A judge struck out Laing O'Rourke's defense against a £35 million ($44 million) claim over alleged defects in the construction of a luxury residential development in central London on Thursday after the construction company withdrew from the litigation at the "last minute."
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TOP NEWS

Laing O'Rourke's Defense Axed As £35M Property Trial Opens

By Sophia Dourou

A judge struck out Laing O'Rourke's defense against a £35 million ($44 million) claim over alleged defects in the construction of a luxury residential development in central London on Thursday after the construction company withdrew from the litigation at the "last minute."

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Gibson Dunn Atty Wins Exit From Amazon Worker Dispute

By Tabitha Burbidge

An employment tribunal has dismissed a Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP lawyer from a former Amazon worker's unfair dismissal claim after ruling the Dallas-based associate had been dragged into the claim in a case of mistaken identity.

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Barry Manilow Pushes Dispute Over Royalties To LA Court

By Tabitha Burbidge

A London judge ruled Thursday that claims by British music royalties outfit Hipgnosis over unpaid royalties against singer Barry Manilow must be dealt with by a court in Los Angeles before proceedings in the U.K. can move forward.

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SECURITIES & BANKING

IDBI Bank Secures $143M In Loan Case Amid Indian Probe

By Sophia Dourou

IDBI Bank Ltd. can recover more than $143 million from the guarantor of a loan at the center of a criminal investigation in India, a judge ruled Thursday, saying that a letter of comfort issued by the company controlling the borrower is legally binding.

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CONTRACTS

Ex-Qatar PM Blocks Service Of £3.7M Claim In Property Row

By William Janes

Qatar's former prime minister on Wednesday blocked a hotelier and property investor from serving a £3.7 million ($4.7 million) claim on him outside England in a dispute over an unpaid bill for renovations of his palatial London home.

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COMMERCIAL FRAUD

Trader Defends Legitimacy Of £1.4B Tax Refunds In Fraud Trial

By Ronan Barnard

British trader Sanjay Shah and others accused by Denmark's tax authority of involvement in a fraudulent trading scheme to procure billions in tax refunds argued in a London court Thursday that they could not have fraudulently applied for the refunds because they believed the trades were legitimate.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Whoop Gets Rival's Sports Bra Patent Revoked In UK

By Jamie Lennox

Wearable technology company Whoop convinced a London court on Thursday to revoke a rival's patent over a sports bra that measures the heart rate of the wearer — though the judge held that the tech would otherwise have infringed the patent.

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Slush Puppie Owner Gets £20M Freezing Order Rescinded

By Hanna Vioque

A London judge on Thursday rescinded an injunction Slush Puppie's owner had won freezing over £20 million ($25.2 million) worth of a rival slurpee maker's assets, ruling that the previous judge didn't know all the facts.

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Getty, Stability AI Clash Over Evidence On Cusp Of Trial

By Alex Baldwin

The company behind Stable Diffusion criticized Getty's "piecemeal and obscure" claims on Thursday as the two sides prepare for a summer trial, demanding greater clarity because of the importance of the first U.K. case over training a generative AI model on copyrighted material.

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TAX

Poland Can't Exclude Domestic Funds From Tax Break

By Josh White

The Polish government can't offer corporate tax exemptions to investment funds managed outside the country unless it offers the same benefits to domestically managed funds, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday.

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EMPLOYMENT & BENEFITS

Tesco Can Re-Do Arguments On Equal Pay Expert Evidence

By William Janes

Tesco on Thursday won a second shot at introducing expert economist evidence as part of its equal pay battle with mostly female shop workers who claim they were unfairly paid less than their predominantly male warehouse staff counterparts.

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Wildlife Channel Must Pay £95K To Fired Remote Worker

By Hanna Vioque

An employment tribunal has ordered a popular wildlife TV channel to pay a former employee £95,203 ($120,675) after it feigned concerns about the legality of his remote work in order to fire him.

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Court Clerk Can Keep Most Of £226K Retirement Payout

By Jamie Lennox

A former court clerk has won the right to collect the majority of his £226,800 ($287,500) retirement payout, convincing a tribunal that the Ministry of Justice can only subtract £88,800 for a lump sum he has already picked up.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

11 South Square

11KBW

3 Verulam Buildings

4 Pump Court

8 New Square

Atkin Chambers

Bird & Bird

Clintons LLP

Duane Morris

Eversheds Sutherland

Fieldfisher

Freshfields

Furnival Chambers

Gatehouse Chambers

Gibson Dunn

Harcus Parker

Henderson Chambers

Hogarth Chambers

Leigh Day

Macfarlanes LLP

Matrix Chambers

One Essex Court

Outer Temple Chambers

Pinsent Masons

Quinn Emanuel

Reynolds Porter

Simmons & Simmons

Stephenson Harwood

TLT LLP

Wiggin LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

Blackstone Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Laing O'Rourke

Tesco Corp.

Tesco PLC

TikTok Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Central Bureau of Investigation, India

European Commission

European Union

UK High Court

UK Ministry of Justice