The Supreme Court has upheld an anti-suit injunction against a Gazprom subsidiary, potentially halting €440m proceedings in Russia. The Gazprom part-owned special purpose entity, RusChemAlliance (RCA), had brought a damages claim against the bank UniCredit in Russia concerning an aborted contract following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. UniCredit instructed Latham & Watkins in its pursuit of […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. As the Lords and the Commons finally settled on the new Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in the early hours of Tuesday morning, attention began to shift to how the Government planned, both practically and legally, to […]
Womble Bond Dickinson is facing a multimillion-pound negligence claim filed by former clients over a failed real estate redevelopment project in Kensington. The claimants, businessman Kristian Siem, property developer Steven Wake and his company Chapters, were advised by WBD senior counsel (then partner) Robert Drewett in their redevelopment project in 2017. They allege that the […]
Litigation funders will be keeping a close eye on an upcoming review into third-party funding regulation, proposed caps on returns, as well as litigation costs. The Civil Justice Council is looking to produce a full report by the summer of 2025. The review follows an increased focus on litigation funders and their role in disputes, […]
Ryanair launches fresh battle for the skies Budget air travel behemoth Ryanair launched a part 7 claim against the UK’s air traffic control operator, NATS (National Air Traffic Services) in the Commercial Court on Friday (19 April). The part 7 claim, which seeks monetary redress for claimed damages, is set to tackle “general commercial contracts […]
The administrators of collapsed firm Axiom Ince have filed a creditors’ bankruptcy petition against its former boss. Filed at the end of last week, the petition will seek to force Pragnesh Modhwadia’s bankruptcy, The Lawyer understands, applying to the court for his assets to be taken and sold to pay debts to the administrators. Pinsent Masons […]
Moderna takes on Pfizer in Covid-19 patent clash Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna are due to go head to head in the Patents Court tomorrow (23 April) for a 16-day trial concerning the Covid-19 vaccines they developed during the pandemic. Freshfields is representing the claimant Moderna, while Pfizer is being represented by Taylor Wessing for […]
Sports law is increasingly competitive in the UK. As big money flows into many sports, more and more firms are seeking to take the field. But at the Bar, one chambers continues to lead the pack. So for this week’s Spotlight, we explore the history, structure and success of Blackstone Chambers’ sports law group. The […]
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. This week, the UK Government wants more people to say they’re sorry, while we consider Monckton Chambers’ strange collection of celebrity tenants. But first, Monday saw the opening day of another Russian oligarch mega-battle in London’s Commercial Court. […]
Dr Martens gives Temu the boot in new IP claim AirWair, the company behind Dr Martens, is taking on budget online marketplace Temu, registered as “Whaleco”, in a new part 7 “passing off and trade marks” claim filed in the High Court’s Intellectual Property List on 9 April. AirWair is represented by Lewis Silkin in […]
Mammoth SKAT case finally hits Commercial Court for longest-ever hearing The Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT) begins its trial in the Commercial Court today (15 April), marking what is due to be the longest scheduled hearing in the Court’s history. One of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2024, the 12-month trial will tackle […]
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has refused to grant Sports Direct an injunction that would force Newcastle United Football Club to supply it with replica kit, following a hearing on Tuesday. Newcastle United, defended by Northridge partner James Eighteen, granted exclusive retail rights for its kit to competitor JD Sports from next season. However, Sports […]
Apple has failed to have a nearly £800m class action brought against it thrown out, following a hearing before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in January. The opt-out claim is brought by class representative Dr Sean Ennis on behalf of around 1,500 app developers in the UK. He has instructed Geradin Partners’ partners David Gallagher […]
The Commercial Court has dismissed the lion’s share of a negligence claim brought against Clyde & Co, two XXIV Old Building barristers and offshore firm Harney Westwood & Riegels in a judgment handed down today. The claim, brought by Emirati businessman Riad Al Sadik in 2021, alleged that the three legal outfits failed to properly […]
This week on Spotlight, we take a look at the global investigations, white collar and fraud (IWCF) practice group at Hogan Lovells. Hogan Lovells’ investigations, white collar and fraud practice: Globally, the practice group holds over 120 lawyers and operates in the UK, the US, Germany, Spain, France, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. Many lawyers […]
The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has had its appeal for tax relief dismissed following a hearing against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in March. The appeal concerned the complex structure that BlackRock, represented by Simmons & Simmons’ partner Heather Rowlands, had used to buy Barclays Global Investors (GBI) for $13.5bn in 2009. In the […]
Kirkland & Ellis and Reed Smith have taken leading roles in the settlement of the UK’s first “implementer-led” Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) action. The settlement was reached on 4 April and decided via a Tomlin Order, rendering the details of the parties’ settlement confidential. A first instance trial was set to heard tomorrow (12 […]
Analysis of recent fines suggests that environmental prosecutions are resulting in more substantial fines, especially for ‘very large organisations’.
