Commercial Litigation UK

  • March 25, 2024

    SFO To Pay ENRC £9M As It Plans To Appeal Costs Findings

    The Serious Fraud Office said Monday that it will fight findings that it persuaded a former Dechert partner to divulge confidential information about ENRC, as the agency agreed to initially pay the mining company £9 million ($11.4 million) in damages.

  • March 25, 2024

    Staveley On The Hook For £3.4M After Failed Court Battle

    Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley failed Monday to have a repayment demand from a Greek shipping magnate set aside as a High Court judge ruled that she had 21 days to hand over £3.5 million ($4.4 million).

  • March 25, 2024

    Pro Golfer Wins £20K After Club Axed Him Over 'Savile Joke'

    A tribunal has ordered a country club to pay a professional golfer £19,800 ($25,000) after bosses unfairly fired him amid allegations that he compared a co-worker to Jimmy Savile, an infamous sexual predator, and made other sexual comments to colleagues.

  • March 22, 2024

    Investment Firm Fights To Save £43M Delayed Hotel Claim

    An investment firm pleaded with a London court on Friday not to throw out its £43 million ($54 million) claim against a hotelier who it says scuppered a hotel project in Scotland by demanding last-minute changes.

  • March 22, 2024

    Actor Fox Faces Six-Figure Damages Demand In Libel Case

    Two men who won a landmark libel victory against Laurence Fox after the commentator called them pedophiles argued for six-figure sums in damages in the High Court on Friday, highlighting the distress and reputational damage caused by one of "the most serious allegations that can be made."

  • March 22, 2024

    JPMorgan Gets Early Trial On US Regs In Viva Wallet Dispute

    J.P. Morgan on Friday was granted an expedited London trial on some of the issues in its warring claims with the founder of a Greek payment company co-owned by the investment bank over the fintech business' value.

  • March 22, 2024

    Financial Analyst Org. Prevails In Clash Over 'CEFA' TM

    The European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies won its latest bid to register a trademark for "CEFA Certified European Financial Analyst" after a European court ruled that earlier examiners didn't consider key evidence.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ex-Mishcon De Reya Atty Talks Switching To Litigation Finance

    After 20 years in private practice, and a summer holiday in the wake of a mammoth $11 billion arbitration case, former Mishcon de Reya LLP partner Zachary Segal made the switch to a litigation finance firm where the commercial arbitration lawyer is eyeing opportunities in emerging markets.

  • March 22, 2024

    Top Dutch Court Blocks Russia's Last Bid For Vodka TMs

    Former Yukos Oil Co. shareholders said Friday that the Netherlands' top court has thrown out Russia's final bid to stop their seizure of over a dozen renowned Russian vodka trademarks in an effort to enforce $50 billion in arbitral awards.

  • March 22, 2024

    Glencore Cannot Deny Knowing It Was Corrupt, Investors Say

    Glencore cannot claim it "reasonably believed" it was telling the truth when it failed to disclose it orchestrated a global bribery scheme during an initial public offering that raised $10 billion, institutional investors suing the mining and trading group have said.

  • March 22, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen the BBC and Wall to Wall Media hit with a passing off lawsuit by musician BOSSIIE, Poundland parent company Pepco Group file a commercial fraud claim against several mobile network giants, family law specialists Alexiou Fisher Philipps LLP start proceedings against former oil trader Michael Prest, and a transgender lawyer file a libel claim against a blogger. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 22, 2024

    Osborne Clarke's Arty Rajendra On The Future Of FRAND

    Arty Rajendra of Osborne Clarke LLP was instrumental in securing a win in one of the most influential patent cases in recent memory — the U.K. Supreme Court ruling that English courts can set global licensing rates for patents deemed essential to European telecoms standards.

  • March 22, 2024

    Nokia Unit Doubles Down On Amazon IP Infringement Claim

    A Nokia subsidiary has reaffirmed its claim that Amazon infringed its patents with a "household sharing" feature on its Prime Video service, telling a London court that the company is not entitled to a license over its patent portfolio.

  • March 22, 2024

    Oil Shipper Fails To Have UK Sanctions Temporarily Lifted

    A Dubai-based oil shipping company failed in its attempt to have U.K. sanctions temporarily lifted after a London judge ruled Friday that the British foreign secretary has to review the decision to designate the company before the courts have jurisdiction to rule on its claim.

