Osborne Clarke has made up eight partners in an improved promotion round which includes one lawyer on maternity leave and two who are working part-time.
The eight promotions are up three on last year, and include five female promotions. The partners are across the energy and utilities, financial services, real estate and infrastructure and digital business sectors. Continue reading “Maternity leave and part-time lawyers promoted in eight-strong Osborne Clarke partnership round”
The fourth, and largest, Disputes Yearbook returns to find the contentious legal scene much as we left it in 2018. For lawyers offering high-end and upper-midmarket dispute services that remains a good thing, even if there have been busier years post-Lehman. The licence to print money from banking crisis-related work and Russia-inflected conflicts has been revoked for several years now. But the disputes market in the City and across Europe has evolved into far too large and bountiful an ecosystem to be much impacted by such trifles. Arbitration continues to boom, commercial litigation remains solid and robust levels of regulation and enforcement at a global level are producing rich levels of follow-on work.
It is fair to say that the volume and nature of commercial disputes generally reflect shifts in the prevailing winds of social, economic and political change. In the ten years since we established commercial litigation at Stewarts, the various forms of upheaval gave rise to a host of high-value, complex litigation and arbitration. This trend of upheaval and dramatic transformation looks set to continue over the next few years.
The financial crisis of a decade ago caught many unaware in terms of its fallout. It was not just another humdrum recession leading to the classic spate of insolvencies and repossessions of the kind we saw in the early 1990s. This was different. Although it gave rise to many claims against professional advisers and other deep-pocketed defendants, many of those who were seen as the cause of the disaster escaped unscathed. They were bailed out or not prosecuted or went unchallenged. Continue reading “Sponsored foreword: Period of upheaval set to continue”
Sidley Austin’s place in the top ten global law firms is well established. Integral to this is a standout international disputes capability, which contributes approximately a third of the firm’s total revenue ($2.2bn in 2018) and engages over 500 lawyers dealing with domestic and international litigation, international arbitration and cross-border investigations.
Sidley’s London office is home to over 140 lawyers, most of whom are English-law qualified. In non-contentious matters, Sidley’s London office acts in the most complex and cutting-edge transactions in private equity, M&A, restructuring, structured finance, capital markets, investment funds and insurance, as well as boasting a market-leading financial services regulatory advisory practice. Additionally, and befitting the firm’s global profile, Sidley’s London dispute resolution group acts for clients in some of the largest business-critical disputes and investigations in the London market. By virtue of the depth and breadth of its experience, and bolstered by recent strategic recruitment, the group is well placed to provide a stellar service to its clients across all disputes practice areas. Continue reading “Sponsored firm profile: Sidley Austin”
Alex Novarese, Legal Business: Tracey, shall we talk about the background of the All Rise project?
Tracey Dovaston, Barclays: We realised we had an opportunity as part of Barclays’ panel process to make some of our expectations on diversity measurable. We set out the expectations of our panel firms, which include that diverse teams work on Barclays matters. We encourage panel firms to recommend diverse teams at the tender stage and that those teams then work on the matter. We want to be introduced to people other than those we have been working with for many years. Continue reading “Gender diversity debate: Quantum of equality”
Clive Zietman considers the big trends likely to shape the commercial disputes scene
If I possessed a crystal ball, I would be writing this on a sun-drenched beach somewhere having won the lottery several times in a row. Sadly, I still have to work for a living and that lottery win remains elusive. Despite the huge difficulties in predicting the future, some trends have emerged in litigation practice over the last few years that look set to continue. This article picks up on a few of those trends and contains input from the specialist lawyers in some of my firm’s practice groups about what to look out for in the coming years. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: My Litigation Crystal Ball”
Huw Jenkin assesses the options for curbing excessive or aggressive litigation
In the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s November 2018 report ‘Balancing duties in litigation’, the SRA criticises ‘excessive or aggressive litigation’ involving ‘disproportionate valuations of the claim, wide-ranging allegations of impropriety and inappropriate volumes and tone of correspondence’. The SRA indicates that these cases ‘create disproportionate costs’ and ‘occupy court time to the detriment of other cases’, and that the courts have made clear their disapproval of such cases (citing, by way of example, Excalibur Ventures v Texas Keystone & ors [2013] EWHC 4278 (Comm)). Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Excessive litigation – how can it be discouraged and stopped?”
Manoj Singh and Nilava Bandyopadhyay discuss the growth of commercial litigation in India, with a focus on infrastructure projects
Broadly speaking, commercial litigation encompasses any type of litigation that deals with or involves issues related to business, usually between two business entities but definitely not restricted to that. Currently, in India commercial litigation has turned out to be a burgeoning field of law. Its growth has been spurred by the recent trend of booming domestic businesses, newly-emerging small businesses, and vast diversification of already existing businesses and players in the market. An overview follows of a few of the areas that are frequently associated with commercial litigation and those that are primarily arising out of this sort of litigation. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The road to litigation”
Richard Harris on the impact of the preoccupation with banking mistakes
History abounds with examples of problems to which a disproportionate solution creates unintended collateral or new problems. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Hayne, ASIC, banks, penalties and the price of shifting risk”
Gilbert + Tobin is the firm of choice when the stakes are high. The disputes and investigations team at Gilbert + Tobin specialises in assisting clients to navigate complex and significant contentious issues. We work closely with our clients to develop an approach best suited to achieving their objectives and the protection of their interests. We understand that litigation should always be a last resort but, where necessary, needs to be handled strategically and commercially and with jealous regard to your reputation.
