Experience

Banking

Examples

• Numerous investment and banking disputes
• Fraud claims and “dishonest assistance” claims
• Many mis-selling claims regarding interest rate swaps and other products
• Contested debt recovery claims

Commercial Contracts

Examples

• $1.25billion pharmaceutical claim
• Claim concerning Russia commercial agency agreement
• £120million post-acquisition warranty claim
• Numerous disputes between telecoms companies
• Middle East/US/UK pharmaceutical business claim
• Russian/Norwegian joint venture dispute
• Polish distribution agreement dispute between US and Belgium companies
• English/Japanese dispute concerning distribution of luxury brand goods
• Spanish/Japanese contract termination dispute
• £2million oil futures dispute between international bank and African state-owned energy utility
• £35million open-cast mining dispute
• Dispute concerning construction of Middle Eastern power station
• £3million claim against UK rail operator by French systems manufacturer
• Claim by US listed company against North African distributors
• Claim against French machinery manufacturer by UK companies and finance houses
• Dispute between a household name food producer and a distributor
• waste disposal contract disputes
• Dispute over property development rights
• Termination of franchise arrangements
• Claim against national newspaper regarding confidential information

Commercial Fraud

Examples

• Multi-party European-wide €150m tax fraud claims
• 9-party £2million commercial fraud case
• £60million international banking fraud claim (4 party)
• £40million international tax fraud claim
• US$53million international fraud claim
• Multi-party and two-party UK fraud claims
• Multi-national asset-tracing claims

Company/shareholders

Examples

• Numerous shareholders actions (both two party and multi-party) from many different countries, including:
  • Share valuations
  • Share option agreements
  • Minority shareholder (S. 994) actions (two- and multi-party), including multi-million pounds in value
  • “Misleading prospectus” claims (including a 6-party claim)
• Numerous breach of acquisition warranty claims:
  • Involving listed companies
  • UK, French, Italian, Dutch, Maltese, Austrian, Canadian, Indian, Ukrainian, and others
  • Two- and multi-party
  • Ranging up to multi-million pounds in value
• Credit-trading disputed equity stake claim
• Disputed shareholder rights following take-over
• Numerous family business disputes

Competition

Examples

• £2bn competition claim in financial services
• £700m international competition/cartel claim in financial services

Construction and Engineering

Examples

• Claims relating to delays, defective design issues, engineering machine manufacture, construction of plant, etc
• Dispute over design and operation of high-tech defence equipment
• Disputes relating to oil and gas supplies, turbines, piping, undersea equipment, etc

Employment

Examples

• Senior executive employment disputes (often coupled with disputed share options/valuations disputes, bonus disputes, S. 994 minority shareholder petitions, restrictive covenants, etc)
• Unfair and wrongful dismissals including as part of larger claim e.g. as one component of a shareholders’ action, and as part of claims relating to the transfer of businesses including TUPE elements
• Discrimination covering race, gender and age claims
• TUPE issues relating to insolvency actions both in employment based and insolvency based mediations
• Employee departures and confidential information/restrictive covenants

Environmental

Examples

• Major international environmental conflict, involving numerous stakeholders
• Most recently a two-year dialogue process in Bosnia concerning emission levels, and involving numerous public and private sector parties
• Clean up costs relating to oil spillage

Insolvency

Examples

• Numerous claims by and against liquidators/receivers and companies in liquidation/receivership, including misfeasance, transactions at an undervalue, fraudulent preferences, breach of fiduciary duty, etc
• Example – multi-party Middle East insolvency claims for > $1bn

I.T.

Examples

• £12million claim by listed oil company against its IT suppliers
• £70million IT claim against a public authority
• Claim by local authority in respect of automated traffic control system
• IT contract management disputes
• IT license claims
• Numerous other IT-related claims

Insurance/reinsurance

Examples

• £40million international re-insurance fraud dispute (4 party)
• Division of liability amongst insurers dispute
• Various reinsurance disputes
• Insured disaster claims (eg railway disasters)

See also Professional Negligence and Personal Injury (left).

Intellectual Property

Examples

• World-wide trademark dispute between two household name companies
• “Super-brand” disputes
• Defamation actions
• Film copyright dispute
• Video games disputes
• Various trademark disputes
• Passing off actions – eg between household name retailer and branded food manufacturer
• Design rights dispute between designer and household name transport manufacturer
• Confidential information claims

Investor/State

Examples

• Environmental and human rights related issues in conflict between inward investors, national regional and local government, NGOs and citizens groups (Balkans)
• Energy plant issues involving national government and investors (Baltic)
• Dispute relating to oil-drilling involving government and investors (Caribbean)
• Oil pipeline dispute involving government and investors (Caribbean)
• Banking dispute involving government and overseas bank (Central Asia)
• Financial services dispute between government and European bank (West Africa)

Local Government

Examples

• Dame Shirley Porter and Westminster City Council (in the public domain)
• Waste disposal contracts with local authorities
• Numerous public sector supply contract disputes

Medical negligence

Examples

• The largest single medical negligence claim in UK history
• Various claims concerning obstetric care, plastic surgery, patient consent, etc
• See also Personal Injury (left)

Partnerships

Examples

• Numerous disputes concerning break-up of partnerships, removal of partners, etc
• relating to partnerships of lawyers, accountants, architects, private equity, and many other areas

Pensions

Examples

• Numerous disputes concerning inappropriate administration and use of pension funds, fraud, etc, against former trustees
• Numerous professional negligence claims against professional advisers, often multi-party
• “Barber window” equalisation claims
• S. 75 claims

Personal Injury

Examples

• Hundreds of claims for injury arising out of the Grenfell Tower fire
• Allocation of liability between defendants for mass tort claims (c. 30,000 claims)
• Employers liability claims (eg. factory accidents)
• Diving accident claim

Product Liability

Examples

• Class actions concerning pharmaceutical products
• Claim concerning alleged contamination of food products

Professional Negligence

Examples

Numerous negligence claims (both two- and multi-party) against:

• Solicitors (relating to “loss of chance” claims, property transactions, vicarious liability, acquisition transactions, etc)
• Valuers/surveyors
• Accountants/auditors
• Insolvency practitioners
• Company directors and officers
• Doctors and other healthcare providers

Regulatory

Examples

• Numerous financial services regulatory disputes, often involving enforcement action by the relevant financial regulator
• Advertising regulatory disputes

Shipping

Examples

• Multi-million pound luxury yacht dispute
• Various shipping claims

Sport

Examples

• Dispute between motor racing driver and his sponsors
• Directors and shareholders dispute in ocean racing enterprise
• Long-running multi-party dispute over board and shareholder control of a Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club (multi-party) (in the public domain)
• Dispute between directors of football club (multi-party)
• Dispute between football club and sacked manager
• Dispute between motor racing champion and racetrack company
• Coventry City FC dispute over Ricoh Arena (in the public domain)
• Inter-club and governing body rugby dispute
• Dispute between shareholders of global sports ticketing and events business