Commercial Litigation UK

  • October 30, 2026

    Marshall Unplugs Retailer's Fake Headphones In TM Dispute

    Music equipment giant Marshall won a trademark infringement case Friday against a retailer selling counterfeit headphones on Amazon, with a London judge finding no evidence that Marshall consented to the sale of its "Major V" products across Europe.

  • October 30, 2026

    Russian Exec's Bankruptcy Set Aside In $25M Fight

    A London appeals court has set aside a bankruptcy order against a former Russian company executive, ruling that a lower judge wrongly rejected his challenge to the judgments underpinning the petition amid allegations of judicial bias.

  • October 30, 2026

    VTB Bank Fails To Undo UK Sanctions Limits On £205M Claim

    Russia's VTB Bank on Friday lost its challenge against changes to a U.K. sanctions license affecting its claim for more than £205 million ($275 million) in the administration of its British subsidiary, although an appeals court left open how much the lender may ultimately recover.

  • October 30, 2026

    Aviva Not Liable For Oxford Colleges' COVID Losses

    A judge ruled on Friday that Aviva Insurance does not have to pay out to a group of University of Oxford colleges that claimed to have lost £62 million ($83 million) in the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 30, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen British-Georgian business executive George Howard Richmond file a claim against high-profile individuals including former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and the Mittal family, a DP World subsidiary file the latest claim in ongoing litigation with the Republic of Djibouti, and the U.S. government bring a claim against the owners of cargo ship M.S. Solong.

  • October 30, 2026

    Sports Court Allows Russia Back Into Int'l Hockey Competition

    Russian ice hockey teams can now compete in tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled.

  • October 30, 2026

    Property Lawyers Battle Flood Of AI-Generated Claims

    From landlord-tenant disputes to planning objections and infrastructure judicial reviews, use of generative AI is causing a surge in lengthy, often meritless challenges that real-estate lawyers say are clogging up systems, straining budgets and confusing valid grievances with hallucinated law.

  • October 30, 2026

    Gateley Denies It Took On Pension Advice Liability

    Gateley PLC has hit back against a £820,000 ($1.1 million) negligence claim, denying that it's liable for any advice provided on a residential property investment company's pension program by its predecessor.

  • October 30, 2026

    Mishcon Denies Negligent Advice Cost Investor £1.4M

    Mishcon de Reya has admitted failing to properly advise a property investor over a requirement to give a valid right of refusal to tenants, but denied that its negligence caused him losses of £1.4 million ($1.8 million).

  • October 30, 2026

    Lawyers Need Not Declare AI Use In Court Docs, CJC Says

    Lawyers in England and Wales should not need to declare when they have used artificial intelligence to help prepare their court filings, the Civil Justice Council has recommended.

  • October 30, 2026

    Spanish Airline's Insolvency Protections Extended To UK

    Spanish airline Volotea has been granted protection from creditors' actions within England and Wales while it negotiates a restructuring plan to avoid insolvency.

  • October 29, 2026

    Frasers Unit Loses £5.6M VAT Dispute Over Marketing Photos

    A Frasers Group unit lost its bid to overturn assessments that it owed value-added tax of £5.6 million ($7.4 million) when a London court ruled that the company's marketing photos were linked to taxable retail sales and consumer credit.

  • October 29, 2026

    Wyo. Court Flags AI Use In Defamation Case Against Tax Atty

    A Wyoming federal judge threatened sanctions against an exiled U.K. financial services provider who is suing a tax attorney for defamation, noting the businessman's filings indicate the use of artificial intelligence and potential perjury regarding his residency status.

  • October 29, 2026

    Poundland To Hire Administrators After Failing To Secure Deal

    Discount retailer Poundland indicated Thursday that it plans to appoint administrators after it said it was unable to find an acceptable buyer following years of financial troubles.

