Commercial Litigation UK

  • June 18, 2024

    Judges Fight For Higher Pay When Acting In Senior Roles

    A group of judges told the Employment Tribunal on Tuesday that they are being unfairly underpaid, arguing that when they occasionally act in more senior roles they should be paid the same as the judges in those higher positions.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ex-Footballer To Pay TV Presenter £110K To Settle Slur Claim

    Television presenter Jeremy Vine has partly won his libel claim against former professional footballer Joey Barton over online posts that labeled him a "bike nonce" after Barton said in a public apology on Tuesday that he had agreed to pay £75,000 ($95,200) in damages.

  • June 18, 2024

    HSBC Manager Won't Be Reinstated After Unfair Dismissal

    An employment tribunal has refused to order HSBC to reinstate a former manager after it unfairly dismissed her in a flawed redundancy process, finding that the bank would have ended her employment on the same day anyway.

  • June 18, 2024

    Serco Settles Landmark Shareholder Dispute Mid-Trial

    Serco settled a landmark shareholders' claim on Tuesday with investors who sued the outsourcing giant for compensation over an overbilling scandal that caused its share price to nosedive.

  • June 18, 2024

    Manufacturer Demands Ex-Director Gives Up Personal Emails

    A chemicals manufacturer is suing its former director for keeping hold of his personal email addresses after he left the job, which it claims contain business invoices and information about the company's performance.

  • June 18, 2024

    Samsung Bioepis Denies Infringing Blood Treatment Patent

    Samsung Bioepis has fought back against a bid by Alexion to prevent it from selling a biosimilar version of a patented blood treatment drug by a rival, telling a court that this will not infringe the protections of an AstraZeneca subsidiary over the medicine.

  • June 17, 2024

    Disney Cruise Says Ex-Worker Must Arbitrate In London

    Disney Cruise Lines has told a Florida federal court that a Honduran ex-employee who was fired for twice testing positive for marijuana must arbitrate his wrongful termination claim in London.

  • June 17, 2024

    Ex-Energy Minister Revives Bid To Ax Libel Defense

    A lawyer for an Iraqi politician said an investigative journalism article about the Iraqi oil business is "cherry-picking" bits of a court judgment to "create a story of corruption," urging a judge Monday to throw out the journalists' defense to his libel claim.

  • June 24, 2024

    Leading Blockchain Lawyer Joins Lawrence Stephens

    Lawrence Stephens Ltd. has hired a litigator with expertise in blockchain technology and digital assets from Shoosmiths amid growing demand from clients for advice on cryptocurrency asset recoveries and all other issues associated with emerging technologies.

  • June 17, 2024

    Law Firm Worker Wins Bid To Quash Disciplinary Sanctions

    A legal worker successfully got his sanction quashed by a disciplinary tribunal on Monday, with the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal overturning a ban placed on him for allegedly misleading the court and pretending to be a solicitor when he was not qualified in England and Wales.

  • June 17, 2024

    Blind Man Denied A Work Buddy Wins Discrimination Claim

    A blind employee won his discrimination case against a Welsh bakery when an employment tribunal found that the bakery didn't give him time to familiarize himself with his surroundings or offer him a "buddy" while he adjusted to his new workplace.

  • June 17, 2024

    Foreign Exchange Biz To Pay £61K Over Demotion

    A foreign exchange firm must pay £61,993 ($78,535) to a senior employee after an employment tribunal ruled that its decision to nix his desk management role was a demotion that amounted to a dismissal.

  • June 17, 2024

    Judge Axes Ex-Stobart CEO's Conspiracy Claim

    Allowing Stobart Group's former chief executive to reargue that he was the victim of a conspiracy to remove him as chair would be "an abuse of process," a London court ruled Monday as it struck out his claim against the company and five of its directors.

  • June 17, 2024

    StanChart Investors Can 'Piggyback' On US Sanctions Claims

    Standard Chartered PLC lost its bid at a London appellate court on Monday to toss accusations by investors that the bank downplayed by hundreds of billions of dollars the extent to which it had breached U.S. sanctions against Iran.

