Commercial Litigation UK

  • June 24, 2025

    Irwin Mitchell Can't Ax Pension Fraud Negligence Claim

    A London court on Tuesday denied Irwin Mitchell's bid to scrap a professional negligence suit against a firm it merged with in 2015, but ruled Irwin Mitchell itself is not liable for the advice given to a pensioner in the wake of alleged fraud.

  • June 24, 2025

    UK Farmers Seek Judicial Review Of Inheritance Tax Changes

    A group of farmers and family-owned businesses is taking the U.K. government to court over changes to the inheritance tax to remove exemptions for agricultural land, the firm representing the farmers announced Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Solicitor Denies Inducing Trust To Invest £5.8m In His Firm

    A solicitor has denied fraudulently inducing a family trust into investing £5.75 million ($7.84 million) into a company he part owned that became insolvent, arguing the trust made its own assessment to become involved in the "low risk" project.

  • June 24, 2025

    VietJet Air Loses Bid To Ax $181M Plane Lease Dispute Ruling

    A Vietnamese budget airline lost its fight to overturn a decision that it is liable to pay an investment company $181 million for failing to make aircraft leasing payments when a London court ruled Tuesday that the notices served to terminate the leasing deals were valid.

  • June 24, 2025

    Fintech Accuses JP Morgan Of Waging 'Proxy War' In Greece

    Fintech company WeRealize accused J.P. Morgan on Tuesday of waging a legal "proxy war" against its directors in Greece to prevent it from purchasing the investment bank's stake in a payments startup joint venture.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ex-Staffer Owes £20K After 'Messy Work' Bias Claim Fails

    A former employee must pay £20,000 ($27,250) to academic publisher John Wiley & Sons, after failing to prove that bosses discriminated against him for having ADHD by making "unprofessional comments" about his grammatical mistakes. 

  • June 24, 2025

    Commercial Fraud Claims Shift To King's Bench, Report Finds

    The King's Bench Division of the High Court, responsible for a broad range of civil matters, has overtaken the specialist Commercial Court as the most popular place to bring commercial fraud cases in England and Wales, according to trend analysis published Tuesday. 

  • June 24, 2025

    Drilling Contractor Loses £9.9M Tax Case At UK Top Court

    HM Revenue & Customs was right to restrict tax deductions worth £9.9 million ($13.4 million) to a drilling contractor over North Sea oil and gas activities, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Host Says GB News Fired Him For Calling Braverman A Racist

    A former host on GB News has alleged that the channel racially discriminated against he said on-air that he believed Conservative MP Suella Braverman was "a racist and a thoroughly bigoted woman," representatives for the presenter revealed Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Broker's Costs Cut By £3M Over 'Vague' Trade Secrets Case

    A London court has slashed an investment broker's recoverable costs by half to £3.3 million ($4.5 million) despite previously upholding its claim that a hedge fund and consultant took its trade secrets, ruling that the firm increased costs "at every turn."

  • June 24, 2025

    Law Firm Partner Denies Ignoring Signs Of £7M Client Fraud

    A partner at Portner Law denied dishonestly allowing use of the firm's account to launder money, telling a London trial that he did not register any red flags with a client who was involved in a £7 million ($9.5 million) fraud.

  • June 24, 2025

    Fujitsu OK To Fire Staffer Accused Of Sexual Harassment

    A split employment tribunal has ruled that the multinational technology giant Fujitsu did not act unfairly by sacking an employee after multiple staff members at a client accused him of sexual harassment.

  • June 24, 2025

    Sandoz Latest To Seek Revocation Of AstraZeneca Patent

    Sandoz has asked a judge to revoke an AstraZeneca patent for a diabetes treatment, arguing that the drug failed to make any contributions to the field after a court ordered it to hold off the launch of its generic version. 

  • June 24, 2025

    Gateley Denies Housing Developer's Negligence Claim

    Gateley PLC has denied that a law firm it acquired gave negligent advice to a housing developer during the purchase of two sites in southeast England and said that alleged legal restrictions on the land have not rendered the plots unprofitable.