  • October 29, 2026

    Brassware Biz Sues Rival For Mimicking Heritage Branding

    Brassware maker Armac Martin has accused a rival of selling knockoffs and falsely claiming a similar British manufacturing heritage to cash in on the reputation of Armac's 97-year-old family business, arguing that shoppers would struggle to tell their branding apart.

  • October 29, 2026

    Chinese Co. Calls UK Excavator Dumping Decision Irrational

    The British arm of a Chinese construction equipment giant told a London tribunal Thursday that the U.K.'s trade regulator had been irrational to include battery-electric excavators in an antidumping probe into Chinese imports of the heavy construction equipment.

  • October 29, 2026

    Pogust Funder Says Firm Can't Dodge Pay Over Client Turmoil

    Pogust Goodhead cannot hide behind internal client turmoil to avoid paying back an £84 million ($112 million) loan, one of the firm's biggest funders has told a London court. 

  • October 29, 2026

    Insurers Gain Route To 'Neutralize' Hostile Foreign Judgments

    Insurers in London have gained greater protection against claimants that ignore U.K. arbitration clauses and sue them in foreign courts, after a landmark ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

  • October 29, 2026

    Berkeley Hit With £95M BLO Fire Defect Claim By Lendlease

    Property company Lendlease has sued developer Berkeley Group, arguing it should be held liable for fire defect repairs costing £95 million ($127 million) to 20 buildings developed by Berkeley's subsidiary, now owned by Lendlease.

  • October 29, 2026

    Ex-Oil Co. Execs Win Damages Over 10-Year Asset Freeze

    Two former executives at oil trader Arcadia secured "very substantial" compensation Thursday for a decade-long asset freeze imposed over an unfounded fraud claim, although the award will likely fall short of the more than $1.1 billion they sought.

  • October 29, 2026

    Investment Biz Directors Deny £55M Fintech Invoice Fraud

    Two directors of an investment firm have denied running a £55 million ($75 million) invoice fraud, telling a London court that the claim against them is based on missing documents and flawed calculations. 

  • October 29, 2026

    Health Insurer Sues For £4M Over Cap On Virtual GP

    A health insurance company has sued a digital healthcare subcontractor for more than £4 million ($5.3 million) alleging it breached a contract by capping access to virtual GP appointments and forcing the insurer to find alternative providers. 

  • October 28, 2026

    Questions Remain In $1.5B Iraq, Turkey Feud, Court Hears

    Turkey is pressing a D.C. federal court to reject a magistrate judge's recommendation to enforce an arbitral award ordering it to pay some $1.47 billion in damages to Iraq, saying the judge wrongly analyzed the issue of interest and that the ultimate prevailing party still isn't clear.

  • October 28, 2026

    UK Director Owes Tax On Shuffled Debt, Tribunal Affirms

    The moving of a roughly £513,000 ($684,000) loan a U.K. director owed his company to its parent holding company still counts as a release of the loan, a London court affirmed Wednesday, sticking the director with an additional £195,000 in income tax.

  • October 28, 2026

    Accused Celeb's Suicide Risk No Bar To Naming, Media Argue

    Naming a well-known public figure accused of using his power to sexually abuse young women would be "a valuable contribution of public importance," lawyers for The Guardian and Independent Television News argued in a London court on Wednesday. 

Expert Analysis

  • Landmark UK Ruling Broadens Tipping Off Liability For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The recent Court of Appeal ruling in R v. Osmond, the first appellate decision on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 tipping off offense, confirms that even where a wider investigation is publicly known, disclosure of a nonpublic strand of the inquiry may engage the offense, say lawyers at Norton Rose.

