a souvenir for visitors to the eastern English city.

  • February 06, 2025

    Stellantis Companies Can't Bring Cartel Claim In England

    Maserati and other car manufacturers had their cartel claim against auto parts makers in England struck out by a London court that ruled that issuing the proceedings in the country was a "deliberate litigation strategy" to prove their case.

  • February 06, 2025

    Sony Must Face Hendrix Bandmates' UK Copyright Claim

    A London appeals court held Thursday that Sony must face a claim that it infringed copyrights belonging to the estates of Jimi Hendrix's former bandmates, rejecting the company's latest bid to foil the case.

  • February 06, 2025

    Voodoo Doll Comment Not Racial, Religious Harassment

    An employment tribunal has ruled that Voodoo is a legally protected religion, dismissing a Black Christian's housing support officer's claim that he was harassed by a colleague's "lighthearted" comment about a voodoo doll.

  • February 06, 2025

    Luxury London Florist Gets Imitator's Assets Frozen

    A high-end London florist has secured an asset freeze against a British national who set up a company allegedly imitating the bouquet delivery service's business.

  • February 06, 2025

    Energy Trader Faked Illness When Quitting For Rival

    An energy trading company has won its breach of contract claim against a former employee who quit to work for a rival, after a court concluded that he used sickness as a "ruse" to avoid working during a noncompete restriction period.

  • February 06, 2025

    Tribunal Missed 'Wider Picture' Of Harassment, Worker Claims

    A former payroll supervisor at car rental company Enterprise took her claim for unfair dismissal and harassment to the Court of Appeal on Thursday, arguing that the lower courts had failed to assess the wider picture of her alleged mistreatment when finding no harassment had occurred.

  • February 06, 2025

    Mastercard Deal Battle Goes Through The Looking Glass

    The landmark class action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard has entered "Alice in Wonderland" territory, as the credit card giant is now backing the class representative who sued it in his dispute with his litigation funder over the terms of the controversial settlement, analysts say.

  • February 05, 2025

    Ryanair Loses €1B TAP State Aid Challenge

    Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair has lost yet another attempt to stop state aid from being delivered to its rivals in the airline industry after a European Union court on Wednesday batted away its challenge to a €1.2 billion ($1.249 billion) aid package for the parent company of TAP Air Portugal.

  • February 05, 2025

    Naomi Campbell Wins Shot To Fight Charity Trustee Ban

    Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been granted permission to challenge a decision by the U.K.'s charity watchdog banning her as a charity trustee after she claimed that her fellow trustee had impersonated her in correspondence with lawyers.

  • February 05, 2025

    Insurers Say Stranded Jets Not Covered By War Risks Policies

    War-risk insurers argued Wednesday that they should not have to cover losses of aircraft stranded in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, arguing airlines retaining the aircraft were not covered by the leasing airlines' insurance policy.

  • February 05, 2025

    Large Orgs Facing 20 Employment Tribunal Claims Per Year

    Large businesses are seeing around 20 Employment Tribunal claims per year with unfair dismissal and disability discrimination cases at the forefront, a law firm's new study has suggested.

  • February 05, 2025

    Guardian Beats Actor's Claim Reporters Faked Libel Evidence

    Actor Noel Clarke has lost his bid to strike out The Guardian newspaper's public interest defense against his libel claim over articles about sexual misconduct allegations against him, as a London court ruled on Wednesday that his lawyers had wrongly accused journalists of fabricating evidence.

  • February 05, 2025

    IT Pro Unfairly Fired For Staying In Pakistan During COVID

    An employment tribunal has ruled that a technology software company unfairly fired a developer who failed to return from Pakistan after 29 months away during the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that bosses had wrongly concluded her dismissal was "inevitable." 

  • February 05, 2025

    VistaJet Can't Land Trademark Over Airplane Decal In EU

    A European Union court on Wednesday dashed VistaJet's hopes of securing a trademark over a decal for airplanes, ruling that its horizontal red stripe isn't distinctive enough to merit protection.

  • February 05, 2025

    Ships Biz Asks Top UK Court To Limit Liability For Deadly Fire

    A Swiss ship charterer told Britain's highest court on Wednesday that it is entitled to limit its liability under a $200 million arbitral award over a fatal explosion in 2012, arguing that the costs linked to the blast are covered by a liability limitation for damage to cargo.

  • February 05, 2025

    Bathroom Biz Denies Copying Rival's Hidden Cistern Design

    A bathroom company has hit back at its rival's allegations accusing the company of copying its hidden toilet cistern design, arguing that the designs in question are not original and do not qualify for legal protection.

  • February 05, 2025

    Guarantors Fight To Stay Russian Boat Lessor's $60M Claim

    A group of Cypriot businesses that acted as guarantors for a ship financing deal with a Russian state-owned lessor that soured after the country's invasion of Ukraine have asked a London court to stay the Russian businesses' $60 million claims against them.

