Commercial Litigation UK

  • October 11, 2024

    Waste Co. Directors Hit Back At Energy Biz Buyer For £5.4M

    The directors of a waste management company have hit back with a £5.4 million ($7.1 million) counterclaim against a business that acquired their food waste processing plant, accusing the buyer of diverting waste away from the operation to minimize performance-based payments.

  • October 11, 2024

    Coca-Cola Driver Wins Bias Appeal Over Blackout Disorder

    A tribunal wrongly held that a Coca-Cola truck driver's coughing condition, which causes him to black out, did not render him disabled for the purpose of his claim of disability discrimination, a London appeals judge has ruled.

  • October 10, 2024

    Miner Liable To PE Firm Over Axed $1B Brazilian Mine Deal

    South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater is liable to pay damages to private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory LLP for withdrawing from a $1 billion deal to buy two Brazilian copper and nickel mines, a London court ruled Thursday.

  • October 10, 2024

    UK Exit Taxes OK When Paid Over Time, Upper Tribunal Says

    An exit tax on U.K. trusts leaving the country pre-Brexit interfered with their European Union right to free movement of capital, but is brought into compliance if trusts can pay the tax over at least a five-year period, the Upper Tribunal ruled.

  • October 10, 2024

    Exxon Suing Netherlands Over Gas Phaseout Plans

    An ExxonMobil unit has accused the Netherlands of reneging on its contractual obligations related to the phasedown of gas extraction activities in the country's earthquake-stricken Groningen oil field.

  • October 10, 2024

    Lawyers Call On EHRC To Promote Race Bias Claim Funding

    The U.K.'s equalities watchdog funded just 27 cases from 2022 to 2023, prompting calls from employment specialist GQ Littler on Thursday to better advertise its race discrimination legal support fund.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ex-Goldman Manager Claims £3.8M In Paternity Sex Bias Case

    A former Goldman Sachs compliance manager launched his sex discrimination case against the investment bank on Thursday, claiming £3.8 million ($5 million) and alleging that his bosses used redundancy as a smokescreen to sack him for taking paternity leave.

  • October 10, 2024

    HSBC Appeals To Throw Out Job Applicant's Race Bias Claim

    HSBC Bank PLC urged a London appeals court Thursday to dismiss a job applicant's discrimination claim that alleged it unfairly refused to hire her for a director role, arguing that an employment tribunal had made factual errors when it revived the case.

  • October 10, 2024

    Howden Seeks To Move Part Of Aon Poaching Case To Brazil

    Howden Group Thursday urged a court to stay parts of a claim by professional services firm Aon against the broker related to alleged staff poaching from Aon's Brazilian insurance business, saying the South American country is the right venue for the dispute.

  • October 10, 2024

    Risk Co. Can't Pursue Bankruptcy Against Guernsey Resident

    A risk management company lost its attempt to bring bankruptcy proceedings against a man in Guernsey that owes it around £2 million ($2.6 million), after a London court ruled the business couldn't meet the conditions to file outside England and Wales.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ex-CEO Wins £115K For Dismissal Before Meat Supplier's Sale

    The ousted chief executive of a meat supplier has won £115,352 ($150,802) after an employment tribunal ruled that administrators made him redundant in order to attract offers to buy his failing company.

  • October 10, 2024

    Top Takeaways From The Employment Rights Bill

    Proposals for the landmark Employment Rights Bill unveiled Thursday present a huge challenge for employers, and will force businesses to adapt quickly to meet confirmed plans to give workers new rights from their first day on the job and introduce new restrictions on employment contracts.

  • October 10, 2024

    Lebanese Bank Claims It Was Told Not To Repay $234M Debt

    Lebanon's largest private lender has claimed that the central bank of the Middle East state advised it not to repay foreign loans and interests totaling more than $234 million it owed to a member of the World Bank Group because of an economic crisis.

  • October 10, 2024

    Law Firm Owner Faces SDT Over Conflict Of Interest

    A law firm owner has been referred to a disciplinary tribunal to face allegations that he created a risk of a conflict of interest by acting for one client in a financial dispute with another client of the firm, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.

