Commercial Litigation UK

  • May 29, 2024

    Great Western Railway Loses Appeal In Whistleblowing Loss

    Great Western Railway has lost its attempt to overturn a worker's whistleblowing win, as an appeals tribunal held that a judge was right to find the train operator victimized the employee for bringing legal action years earlier.

  • May 28, 2024

    Autonomy Founder Says HP 'Panicked,' Tried To Unwind Deal

    Autonomy founder Michael Lynch testified Tuesday in a California federal criminal trial over claims he conned HP into overpaying for his company that HP's board "panicked" after news of the acquisition leaked and HP's stock dropped 20%, that HP fired its CEO and that it attempted to back out of the deal.

  • May 28, 2024

    Lawyer Wants To Strike COVID Probe As Abuse Of Process

    A solicitor asked the profession's disciplinary tribunal on Tuesday to strike out his prosecution, claiming the legal regulatory body's attempt to sanction him over his representation of workers opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine is an abuse of process.

  • May 28, 2024

    Berkeley Energia Hits Spain For $1B Over Nixed Uranium Plant

    Clean energy company Berkeley Energia Ltd. announced Tuesday that it is seeking $1 billion in preliminary compensation from Spain in international arbitration after the country shut down the company's bid to construct a uranium mine and processing plant.

  • May 28, 2024

    Eastman Group Accused Of Owning No Rights In IP Spat

    A company selling paint protection film for cars is fighting allegations that one of its managers stole a database belonging to Eastman Group in order to jumpstart the business, arguing the information wasn't confidential.

  • May 28, 2024

    Prison OK To Fire Absent Staffer After Boss' Sexual Assault

    A prison did not unfairly sack an employee who was off sick with no likelihood of returning even though the absence began after a supervisor sexually assaulted her, a tribunal has ruled.

  • May 28, 2024

    Vardy Says Lawyer Worked On Xmas In 'Wagatha' Costs Battle

    Two spouses of football players fought over legal bills in a London court Tuesday in the aftermath of their high-profile libel battle, as one argued that her costs were not unreasonable because her leading barrister had worked on Christmas Day.

  • May 28, 2024

    Major Insurers Face £472M Claim For Russia-Stranded Planes

    An aircraft lessor has brought a £472 million ($604 million) claim against dozens of major insurers over planes stranded since the invasion of Ukraine, following a landmark London court ruling that blocked attempts to move similar cases to Russia.

  • May 28, 2024

    Samsung Bioepis Fights AstraZeneca Unit Over Soliris Patent

    Samsung Bioepis has challenged the validity of Alexion's Soliris drug in a London court in a bid to clear its path to sell a biosimilar version of the rare blood disease medicine — but the AstraZeneca unit has hit back amid hopes to maintain its monopoly over the treatment.

  • May 28, 2024

    EasyGroup Sues Biz Owner For Confidentiality Breach

    EasyGroup, the parent company of easyJet, has accused a U.K. business owner of flouting a confidentiality agreement with the brand by contacting a journalist at The Times newspaper about the group's legal action against him.

  • May 28, 2024

    UK Gov't Faces Threat Of Fresh Infected-Blood Litigation

    Lawyers representing victims of the infected blood scandal have said they could restart civil litigation against the government unless it accepts findings that officials failed to warn the public of the risks of treatment and keep patients safe. 

  • May 28, 2024

    Israeli Aquaculture Firm Sued Over $21M Unpaid Settlement

    An asset management firm based in the Cayman Islands is seeking more than $21 million from an Israeli aquaculture company over an allegedly unpaid settlement agreement intended to resolve earlier arbitration proceedings.

  • May 28, 2024

    NatWest Unaware Of Former Trader's Asperger's Diagnosis

    A former NatWest trader has lost his bid to revive his disability discrimination claim against the high street lender's investment banking arm as an appeals tribunal upheld findings that it did not know about his Asperger's syndrome diagnosis when he unsuccessfully applied to rejoin the company.