  • June 17, 2024

    Spain Revives State Immunity Bid To Ax €120M Award

    Spain urged an appeals court on Monday to set aside a €120 million ($128 million) arbitration award granted to two investors after it slashed its economic incentives for renewable energy, arguing that the country was immune from the jurisdiction of the English courts.

  • June 17, 2024

    Housing Trust Workers Win £95K Over Racial Bias Claims

    A tribunal has ordered one of the U.K.'s largest housing associations to pay two mixed-race employees a total of almost £95,000 ($120,000) after ruling that it had failed to ensure that its recruitment process avoided racial bias.

  • June 14, 2024

    Russian Businessman's Fight To Enforce $92M Award Ends

    A Russian businessman's decade-long fight to enforce a $92 million arbitral award — a dispute that spurred the U.S. Supreme Court to let him forge a new path to enforcing foreign arbitral awards — finally came to an end this week, as the parties inked a settlement on the eve of a racketeering trial.

  • June 14, 2024

    'Riverdance' Star Can't Step Around $30M Estate Arbitration

    Dancer Michael Flatley must arbitrate his €30 million ($32 million) claim against Hiscox over allegations of defective work on his estate in County Cork, an Irish court ruled Friday, saying there is nothing unfair about enforcing the policy's arbitration clause.

  • June 14, 2024

    Mining Co. Entity Can't Deduct Loan Interest, UK Court Says

    A U.S. mining company's entity in the U.K. that was created to save taxes through the acquisition of a Texas-based firm cannot overturn the Upper Tribunal's decision that its U.K tax deductions weren't deserved, according to a Court of Appeal judgment.

  • June 14, 2024

    Tesco Car Crash Scammer Found In Contempt

    A scammer who made a false compensation claim against Tesco over a staged traffic accident was on Friday found in contempt of court for having another man impersonate him in a hearing and trying to blame his lawyers for the fraudulent claim.

  • June 14, 2024

    Off The Bench: Ex-Players Claim NIL, Loss For Trans Swimmer

    In this week's Off The Bench, the 1983 men's college basketball champions want a piece of the loot the NCAA made off of their names, swimmer Lia Thomas loses in her bid to overturn an international trans athlete ban, and the House gets a bill through committee that would keep college athletes from becoming employees.

  • June 14, 2024

    NHS Body Says It Erred By Blocking Co. From £4.4B Contract

    A National Health Service body has admitted it wrongly excluded a logistics service from the opportunity to win an estimated £4.4 billion ($5.6 billion) supply contract, but said the company has no reason to sue because it can now reenter the procurement process.

  • June 14, 2024

    Top Court To Face Tough IP Questions On Post-Kitchin Bench

    The appellate courts will continue to be plagued by tough questions about intellectual property law unless Parliament intervenes after the election, experts told Law360, as artificial intelligence and complex questions about technology and ownership of inventions continue to percolate up towards the top courts.

  • June 14, 2024

    Malicious Falsehood Ruling Casts Doubt On Law's Efficacy

    A decision by the U.K.'s highest court refusing to award damages without proof of financial loss in a malicious falsehood claim has called into question the effectiveness of a law designed to make claims easier to bring.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ex-Chelsea FC Employee Loses Bid To Toss Harassment Loss

    A former Chelsea Football Club Ltd. groundsman lost his battle in a London court Friday to overturn a ruling that he had forfeited his chance to defend against his ex-employer's harassment claim after a judge said he had "no real answer" for not responding to the club.

Expert Analysis

  • UPC Revocation Actions Offer An Attractive Patent Strategy

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    As the Unified Patent Court gains momentum after an initial period of nervousness around the recently launched forum, more businesses may be starting to realize the value of running revocation actions as an alternative route to knocking out patents across Europe, say Oliver Laing and Georgia Carr at Potter Clarkson.

  • Pension Plan Amendment Power Lessons From BBC Ruling

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    The High Court's recent ruling in BBC v. BBC Pension Trust upheld an unusually restrictive fetter on the pension scheme's amendment power, which highlights how fetters can vary in degrees of protection and the importance of carefully considering any restriction, says Maxwell Ballad at Freeths.