Expert Analysis

  • Unpacking The Law Commission's Digital Assets Consultation

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    The Law Commission recently published a consultation on recognizing a third personal property category to accommodate the development of digital assets, highlighting difficulties with current models of property rights and the potential consequences of considering digital assets as personal property, say Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP.

  • 1st Appellate Ruling On Digital Terms Sets Tone For Disputes

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    The Court of Appeal's recent ruling in Parker-Grennan v. Camelot, the first appellate decision to consider how online terms and conditions are publicized, provides, in its tone and verdict on incorporation, an invaluable guide for how to approach similar disputes in the digital space, says Eddy Eccles at Covington.

  • Insurance Policy Takeaways From UK Lockdown Loss Ruling

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    An English court's recent decision in Unipolsai v. Covea, determining that insurers' losses from COVID-19 lockdowns were covered by reinsurance, highlights key issues on insurance policy wordings, including how to define a "catastrophe" in the context of the pandemic, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.

  • How Employers Should Respond To Flexible Work Requests

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    U.K. employees will soon have the right to request flexible working arrangements from the first day of employment, including for religious observances, and refusing them without objective justification could expose employers to indirect discrimination claims and hurt companies’ diversity and inclusion efforts, says Jim Moore at Hamilton Nash.

  • What COVID Payout Ruling Means For Lockdown Loss Claims

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    While the High Court's recent COVID-19 payout decision in Gatwick v. Liberty Mutual, holding that pandemic-related regulations trigger prevention of access clauses, will likely lead to insurers accepting more business interruption claims, there are still evidentiary challenges and issues regarding policy limits and furlough, say Josianne El Antoury and Greg Lascelles at Covington.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • Opinion

    PACCAR Should Be 1st Step To Regulating Litigation Funders

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    Rather than reversing the U.K. Supreme Court's well-reasoned judgment in PACCAR v. Competition Appeal Tribunal, imposing a regulatory regime on litigation funders in parity with that of lawyers, legislators should build upon it to create a more transparent, competitive and fairer funding industry, says Rosa Curling at Foxglove.

  • Patent Plausibility Uncertainty Persists, EPO Petition Shows

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    While a recent petition for review at the European Patent Office — maintaining that the Board of Appeal misapplied the Enlarged Board of Appeal's order on whether a patent is "plausible" — highlights the continued uncertainty surrounding the plausibility concept, the outcome could provide useful guidance on the interpretation of orders, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law

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    A trilogy of recent cases in the English High Court and Court of Appeal highlight the importance of parties agreeing to explicit choice of law language at the outset of an arbitration agreement in order to avoid costly legal skirmishes down the road, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.

  • Risks The Judiciary Needs To Be Aware Of When Using AI

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    Recently published judiciary service guidance aims to temper reliance on AI by court staff in their work, and with ever-increasing and evolving technology, such tools should be used for supplementary assistance rather than as a replacement for already existing judicial research tools, says Philip Sewell at Shepherd & Wedderburn.

  • Post Office Scandal Stresses Key Directors Duties Lessons

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    The Post Office scandal, involving hundreds of wrongful convictions of subpostmasters based on an IT failure, offers lessons for company directors on the magnitude of the impact that a failure to fulfill their duties can have on employees and the company, says Simon Goldberg at Simons Muirhead.

  • Employer Tips For Handling Data Subject Access Requests

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    As employers face numerous employee data-subject access requests — and the attendant risks of complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office — issues such as managing deadlines and sifting through data make compliance more difficult, highlighting the importance of efficient internal processes and clear communication when responding to a request, say Gwynneth Tan and Amy Leech at Shoosmiths.

  • Top Court Hire Car Ruling Affects 3rd-Party Negligence Cases

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Armstead v. Royal & Sun Alliance, finding that an insurer was responsible for lost car rental income after an accident, has significant implications for arguing economic loss and determining burden of proof in third-party negligence cases that trigger contractual liabilities, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • Bribery Class Action Ruling May Revive Bifurcated Processes

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    The Court of Appeal's recent decision allowing the representative bribery action in Commission Recovery v. Marks & Clerk offers renewed hope for claimants to advance class claims using a bifurcated process amid its general absence as of late, say Jon Gale and Justin Browne at Ashurst.

  • Ocado Appeal Outcome Will Gauge UPC Transparency

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    As the sole Unified Patent Court case concerning third-party requests for court records, the forthcoming appeal decision in Ocado v. Autostore will hopefully set out a clear and consistent way to handle reasoned requests, as access to nonconfidential documents will surely lead to more efficient conduct of proceedings, says Tom Brazier at EIP.

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