Merck Sharp & Dohme brought an appeal to the Supreme Court (Court) following its unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s finding that its supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for its cholesterol-reducing combination product, Inegy, was invalid under Articles 3(a) and 3(c) of Regulation No 469/2009 (SPC Regulation).
David Lowe and Emma Carr discuss the impact of sanctions on contracts. They explain when sanctions could be a force majeure and what happens if there are no relevant sanctions but you still want to get out of the contract.
ClientEarth recently took the first step in a legal action against the board of directors of Shell, notifying them of a potential claim for failing to adequately prepare the company for a transition to net zero and manage climate risk. According to ClientEarth, this poses serious questions for the long-term value of the company.
Recent Massachusetts high court decision holds late wage payments are always subject to treble damages, upending common practice for Massachusetts employers
I often hear commercial dispute resolution practitioners, unlike their personal injury and clinical negligence colleagues, say “Our clients are not interested in ATE Insurance or disbursement funding because they can afford to pay disbursements and bear the opponents costs if the case is unsuccessful”. I have a few things to say about this view.
Currently taking place in the Fairfax County Courthouse, Virginia, US, and with a celebrity witness line-up and livestream, Johnny Depp v Amber Heard is sure to attract the most column inches of any libel case this year.
A company operated by a man claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous author of the white paper ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’, has had service of its claim form set aside in proceedings concerning bitcoin said to be worth approximately £3 billion.
In Expropriation Law: 2021 A Year in Review, Gowling WLG’s national Expropriation Law Group has summarized several complex and compelling expropriation cases from across Canada in 2021. In the article, the team highlights a number of important issues and key takeaways for those parties involved in the expropriation process.
In February 2022, in 1196278 Ontario Inc. dba SASSAFRAZ v 815470 Ontario Ltd. dba SASSAFRAS COASTAL KITCHEN, 2022 FC 116 the Federal Court granted the well-known Toronto restaurant Sassafraz judgment against the operator of a restaurant operating as “Sassafras” in the Niagara region of Ontario.
The recent judgment of Mr Justice Barrett in Goode Concrete v CRH Plc, Roadstone Wood Limited and Kilsaran Concrete [2022] IEHC 189 provides useful guidance on applications to strike- out interrogatories where they are prolix, oppressive, unnecessary or scandalous.
ClientEarth are taking ground breaking steps by pursing shareholder litigation against Shell.
Welcome to The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market, now brought to you on Wednesdays. Two days in to the Easter Term and there’s a definite green feel around London. Much of that has blown over from Strasbourg, which got the legal world all in a flutter yesterday. A big moment?: The […]
EasyGroup takes on “brand thieves” again in new suit EasyGroup, the owning group of budget airline EasyJet, has filed a part 7 “passing off and trade marks claim” in the Intellectual Property List, continuing its long-running campaign against what it calls “brand thieves”. Stephenson Harwood has been called in to represent EasyGroup in this latest […]
Sports Direct takes on Newcastle United in kit rights clash The Magpies are heading to the Competition Appeal Tribunal tomorrow (9 April) for one day in a claim brought by Sports Direct, as the high street sports equipment retailer challenges Newcastle United over its third-party kit sales policy. Sports Direct, represented by Travers Smith, alleges […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan client Phones 4u (P4u) has been granted permission to appeal its £1bn competition suit against some of the biggest mobile network providers, following a defeat in the High Court last year. The firm has succeeded in having eight grounds approved to take to appeal, including the allegation that an exchange […]
Macfarlanes is set to defend the Performing Right Society (PRS) in a class action brought by Blur’s drummer in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The opt-out claim is brought by Dave Rowntree, who is also a prospective Labour MP, on behalf of 160,000 UK songwriter members of the PRS. Rowntree alleges that PRS, which collects […]
Clifford Chance has lost the mandate to represent Epic Games in the US video game developer’s ongoing competition claim against RPC-repped Google. The Lawyer understands that Epic Games, best known for the online video game Fortnite, switched legal representation to Norton Rose Fulbright around six months ago. According to a 2021 confidentiality ring order on the Competition […]