  • May 24, 2024

    The UK Laws That Will Pass Or Fail As Election Looms

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election to be held on July 4 has left several pieces of legislation hanging in the balance during the so-called "wash-up" period before Parliament is formally dissolved, while others have been pushed through. 

  • May 24, 2024

    Ex-Soccer Player Loses Early Libel Battle With TV Presenter

    Former professional soccer player Joey Barton lost an early legal battle against U.K. television presenter Jeremy Vine on Friday over online posts labeling Vine a "bike nonce" after a London judge ruled that they were accusations of pedophilia.

  • May 24, 2024

    UK's 2nd CPO Settlement Points To More Scrutiny On Payouts

    Britain's competition tribunal scrutinized how the U.K.'s second-ever class action settlement will be handed out to rail passengers before approving the deal, shedding light on what information it will expect to see before signing off on future settlements.

  • May 24, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen an IT engineer seek permission to search a landfill hiding a hard drive supposedly storing millions of pounds in bitcoin, Glencore take on legal action by American Century Investments, gold payment app Glint bring a breach of duty claim against FRP Advisory, and an ongoing dispute between a solicitor and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • May 24, 2024

    Law Firm Partner Says Sorry For Expert Witness Interference

    A Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP partner has apologized to a London court for overstepping in his interference with an expert witness' statement amid his client's feud with AXA XL.

  • May 24, 2024

    Generali Italia Denies Owing £1M To Exec With Eye Disease

    Italy's largest insurance company has denied that it owes more than £1 million ($1.2 million) in incapacity benefits and damages to a Quest Software sales director suffering from a degenerative eye disease after rejecting his claim.

  • May 24, 2024

    Bayer Loses Bid To Overturn Xarelto Patent Loss

    Pharma giant Bayer AG lost its fight against a slew of generic-drug makers to keep its patent over its blockbuster drug Xarelto, when an appeals court ruled Friday that the drug involved no inventive step and should not be given protection.

  • May 24, 2024

    Ex-Post Office Boss Blames Scandal On Bad Legal Advice

    Paula Vennells blamed the advice of her senior lawyers for not becoming aware of the wrongful prosecutions by the Post Office of innocent people based on faulty IT data, as she gave evidence to the inquiry into the scandal Friday.

  • May 24, 2024

    Tesla Hits Back At InterDigital's Bid To Ax 5G FRAND Case

    Tesla told a London court Friday that it is entitled to challenge the terms of licenses for 5G vehicle technology owned and licensed by InterDigital and Avanci LLC, hitting back at the two companies' bid to have its case thrown out.

  • May 24, 2024

    Travelers Insurance Sued Over Fire-Damaged Warehouse

    A U.K.-based building operator is suing its insurer for breach of contract for refusing to pay out on its multimillion-pound policy after fires destroyed its Scottish warehouse because the company allegedly fell short of security requirements and other policy provisions.

  • May 24, 2024

    Ex-Aviva Staffer's Tribunal Outbursts Not A Bar To Fair Trial

    Aviva must face a former employee's discrimination claim even though her actions during hearings — including accusations of institutional racism in employment cases — is likely to prevent the trial being fair, a tribunal has ruled.

  • May 24, 2024

    PE Firm, Pharma Cos. Overturn £31M Drug Price-Fixing Fines

    Private equity group Cinven and three pharmaceutical companies have successfully overturned a decision by the U.K. antitrust regulator to fine them £31 million ($39 million) for allegedly fixing the price of drugs sold to the National Health Service.

Expert Analysis

  • Factors To Consider In Protecting Software With Trade Secrets

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    With trade secrets protecting subject matter that would not otherwise be eligible for a patent now a mainstay of many multinationals’ intellectual property strategies, software developers have a number of considerations in deciding whether this is a viable alternative to protect their invention, says Dave Clark at Potter Clarkson.

  • What ClientEarth Ruling Means For Shareholder Climate Suits

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    The High Court recently confirmed its earlier decision in ClientEarth v. Shell, illustrating that environmental groups seeking to bring a derivative action against corporate directors' strategic decision making may find it challenging to obtain admissible evidence to establish a prima facie case of a breach, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.

