Clyde & Co was the most active firm in English courts in the second quarter of 2017, according to The Lawyer’s Q2 Litigation Tracker report released today.
The firm worked on 15 cases totalling 33 days that reached judgment last quarter, while DAC Beachcroft, in second place, worked on 12.
RPC was third (11 cases totalling 18 case days), Dentons was fourth (10 cases totalling 17 days) and Stephenson Harwood was fifth (10 cases totalling 17 days).
The number one ranking is a return to form for Clyde & Co, which topped The Lawyer’s Court rankings in 2015 and 2016 before slipping to fourth place in Q1 2017.
These rankings are based on recorded judgments tracked in The Lawyer Litigation Tracker, a live database of more than 6,000 recorded judgments in English and Singaporean courts.
In one of its most notable cases last quarter the firm represented Globalia Business Travel in a shipping dispute heard in the Supreme Court against Fultron Shipping Inc. It also represented Dignity Funerals in a planning dispute against Breckland District Council.
The firm expects to continue to be busy for the rest of the year, party due to a spike in cases related to large-scale procurement of technology and IT solutions.
“Large corporates are increasingly heavily reliant on complex technology products and platforms and the development, configuration and integration projects are often, by their nature, difficult to define without detailed post contractual scoping.” explains Chris Burdett, a partner at Clyde & Co.
“This inevitably leads to disputes. Invariably the purchaser complains that the solution isn’t quite what they wanted, is too fragile, has over-run and has gone well over budget. On the other side the provider will claim that the customer has constantly changed the specifications and caused delays. Executives often invest a great deal of time and personal capital in these projects and the high level of emotional involvement can mean that disputes don’t settle easily.”
Representing clients on nine cases totalling 55 days, DLA Piper was the sixth most active firm measured by the number of cases but topped the rankings in terms of case days.
This was primarily due to its representation of specialist car hire and claims management company Accident Exchange Limited in a 41-day case against a series of individuals.
These findings are based on The Lawyer’s Q2 Litigation Tracker report, which is now available for purchase. The report is based on over 500 recorded judgments in the Litigation Tracker database.
To enquire about purchasing this report or the Litigation Tracker, please contact Gilberto Esgaio (Gilberto.esgaio@centaurmedia.com , +44 (0) 20 7970 4191) or Letitia Austin (Letitia.austin@centaurmedia.com, +44 (0) 20 7970 4662)
