Linklaters in High Court defending negligence claim
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Former Linklaters partner Andrew Legg gave "careless and negligent advice" in a dispute between two telecoms companies, the High Court was told this week.
The firm is appearing in the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) to defend a $55m (£39m) claim brought against it by Baltic telecoms company Levicom.
The company is seeking damages for advice Linklaters gave in relation to a dispute with telecoms company Tele2 AB. Levicom claims Linklaters advised it that it would have a 70 per cent chance of success if the dispute went to arbitration.
Levicom alleges had it not followed Linklaters' advice it would have settled on more favourable terms. As it was, the company turned down three settlement offers from Tele2 AB.
Levicom is being represented in court by 4 New Square's Justin Fenwick, who was instructed by Manches litigation partner Andrew Shaw. According to Fenwick, Linklaters "should have admitted that the case was much more difficult and the damages far less secure than it had indicated".
Today Linklaters' defence counsel Stephen Moriarty QC of Fountain Court chambers questioned Markus Pederiks, a senior executive at Levicom, about the extent of his contact with Linklaters and the advice given to the company over the original deal that was disputed.
Clyde & Co's litigation partner Conrad Walker instructed Moriarty.
The case is expected to last for 20 days.
For more on this story, see the Eyebrow debate litigation blog post.
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