  • March 22, 2024

    Peer, Biz Beat Harassment Appeal After Evidence Destroyed

    A major U.K. wholesaler and its Conservative Party peer owner have beaten an appeal from an employee who was sexually harassed by the company's head of finance after a tribunal found the employee had deliberately destroyed evidence.

  • March 22, 2024

    The Two Phone Calls That Left SFO Facing A Huge ENRC Bill

    As the SFO and Dechert head to court on Monday to learn exactly how much they owe ENRC for breaching its confidentiality, Law360 looks at how two pivotal phone calls exposed the white-collar agency to potentially tens of millions of pounds in damages.

  • March 22, 2024

    Sales Manager Unfairly Fired For Brief Dip In Performance

    A pharmaceutical company jumped the gun by unfairly axing a sales manager after his performance briefly dipped in the wake of the pandemic, a tribunal has ruled.

  • March 22, 2024

    4 Years On, COVID Lockdown Cover Claims Near Endgame

    It has been four years since the U.K. first entered lockdown to combat COVID-19, leaving offices eerily empty and shops shuttered. And lawyers now believe that the end is near for business interruption claims against insurers.

  • March 22, 2024

    Lockdown — As Told Through Litigation

    Four years on from the U.K.'s first COVID-19 lockdown, employment tribunal claims provide a glimpse of how quickly and dramatically the pandemic changed occupational norms.

  • March 21, 2024

    Autonomy Jury Hears Of 'Handshake Deal' To Pad Revenue

    A onetime Autonomy Corp. customer took the stand Thursday in the California federal criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch, describing a "handshake" deal to pay the company $7.5 million with the understanding the funds would be returned — part of an alleged plot to fraudulently inflate Autonomy's revenues.

  • March 21, 2024

    GoDaddy Can't Block Transfer Of $4 Million Set Aside For VAT

    A consortium that sold shares of an internet company to GoDaddy.com can receive a $4 million transfer of escrow funds that GoDaddy claimed were instead needed to pay value-added tax on the share sale, a Dutch court ruled.

  • March 21, 2024

    Avoid Major Extension Of Merger Reach, EU High Court Urged

    An important tool for extending European Union antitrust officials' merger scrutiny appears to be in jeopardy after a European Court of Justice advocate general effectively recommended Thursday that the bloc's high court restrict the ability to investigate transactions that don't normally trigger EU thresholds.

  • March 21, 2024

    Mike Ashley Sues Soccer Club Over Kit Amid Staveley Fight

    Newcastle United soccer club has been sued by its former owner, Mike Ashley, on allegations it restricted competition by refusing to provide his retail company with its newest replica soccer kits, Britain's antitrust tribunal said Thursday.

  • March 21, 2024

    NHS Partially Overturns Clinic Manager's Age Harassment Win

    An NHS trust has fended off one of several age harassment claims brought by a septuagenarian after an appellate tribunal ruled that a series of incidents leading to her dismissal weren't linked because the discrimination was not ongoing.

  • March 21, 2024

    Banksy Co. Calls Instagram Post True In £1.3M Libel Case

    The company that manages anonymous street artist Banksy has defended a £1.35 million ($1.7 million) claim that he posted a defamatory Instagram post about a licensing company using his artwork on clothing without his permission, saying it was substantially true.

Expert Analysis

  • Ruling In FCA Case Offers Tips On Flexible Work Requests

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    In Wilson v. Financial Conduct Authority, the Employment Tribunal recently found that the regulator's rejection of a remote work request was justified, highlighting for employers factors that affect flexible work request outcomes, while emphasizing that individual inquiries should be considered on the specific facts, say Frances Rollin, Ella Tunnell and Kerry Garcia at Stevens & Bolton.

  • Pension Scheme Ruling Elucidates Conversion Issues

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    In Newell Trustees v. Newell Rubbermaid UK Services, the High Court recently upheld a pension plan's conversion of final salary benefits to money purchase benefits, a welcome conclusion that considered several notable issues, such as how to construe pension deeds and when contracts made outside scheme rules can determine benefits, say Ian Gordon and Jamie Barnett at Gowling.

  • New Fraud Prevention Offense May Not Make Much Difference

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    By targeting only large organizations, the Economic Crime Act's new failure to prevent fraud offense is striking in that, despite its breadth, it will affect so few companies, and is therefore unlikely to help ordinary victims, says Andrew Smith at Corker Binning.