  • June 24, 2025

    Real-World Views Fair Game In TM Disputes, Top Court Says

    Britain's highest court ruled Tuesday that judges can think about how products will look in the real world when weighing trademark infringement claims, but it agreed with a French footwear company that it didn't tread on sports giant Umbro's diamond logo trademark.

  • June 23, 2025

    App Exec Off Sick With Anxiety From Ukraine War Wins £30K

    An employment tribunal has ordered a cash-for-data app company to pay £29,799 ($39,909) to a former product manager for failing to provide her full wages while she was off sick with anxiety and depression triggered by the war in Ukraine. 

  • June 23, 2025

    Porsche Importer, Dealer Are Sued At CAT Over 'Reseller Ban'

    A premium sports car part reseller has sued two U.K. Porsche subsidiaries, accusing them of abusing their dominant position by refusing to sell vehicle components to independent repairers, Britain's antitrust tribunal said Monday.

  • June 23, 2025

    IBM Trims UK Whistleblower's Claim Of Mistreatment

    An employment tribunal has ruled that a staffer at IBM U.K. cannot sue its parent company because her work as part of a global team did not make it her secondary employer.  

  • June 23, 2025

    Trafigura Beats Dubai Bank Unit's 'Cynical' $21M Fraud Case

    Trafigura on Monday defeated a claim by a subsidiary of Dubai's Rasmala Investment Bank alleging that the commodities trader tricked it into providing $21 million to pay off another company's debts, with a London court ruling the trader was not part of the deception.

  • June 23, 2025

    AstraZeneca's £32M HQ Defect Claim Misguided, Fire Co. Says

    A fire engineering consultancy has denied designing problematic fire-stopping protection at AstraZeneca UK Ltd.'s £1 billion ($1.35 billion) headquarters, and said that the pharmaceutical company's £31.7 million claim is a misconceived attempt to find liability after reaching a settlement with the main building contractor.

  • June 23, 2025

    Luxembourg Lender Sues Urbas For €189M Over Unpaid Debt

    A credit provider has alleged that a Spanish real estate development group owes it more than €189 million ($218 million) over an unpaid loan, and said the group's companies have deliberately misrepresented their payment and debt obligations.

  • June 23, 2025

    UK Basketball Clubs Sue Governing Body Over League Split

    Members of a professional basketball league in Britain are suing the sports governing body in a London court, alleging competition breaches, following what they believe to be the latest development to stop them from operating.  

  • June 23, 2025

    Staffer Can't Ax Amazon's Defense To Russia Tech Sale Claim

    A former Amazon employee on Monday lost his bid to strike out the tech giant's defense to his claims that he was fired for blowing the whistle on alleged sales of its facial recognition technology to Russia.

  • June 23, 2025

    Investors Say Hargreaves Ignored Woodford Fund's Problems

    Thousands of investors who lost out when Neil Woodford's fund collapsed in 2019 have sued asset manager Hargeaves Lansdown, saying the firm kept the fund on its prestigious Wealth List long after it should have known it was headed for administration.

  • June 23, 2025

    Dryrobe Claims Rival's Name Confuses Consumers At TM Trial

    Outdoor clothing brand Dryrobe said a rival's use of the name "D-Robe" might lead to consumers confusing it with its own successful brand, on the first day of a trademark dispute trial on Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • Decision Shows Cost Consequences Of Rejecting Mediation

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    An English county court's recent first-instance decision in Conway v. Conway & Meek, which imposed a reduction in costs due to what the judge saw as the defendants' unreasonable refusal to consider mediation, underscores a growing judicial willingness to promote mediation through cost sanctions, say Gerard Kelly and Gearoid Carey at Mason Hayes.

  • Duties And Questions To Consider In Expert Witness Selection

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    A spotlight has recently been shone on the role of expert witnesses due to the ongoing Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, which should remind all parties to take steps to understand what an expert witness is responsible for and what the selection process should look like, says Toby Hunt at HKA.