  • 5 Takeaways For Litigants From Early EU Patent Court Ruling

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    One of the first Unified Patent Court ex parte preliminary injunctions was recently granted in myStromer v. Revolt Zycling, demonstrating the court's ability to decide cases extremely quickly, but parties should be careful in phrasing their motions and sufficiently substantiating them to achieve the desired result, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.

  • What To Know About The EU Residency Scheme Changes

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    The U.K. government recently announced extensions to residency status under the EU Settlement Scheme, which is a net positive for U.K.-EU relations and will be welcomed by those affected, including employers concerned about losing employees with expired permission, say Claire Nilson and Abilio Jaribu at Faegre Drinker.

  • High Court Dechert Ruling Offers Litigation Privilege Lessons

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    While the recent High Court ruling in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, which concerned torture conspiracy allegations against the firm, held that litigation privilege can be claimed by a nonparty to proceedings, the exact boundaries of privilege aren't always clear-cut and may necessitate analyzing the underlying principles, says Scott Speirs at Norton Rose.

  • What To Know About AI Fraudsters Before Facing Disputes

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    The potential of artificial intelligence to augment fraudsters' efforts is arguably unprecedented, so lawyers will swiftly need to become familiar with the fundamentals of AI to deal with it in the context of disputes, says Daniel Wyatt and Christopher Whitehouse at RPC.

  • UK Insolvency Reform Review Shows Measures Are Working

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    The U.K. Insolvency Service's recently published review of legislative reforms to the corporate insolvency regime demonstrates that despite being underutilized, the measures have been shown to help viable companies survive, and with the current difficult economic environment, will likely be an important aspect of organizational restructuring going forward, says Kirsten Fulton-Fleming at Taylor Wessing.

  • More UK Collective Actions On The Horizon After Forex Ruling

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    A U.K. appeals court's recent decision in Forex case Evans v. Barclays is likely to significantly widen the scope of opt-out collective proceedings that can be brought, paving the way for more class actions by prospective claimants who have previously been unable to bring individual claims, say Robin Henry and Tamara Davis at Collyer Bristow.

  • How Russia Sanctions May Complicate Contract Obligations

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    Against the backdrop of recent comprehensive sanctions against Russia and Belarus, a review of recent U.K. case law clarifies that certain force majeure clauses likely cover trade sanctions, and that future litigation will further develop the scope of force majeure and frustration in the context of sanctions, says Frances Jenkins at Quillon Law.

  • New Guidance Offers Clarity For Charities On ESG Investing

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    The need for charities to understand investing in line with environmental, social and governance aspirations has never been more pressing, and recently updated U.K. Charity Commission guidance should give trustees confidence to make decisions that are right for their organization, says Robert Nieri at Shoosmiths.

  • Taking Stock Of Company Climate Duties After ClientEarth

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    Despite the High Court's recent dismissal of ClientEarth v. Shell, the case nonetheless has key consequences for companies that are susceptible to being targeted by nonprofit activists as environmental, social and corporate governance lawfare continues, says Dan Harris at Chancery Advisors.

  • Copyright Cheat Sheet: Finding Substantially Similar Songs

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    Using the recent copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran over his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" as a case study, forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig provides an overview for attorneys of which musical elements do and do not, when altered, create the sense of a new or distinct composition — a determination increasingly sought from experts in court.

  • Lessons On Cricket Patent History And IP Protection At UPC

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    On the heels of the creation of the Unified Patent Court in Europe, Susan Bradley at Marks & Clerk looks at how its development is interwoven with the history of cricket, and why inventors in that field have always taken advantage of the latest developments in intellectual property protection.

  • FCA Case Failures Highlight Value Of Robust Investigation

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    The recent U.K. upper tribunal judgment in Seiler, Whitestone and Raitzin v. The Financial Conduct Authority, criticizing the regulator for accepting a narrative advanced by the firm, makes clear that such admissions must not get in the way of a proper investigation to enable agencies to target the correct individuals, say Tom Bushnell and Olivia Dwan at Hickman & Rose.

  • Reputation Management Lessons From Spacey Case

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    While a U.K. jury recently acquitted actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault charges, his reputation has been harmed, illustrating the importance for lawyers to balance a client's right to privacy with media engagement throughout the criminal process, says Jessica Welch at Simkins.

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