Expert Analysis

• What The Oil Spill Case Means For Corporate Enviro Liability

  

  Amid increasing strategic environmental litigation, the recent Supreme Court decision in Jalla v. Shell serves as a reminder of the limitations to using private law action and that the courts will not necessarily dilute procedural or substantive rules to accommodate these claims, say lawyers at Cleary.

• French And UK Patent Litigation Will Likely Influence The UPC

  

  The newly opened Unified Patent Court represents a seismic, yet untested, change to how patent litigation is conducted within Europe, and the practices of French and U.K. courts may play a role in its development, including on issues such as saisies and document production, say lawyers at Gowling.

• Examining The Growing Strength Of FRC Enforcement Actions

  

  As the U.K. Financial Reporting Council prepares to broaden its powers and transition into the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority in 2024, it is already demonstrating an increased appetite for enforcement, with greater expectations placed on auditors, say Kathleen Harris, Sean Curran and Melissa Dames at Arnold & Porter.

• Insights On UK Efforts To Combat Greenwashing Claims

  

  The recent censure by U.K. advertising and consumer protection regulators of a number of companies' attempts to highlight their green credentials demonstrates that efforts to tackle greenwashing are gathering pace, and the question of how consumers understand sustainability claims made by companies is coming into sharp focus, say Robert Allen and Craig Gilchrist at Simmons & Simmons.

• GDPR Case Offers Useful Clarifications On Data Access

  

  The recent EU Court of Justice decision in FF v. Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde is a critical junction for data protection law, clarifying that the right of access requires copies of documents containing personal data, but this will likely to incur higher compliance costs and administrative burdens for businesses, say Thibaut D'hulst and Defne Örnek at Van Bael & Bellis.

• UK Case Shows Risks Of Taking Shortcuts In Fund Payments

  

  While the High Court recently reversed a decision in Floreat Investment Management v. Churchill, finding that investors routing funds into their own accounts was not dishonest, the case serves as a cautionary tale on the dangers of directing investment funds other than as contractually provided, say lawyers at Dechert.

• How The UK Employment Court Backlogs Jeopardize Justice

  

  While employment tribunal case delays may not top the agenda of new Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk, recent data reveals deep and long-term issues, including a staggering half a million current or former employees waiting for their case to trudge forward in the queue, says Heather Wilmot at ARAG.

• ClientEarth Case Shows Shareholder Hurdles In Climate Suits

  

  Climate-related shareholder activism is on the rise, but ClientEarth's recent setback in the High Court case ClientEarth v. Shell suggests that derivative action may not be a fruitful route to force directors to move closer to net-zero targets, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.

• Benefits Of Unified Patent Court Compared To Local Litigation

  

  Recently opened for business, the Unified Patent Court offers a faster, cheaper and more streamlined solution to handle patent disputes compared to EU countries and the U.S., and could become the most important forum for patent litigation in Europe, if not worldwide, say lawyers at McDermott.

• Expansion Of Court Filming May Carry Reputational Risks

  

  In light of the U.K. government’s recent consultation on expanding filming across the courts system in England and Wales, our right to open justice must be weighed carefully against the reputational risk that litigation poses to all parties involved, says Bella von Bohlen at FTI Consulting.

• A First Look At UK's Reform Approach To EU Employment Law

  

  The U.K. government's recent proposal on EU employment laws is relatively modest, retaining the post-Brexit law in areas such as recording working hours and holiday pay calculations, and assuaging predictions of a bonfire of EU employment rights, say Sally Hulston and James Davies at Lewis Silkin.

• PR Perspectives: Strategies For Lawyers Publicizing Litigation

  

  Any business or high-profile individual could end up in court, and with a global audience watching on through social media, lawyers would be wise to use strategic methods to shine a favorable light on their work and cases, says Steve Rudaini at MD Communications.

• Alstom Arb. Case Shows 3 Approaches To Corruption Claims

  

  French, English and Swiss courts have provided differing assessments of post-award corruption allegations in the long-running case Alexander Brothers v. Alstom, which is clearly undesirable, and may affect arbitration tactics, says Harriet Chopra at Fladgate.

• Applying The Singapore Convention In UK: The Key Questions

  

  While the U.K. government's recent decision to join the Singapore Convention is welcome, the hard work arguably starts now in devising the domestic rules to implement it, which should not be treated as a straightforward exercise, says Jan O'Neill at Herbert Smith.

• Judicial Review Lessons From Financial Ombudsman Case

  

  Even though the judicial review claim was dismissed in the recent High Court decision Shawbrook Bank v. Financial Ombudsman Service, it has important legal and practical takeaways for lenders who can obtain real value by challenging FOS decisions, say lawyers at Linklaters.