  • ECJ Cartel Damages Rulings Are Wins For Multinational Cos.

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    Two decisions from the European Court of Justice last month clarifying the limits of the single economic unit doctrine in cartel damages proceedings will help multinational companies anticipate and prepare for litigation within a narrower band of possible jurisdictions, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • Takeaways From EU's 'Pay Or Consent' Advertising Probe

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    Anne-Gabrielle Haie and Charles Whiddington at Steptoe examine key points from the European Commission's recent investigation into Big Tech's use of "pay or consent" advertising models, as well as the European Data Protection Board’s opinion on how such models can comply with EU competition and data protection laws.

  • UK Judgment Could Change Anti-Money Laundering Regimes

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    After the Court of Appeal of England and Wales' determination that criminal property remains criminal property in the hands of its purchaser even if purchased at market value, many businesses could face a new or heightened risk of prosecution for criminality in their supply chains and related money laundering offenses, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Blasket Win Is A Beacon Of Hope

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    A Belgian court's recent decision in favor of Blasket Renewable Investments, enforcing an arbitral award against the Kingdom of Spain, signals that despite the European Court of Justice's restrictive interpretations, there is judicial support within the European Union for enforcing investors' rights under international arbitration agreements, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • UK Approach To AI Patentability Appears Settled For Now

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    After a High Court ruling upended the status quo last year, the Court of Appeal’s recent decision that Emotional Perception’s artificial neural network is not patentable represents a return to the U.K.’s familiar, albeit often complex, approach to patentability of artificial intelligence technology and computer programs generally, say lawyers at Potter Clarkson.

  • How Digital Markets Act Will Enhance Consumer Protections

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    The Digital Markets Act represents a major shift in U.K. competition and consumer protection law by introducing a new regulatory regime for large digital firms, and by giving the Competition and Markets Authority broader merger investigation powers and a wider enforcement remit for online activities, say lawyers at Cooley.

  • What Steps Businesses Can Take After CrowdStrike Failure

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    Following last month’s global Microsoft platform outage caused by CrowdStrike’s failed security software update, businesses can expect complex disputes over liability resulting from multilayered agreements and should look to their various insurance policies for cover despite losses not stemming from a cyberattack, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.

  • Drafting Settlement Agreements That Avoid Future Disputes

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    Several recent U.K. rulings highlight the importance of drafting precise settlement agreements to prevent time-consuming and costly disputes over what claims the agreements were meant to cover, says Michelle Radom at Osborne Clarke.

  • Int'l Treaties May Aid Investors Amid UK Rail Renationalization

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    The recently introduced Passenger Railway Services Bill seeks to return British railways to public ownership without compensating affected investors, a move that could trigger international investment treaty protections for obligation breaches, says Philipp Kurek at Signature Litigation.

  • Insurance Rulings Show Court Hesitancy To Fix Policy Errors

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    Two recent Court of Appeal insurance decisions highlight that policyholders can only overcome policy drafting errors and claim coverage if there is a very obvious mistake, emphasizing courts' reluctance to rewrite contract terms that are capable of enforcement, says Aaron Le Marquer at Stewarts.

  • AI Reforms Prompt Fintech Compliance Considerations

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    With the EU Artificial Intelligence Act's Aug. 1 enforcement, and the U.K.'s new plans to introduce AI reforms, fintech companies should consider how to best focus limited resources as they balance innovation and compliance, says Nicola Kerr-Shaw at Skadden.

  • Should Arbitrators Do More To Encourage Settlements?

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    In light of discussions on settlement in arbitration, there is a consensus that arbitrators in English-seated proceedings should play a greater role, but determining the extent of that involvement is difficult, as arbitrators can inadvertently place themselves in a position of potential conflict, say lawyers at Dentons.

  • Irish Businesses Should Act Now To Prepare For EU AI Act

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    Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the Irish job market, and proactive engagement with the forthcoming European Union AI Act, a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for Irish businesses, will be essential for Irish businesses to responsibly harness AI’s advantages and to maintain legal compliance, say lawyers at Pinsent Masons.

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