  • October 10, 2024

    Advisers Say Council's 'Extreme' Risk Appetite Lost It £20M

    Laven Advisors LLP has denied that one of its representatives made fraudulent misrepresentations about high-risk bonds to an English local authority, claiming the £20 million ($26.1 million) investment loss incurred by the council was a result of its own "extreme" risk appetite.

  • October 09, 2024

    Bank Of Scotland Forced £18.5M Hotel Asset Sale, Court Hears

    The Bank of Scotland acted in bad faith by forcing a high-end hotel group it partly owns to sell valuable premises at a reduced price, a lawyer for the hospitality chain said on the first day of trial Wednesday.

  • October 09, 2024

    Litigation Funder Sues After-The-Event Insurer For £61M

    A legal loans company has sued an insurer for around £61.4 million ($80.3 million) over its alleged failure to pay out under a litigation funding arrangement.

  • October 09, 2024

    State Immunity Blocks Harassment Case Against Ambassador

    The former advisor to Ivory Coast's U.K. ambassador cannot bring claims of unfair dismissal and sexual harassment against a government unit after an employment tribunal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

  • October 09, 2024

    Nigerians Fight 'All-Or-Nothing' Ruling In Shell Oil Spill Case

    Lawyers representing thousands of Nigerian villagers urged the Court of Appeal on Wednesday to reverse a ruling that requires them to prove that Shell is responsible for all the chronic oil pollution in their claim against the energy giant.

  • October 09, 2024

    Tech Co. Denies Claim That Plasma Reactor Was Never Built

    A developer of graphene-based materials has denied misusing money that a Chinese businessman invested in the British company in the belief that it would build a so-called plasma reactor.

  • October 09, 2024

    Law Firms Sued For Botched Advice In £5M Ponzi Scheme

    Property investors have claimed two law firms failed to warn them of the dangers of sinking their savings into a building project that turned out to be an alleged £5.4 million ($7 million) Ponzi scheme.

  • October 09, 2024

    Mozambique Targets Heirs Over 'Tuna Bond' Bribery Award

    Mozambique urged a London court on Wednesday to hold the heirs of shipbuilding magnate Iskandar Safa liable for the French-Lebanese billionaire's involvement in a bribery scheme as the country seeks to enforce a $1.9 billion damages award.

  • October 09, 2024

    London University Careers Director Loses Equal Pay Claim

    A tribunal has ruled that a London university did not pay a female director less than her male counterparts based on her sex — but the judge hinted that a fresh claim based on a more recent time period might succeed.

  • October 08, 2024

    Poland Must Pay $330M In Coal Mining Fight

    Australian critical minerals company GreenX Metals said Tuesday that it's won some $330 million following four years of arbitration against Poland after the country blocked two of its coal mining projects.

  • October 08, 2024

    AI And Geopolitics Top Concerns For Employers In 2024

    British businesses are early adopters of artificial intelligence, especially in recruitment and human resources, but a dearth of policies about how to use the technology in the workplace leaves companies at risk of discrimination and data privacy claims, Littler's annual survey of European employers published on Wednesday shows.

Expert Analysis

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

  • The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime

    Author Photo

    Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.

  • Unpacking The Building Safety Act's Industry Overhaul

    Author Photo

    Recent updates to the Building Safety Act introduce a new principal designer role and longer limitation periods for defects claims, ushering in new compliance challenges for construction industry stakeholders to navigate, as well as a need to affirm that their insurance arrangements provide adequate protection, say Zoe Eastell and Zack Gould-Wilson at RPC.

  • Prompt Engineering Skills Are Changing The Legal Profession

    Author Photo

    With a focus on higher-value work as repetitive tasks are delegated to artificial intelligence, legal roles are set to become more inspiring, and lawyers need not fear the rising demand for prompt engineers that is altering the technology-enabled legal environment, say Eric Crawley, Shah Karim and Paul O’Hagan at Epiq Legal.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • 4 Legal Privilege Lessons From Dechert Disclosure Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, finding that evidence may have been incorrectly withheld, provides welcome clarification of the scope of legal professional privilege, including the application of the iniquity exception, says Tim Knight at Travers Smith.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Commercial Litigation UK archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!