  • UK Corp. Crime Landscape Raises Global Governance Stakes

    Author Photo

    The Crime and Policing Act 2026 recently entered into force, highlighting a growing emphasis on governance and senior management oversight, the influence of compliance on commercial decision-making, and an overlap between legal and regulatory risk across jurisdictions, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Shakespeare's David Vaughan

    Author Photo

    David Vaughan, international disputes lead at Shakespeare Martineau, discusses how a European upbringing and working across different firms have shaped his leadership abilities, the challenges of representing a sovereign in a foreign court, and how proper global networks are needed to deliver results in cross-border disputes.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Award Enforcement Is Just Step 1

    Author Photo

    In Qatar National Bank v. South Sudan and Bank of South Sudan, a D.C. federal court recently confirmed a $1 billion arbitral award, but the judgment itself remains only the entrance to the asset-recovery exercise, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • UK Top Court Eases Creditors' Path To Enforcing Foreign Debt

    Author Photo

    The recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling in Drelle v. Servis-Terminal that an unrecognized and unregistrable foreign judgment may found a bankruptcy petition presents a real risk for debtors, who could find themselves facing insolvency proceedings with very little warning, say lawyers at Dechert.

  • Int'l Arbitration Can Serve As Critical Tool In Hormuz Crisis

    Author Photo

    As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to severely disrupt global commercial navigation, companies should understand the key claims likely to arise in emergency and expedited arbitration procedures — including force majeure, breach of contract and pricing disputes — and the contractual safeguards and protective measures to consider, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Despite Acquittal, Gallery Case Warns Of UK Sanctions Risk

    Author Photo

    Although art gallery Hauser & Wirth was able to defeat criminal charges of breaching the U.K. Russia sanctions regime, the ruling illustrates that prosecution for those operating in high-value international markets is a real-world risk, say lawyers at Fieldfisher.

  • Saxon Woods Ruling Clarifies Directors' Duty Of Good Faith

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent landmark judgment in Saxon Woods sends a clear message to businesses that a director's conduct must withstand objective scrutiny, affirming that even if an individual believes they are acting in the company's best interests, they cannot deceive fellow board members, says Richard Clayman at Kingsley Napley.

  • Entain Ruling Offers Parties Key E-File Guidance

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Commercial Court’s recent decision in Various Claimants v. Entain PLC provides guidance for the first time for those navigating a court document filing pilot scheme, offering a practical template for parties to litigation involving sensitive issues by balancing transparency obligations with legitimate confidentiality concerns, say lawyers at HSFK.

  • BlueCrest Decision Tightens Test For LLP Tax Treatment

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent judgment in HMRC v. BlueCrest Capital Management clarifies the tax framework for assessing whether limited liability partnership members are genuinely operating as partners or should be treated as employees, which is likely to be significant far beyond the hedge fund sector, say lawyers at Stewarts Law.

  • Patent Dispute Takeaways From Ruling In Kodak Appeal

    Author Photo

    The Unified Patent Court’s recent appeal decision in Kodak v. Fujifilm, confirming that the UPC may exercise jurisdiction over non-UPC patent designations, creates opportunities for patentees to pursue claims involving both UPC and non-UPC designations before a single forum, say lawyers at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Employers Can Prep For EU Pay Transparency Directive

    Author Photo

    Although most EU member states failed to implement the Pay Transparency Directive by the June deadline, employers should take steps to address the overarching requirements, as compliance obligations could come into force quickly and with little advance notice, say lawyers at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Covington's Louise Freeman

    Author Photo

    Louise Freeman, Covington's co-chair of commercial litigation, discusses how she combines a longer-term outlook with a fast-paced approach, the challenges of representing clients from six different jurisdictions, and why junior lawyers need to be ready to adapt and pivot to where the work is.

  • A Practical Guide To Key Changes In ICC Int'l Arbitration Rules

    Author Photo

    The International Chamber of Commerce’s recently revised arbitration rules, while not a seismic reset, create a coherent set of practical reforms focused on streamlining the process to parties’ needs, sending the message that preparation and strategic clarity will be rewarded, say lawyers at White & Case.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Post-Award Noncompliance

    Author Photo

    Grainful Holdings v. Mineev, a recent Commercial Court decision that resulted in a sentence for contempt following post-award enforcement proceedings, illustrates the point at which proceedings, having moved beyond recognition of an arbitral obligation, engage the court's own coercive jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

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.