Our lawyers have been and continue to be involved in Australia’s most high-profile commercial disputes, litigation, investigations and inquiries. Clients come to us for our sophisticated and strategic litigation and dispute resolution services across a broad range of legal areas. We work closely with clients to deliver focused, timely and cost-effective solutions. Continue reading “Sponsored firm profile: Gilbert + Tobin”
Simon Kerry asks whether front loading case management is effective in resolving cases and looks at the forthcoming Disclosure Pilot
In recent years, reforms of the Civil Procedure Rules have focused on ‘front loading’ case management. In particular, for larger and more complex cases, planning phases have been established to set parameters within which the case will be conducted. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The full-frontal approach”
Marcia Shekerdemian QC considers the decisions in Ve Vegas v Shinners and Zinc Hotels v Beveridge
‘An insolvency practitioner should not allow bias, conflict of interest or undue influence of others to override professional or business judgments.’1 Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Administrators’ conflicts of interest – 2018’s hot potato?”
Jane Colston discusses the use of AI in the courts under the new disclosure pilot scheme’s push for cheaper tech-assisted review
Lord Burnett of Maldon has set up a new advisory board made up of senior judges and artificial intelligence (AI) experts to consider and advise on the issues arising from the use of AI in the courts. In setting up the group, Lord Burnett seeks to ensure that judges are at the forefront of governing how increasingly capable AI technology may be used in and by the courts of England and Wales. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Tech-driven review vs the fear of missing out”
The best dispute lawyers often have something of the diva or rockstar about them – argumentative, uncompromising and brash. Michael Davison, head of Hogan Lovells’ litigation, arbitration and employment group, describes Neal Katyal, who runs the firm’s Washington DC disputes team, as such a figure. It is easy to see why: at the age of 48, Katyal had argued more Supreme Court cases than anyone else in US history and appeared as himself in Netflix’s political drama House of Cards.
London, of course, has no shortage of big characters in litigation, even if the clubby world of hard-living, hard-working boys is giving way to a more diverse crowd. To assess the prospects for the disputes market, Legal Business decided to focus on a dozen of the largest players in the City, spanning traditional leaders, the largest specialist firms and a handful of the most expansive US outfits. Continue reading “Bench strengths – Sizing up the City’s top dispute teams”
With deferred prosecution agreements proving a success and the scale of investigations increasing, things have never been busier for corporate crime firms. Anna Cole-Bailey discusses
The consensus among white-collar crime partners is that financial misconduct cases are not going away any time soon. With many investigations historic, they leave deep footprints over time. Continue reading “Market Report: White-Collar Crime – Closing the net on corruption”
Richard Kovalevsky QC on the difficulties facing prosecutors of financial crime
Following the Bribery Act coming into force on 1 July 2011, commentators focused on the contention that while there was a Rolls-Royce in the garage, prosecutors in the area of corruption and financial crime were using an old Mini as the vehicle of choice. In 2012 and 2013, the sleek well-engineered machine that is the Bribery Act remained unused while the everyday patchwork of existing offences seemed to be the preferred vehicle for prosecutors. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Financial crime and criminal prosecutions in the UK”
Our dispute resolution team is a cadre of specialist litigators. We work with our in-house legal teams to find the most effective route to resolving the disputes that inevitably arise during the course of business. Our aim is to help quantify and manage risk, and offer solutions-driven advice. We actively work with our clients on litigation avoidance strategies. We appreciate how competitive the market place is for you and the challenging decisions that are having to be made as a consequence. We can help in pre-empting issues that might arise from those decisions.
Our philosophy is to place ourselves between our client and the problem, and we never lose sight of the fundamental issue in each case that we take – what outcome does our client need to achieve? – and that directs everything we do and how we do it. Continue reading “Sponsored firm profile: Ashfords”
Edward Sawyer and Jia Wei Lee look at a recent Court of Appeal decision on the extent of a fiduciary’s obligation to disclose commission payments
In The Attorney General for Hong Kong v Reid [1994] 1 AC 324, Lord Templeman described bribery as ‘an evil practice which threatens the foundations of any civilised society’. And as every trusts lawyer knows, the best way to wage war against depravity is by the well-timed imposition of a constructive trust. What we do not know, however, is how much fiduciaries must tell principals about their commissions. Medsted Associates Ltd v Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 83 gives us part of an answer. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: When is a secret commission secret? A primer on Medsted v Canaccord Genuity”
For large companies and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, disputes are an inevitable feature of doing business. According to the Litigation Trends Annual Survey, published by Norton Rose Fulbright, US companies now spend $1.2m on disputes per $1bn of annual revenue. Add in the growth of non-US companies involved in disputes and tens of billions of dollars are being spent worldwide in resolving them. Where those disputes are resolved, and in what form, is evolving in line with the global economy – as economic power shifts eastwards, so does the volume of disputes.
Despite this trend, which is underpinned by intense competition from rival dispute resolution centres in Asia, London continues to be the world’s most favoured international disputes destination – at least for now. As rival jurisdictions seize the opportunity to increase their share, the battle for business shows no sign of abating. Continue reading “Global disputes hubs jostle for position – Where in the world?”
Chris Brennan follows on from his panel discussion at the Financial Services Regulation and Disputes Summit to explore the options for reforming investigations and enforcement
The closing panel of the recent Legal Business Financial Services Regulation and Disputes Summit was asked to discuss how they would approach the establishment of a new regulatory enforcement body. This article picks up on some of the themes discussed. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Enforcement reimagined”