  • Directors Should Beware Reinvigorated UK Insolvency Service

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    The recent lengthy disqualification of Carillion directors serves as a salutary lesson to executives on the level of third-party scrutiny to which their actions may be exposed, and a reminder that the directors’ fiduciary duty to creditors is paramount once a company is irretrievably insolvent, says Ben Drew at Fladgate.

  • EU Privacy Plan Finally Resolves Data Transfer Woes

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    Previous attempts by the European Commission to facilitate data transfers to the U.S. have been unsuccessful, but the recent EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework may bring greater legal certainty through new control mechanisms and clearer supervisory authority functions, say Joaquín Muñoz and Robbie Morrison at Bird & Bird.

  • The New Accountability Landscape For Financial Regulators

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    The preliminary-stage success of a group of U.K. lawmakers in a case against the Financial Conduct Authority highlights the significant hurdles for review of regulatory actions, but the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 creates additional visibility into the regulators' decision making, which may lead to an increase in judicial review activity, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Director Responsibilities Amid Russian Asset Seizures

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    Following Russia's recent takeover of several companies, shareholders may argue that directors failed to properly guard the companies' assets and choose to bring derivative claims or unfair prejudice petitions, say lawyers at Collyer Bristow.

  • Investors Should Prepare For Possible EU Energy Treaty Exit

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    Following the European Commission’s recent call for the European Union and Euratom to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, investors in the energy sector should assess the legal structure of their existing investments and consider restructuring to ensure adequate protections, says Philipp Kurek at Kirkland.

  • What Trustees Must Know About Virgin Media Pension Case

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    The High Court's recent decision in Virgin Media v. NTL Trustees could have significant consequences for salary-related contracted-out schemes, making it necessary for trustees to start examining any deeds of amendment during the affected time period, says James Newcome at Wedlake Bell.

  • EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach

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    The European Commission's recent record-breaking fine on Illumina for acquiring Grail without approval underscores its tough stance on merger control enforcement, showing that companies in Europe need to be vigilant in complying with regulatory requirements, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.

  • UK Top Court Ruling Spells Uncertainty For Litigation Funders

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Paccar Inc. v. Competition Appeal Tribunal has called litigation funding agreements impermissible, causing astonishment in the legal industry and raising questions over how funders should now approach litigation, say Mohsin Patel at Factor Risk Management and Imran Benson at Hailsham Chambers.

  • 4 ADR Techniques To Know In Employment Cases

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    With increasing pressure on Employment Tribunal resources and recent presidential guidance highlighting alternative dispute resolution methods, practitioners should know the key types of ADR available for employment claims, how they differ and what the likely future implications are for those involved in tribunal litigation, says Sarah Hooton at Browne Jacobson.

  • EU Privacy Framework Will Aid Int'l Data Transfer Compliance

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    The underlying certification mechanism in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework recently adopted by the European Commission has pros and cons, and by understanding its mechanics businesses and organizations can grasp the means to ensure General Data Protection Regulation compliance in their data transfers, say lawyers at Chiomenti.

  • Opinion

    Plea For A New Int'l Tribunal For Russia's Crime Of Aggression

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    Legal experts worldwide should support the International Bar Association and other organizations calling for a United Nations special criminal tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, or risk standing by as war atrocities and threats to global security increase, says Olga Kostina at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

  • EU Case Shows Wide Approach To Blocking Telecom Mergers

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    The EU court's recent judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms may make it more challenging to secure clearance for telecom and other companies pursuing mergers, illustrating its broad approach to mergers that risk harming competition without creating a dominant position, say Dominic Long and Christopher Best at Allen & Overy.

  • Protecting Reputation In The Age Of Shareholder Activism

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    With the rise in investors using equity ownership to influence the management of a company, shareholder activism has taken on fresh impetus, and general counsel have a critical part to play in safeguarding an organization's reputation by engaging in open communication and implementing effective corporate governance, says Neil McLeod at The PHA Group.

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