  • Aldi Design Infringement Case Highlights Assessment Issues

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    The forthcoming English Court of Appeal decision in Marks and Spencer v. Aldi, regarding the alleged infringement of design rights, could provide practitioners with new guidance, particularly in relation to the relevant date for assessment of infringement and the weight that should be attributed to certain design elements in making this assessment, say Rory Graham and Georgia Davis at RPC.

  • Generative AI Raises IP, Data Protection And Contracts Issues

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    As the EU's recent agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act has fueled businesses' interest in adopting generative AI tools, it is crucial to understand how these tools utilize material to generate output and what questions to ask in relation to intellectual property, data privacy and contracts, say lawyers at Deloitte Legal.

  • Decoding UK Case Law On Anti-Suit Injunctions

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    The English High Court's forthcoming decision on an anti-suit injunction filed in Augusta Energy v. Top Oil last month will provide useful guidance on application grounds for practitioners, but, pending that ruling, other recent decisions offer key considerations when making or resisting claims when there is an exclusive jurisdiction clause in the contract, says Abigail Healey at Quillon Law.

  • Litigation Funding Implications Amid Post-PACCAR Disputes

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    An English tribunal's recent decision in Neill v. Sony, allowing an appeal on the enforceability of a litigation funding agreement, highlights how the legislative developments on funding limits following the U.K. Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Paccar v. Competition Appeal Tribunal may affect practitioners, say Andrew Leitch and Anoma Rekhi at BCLP.

  • EU Product Liability Reforms Represent A Major Shakeup

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    The recent EU Parliament and Council provisional agreement on a new product liability regime in Europe revises the existing strict liability rules for the first time in 40 years by easing the burden of proof to demonstrate that a product is defective, a hurdle that many had previously failed to overcome, say Anushi Amin and Edward Turtle at Cooley.

  • Zimbabwe Ruling Bolsters UK's Draw As Arbitration Enforcer

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    An English court's recent decision in Border Timbers v. Zimbabwe, finding that state immunity was irrelevant to registering an arbitration award, emphasizes the U.K.'s reputation as a creditor-friendly destination for award enforcement, say Jon Felce and Tulsi Bhatia at Cooke Young.

  • Building Safety Ruling Offers Clarity On Remediation Orders

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    The First-tier Tribunal's recent decision in Triathlon Homes v. Stratford Village Development, holding that it was just and equitable to award a remediation contribution order, will undoubtedly encourage parties to consider this recovery route for building defects more seriously, say lawyers at Simmons and Simmons.

  • How AI Inventorship Is Evolving In The UK, EU And US

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    While the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General is the latest in a series of decisions by U.K., U.S. and EU authorities that artificial intelligence systems cannot be named as inventors in patents, the guidance from these jurisdictions suggests that patents may be granted to human inventors that use AI as a sophisticated tool, say lawyers at Mayer Brown.

  • EU Report Is A Valuable Guide For Data Controllers

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    The European Data Protection Board recently published a study of cases handled by national supervisory authorities where uniform application of the General Data Protection Regulation was prioritized, providing data controllers with arguments for an adequate response to manage liability in case of a breach and useful insights into how security requirements are assessed, say Thibaut D'hulst and Malik Aouadi at Van Bael.

  • UK Court Ruling Reinforces CMA's Info-Gathering Powers

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    An English appeals court's recent decision in the BMW and Volkswagen antitrust cases affirmed that the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority can request information from entities outside the U.K., reinstating an important implement in the CMA's investigative toolkit, say lawyers at White & Case.

  • UK Ruling Revitalizes Discussions On Harmonizing AI And IP

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General last month has reinvigorated ongoing discussions about how the developments in artificial intelligence fit within the existing intellectual property legislative landscape, illustrating that effective regulation will be critical as the value and influence of this sector grows, say Nick White and Olivia Gray at Charles Russell.

  • Employers Can 'Waive' Goodbye To Unknown Future Claims

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    The Scottish Court of Session's recent decision in Bathgate v. Technip Singapore, holding that unknown future claims in a qualifying settlement agreement can be waived, offers employers the possibility of achieving a clean break when terminating employees and provides practitioners with much-needed guidance on how future cases might be dealt with in court, says Natasha Nichols at Farrer & Co.

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