Professional negligence – Matthew Arnold & Baldwin to appeal against dismissal of £10m claim against Watson Farley

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Matthew Arnold & Baldwin has said its client plans to appeal against the High Court’s decision last week to dismiss a £10m professional negligence claim against Watson, Farley & Williams.

In a case heard in London’s High Court last Friday (31 January), Mr Justice Silber dismissed a counterclaim from former Watson Farley client Itzhak Ostrovizky, who sought damages on the basis of negligence and/or breach of duty of Greek-qualified corporate partner Virginia Murray in the Athens office of the top 40 firm. Continue reading “Professional negligence – Matthew Arnold & Baldwin to appeal against dismissal of £10m claim against Watson Farley”

Risk and regulatory: NRF launches a 600-lawyer global regulation and investigations practice

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The increasingly wide-ranging and cross-departmental regulatory needs of clients sees Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) today (3 February) launch a 600-lawyer international global regulation and investigations practice led by former Fulbright & Jaworski disputes partner and investigations head Lista Cannon and global antitrust chief Martin Coleman.

The 130-partner team will connect global practices including antitrust and competition (led by Coleman); financial services regulation (led by Jonathan Herbst); investigations (including bribery and corruption and international trade and sanctions, led by Cannon); and tax (led by global head Andrius Kontrimas). Continue reading “Risk and regulatory: NRF launches a 600-lawyer global regulation and investigations practice”

All grown up – HSF’s Belfast volume disputes centre pilots post-merger Australian litigation

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When legacy Herbert Smith set up its volume disputes support centre in Belfast in 2011 it was, despite or perhaps because of the fact that it was at the vanguard of this kind of move, a conservatively promoted step, with initial plans to train only around 20 fee earners, including a mix of solicitors and legal assistants.

Post its merger with Freehills, the growth of this successful centre is evident as its latest pilot to roll out the use of the Belfast centre to its Australian merger partner for Australian litigation gets underway, and the fact that it has, three years later, blown its initial growth targets out of the water with 120 permanent employees, almost evenly split between qualified lawyers and legal assistants. Continue reading “All grown up – HSF’s Belfast volume disputes centre pilots post-merger Australian litigation”

Deutsche Bank pinpoints litigation costs for wiping out its fourth quarter profits

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Frankfurt-headquartered Deutsche Bank yesterday (19 January) partially blamed its full-year litigation expenses of €2.5bn for a fourth quarter pre-tax loss of €1.2bn, shortly after Morgan Stanley blamed legal costs of $1.2bn for its drop in net income during the same period.

Deutsche Bank’s litigation fees amounted to €528m for the fourth quarter.

The bank – Germany’s largest lender – in December agreed to settle its mortgage-backed securities litigation with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with a pay-out of €1.4bn. Deutsche Bank was one of 17 financial institutions the FHFA made claims against in relation to residential mortgage-backed securities.

Continue reading “Deutsche Bank pinpoints litigation costs for wiping out its fourth quarter profits”

Litigation watch – Claims against FTSE 100 companies up by 76% in 2013

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A second spike in claims against banks stemming from the financial crisis is being blamed for a rocketing number of High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies, which rose by 76% in 2013, the highest level since the credit crunch.

Data from Thomson Reuters Lawtel shows a total of 201 High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies between June 2012 and June 2013, up from 114 cases the previous year. Of that total figure 55%, or 112 cases involved financial services companies, up from 65 cases in the previous year.

The UK’s top banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays Bank and HSBC accounted for 47% of all litigation against FTSE 100 companies, partly due to well-documented failings such as the mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities and interest rate swaps or LIBOR manipulation. Continue reading “Litigation watch – Claims against FTSE 100 companies up by 76% in 2013”

Updated: Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement

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Clifford Chance is among the creditors of the European operations of Lehman Brothers set to receive a windfall after administrator PwC announced a total payout of $7.8bn, the latest in a series of payments made to creditors of the former US investment bank as it nears the end of its mammoth winding-up process.

According to one partner at the Magic Circle firm, the payment could be as much as £10m and a spokesperson for PwC said creditors are likely to receive payment before the end of the calendar year.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008, listing $639bn of assets against $613bn of outstanding debt but within days creditors filed claims of $1.2trn, double its assets.

Continue reading “Updated: Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement”

Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement

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As latest payout confirmed to Lehman’s creditors, total US and UK costs soar to $2bn

Clifford Chance is among the creditors of the European operations of Lehman Brothers set to receive a windfall after administrator PwC announced a total payout of $7.8bn, the latest in a series of payments made to creditors of the former US investment bank as it nears the end of its mammoth winding-up process.

According to one partner at the Magic Circle firm, the payment could be as much as £10m and a spokesperson for PwC said creditors are likely to receive payment before the end of the calendar year.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008, listing $639bn of assets against $613bn of outstanding debt but within days creditors filed claims of $1.2trn, double its assets.

Continue reading “Clifford Chance in line for windfall payment after PwC reaches European Lehman settlement”

Comings and goings – Hogan Lovells financial disputes partner to depart

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Hogan Lovells is set to lose financial disputes and legacy Lovells partner Luci Angus from its ranks in four weeks’ time.

Having been made up to partner in 2007 prior to Lovells merger with Washington DC-based Hogan & Hartson, Angus is experienced in disputes involving banks and other financial institutions and completed a secondment at Barclays during her time at the firm. Her experience also includes previously advising an investment bank in relation to allegations of mis-selling in connection with a $2bn collateralised debt obligation.

Continue reading “Comings and goings – Hogan Lovells financial disputes partner to depart”

No pay for delay: Court of Appeal holds firm on costs decision in ‘plebgate’ case

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The post-Jackson hardline approach to costs budgeting was reinforced by a landmark Court of Appeal decision today (27 November) in a clear message to the profession that non-compliance will be ‘fatal’.

This latest decision – the most significant of the post-Jackson era – arises out of Andrew Mitchell MP’s ongoing ‘plebgate’ defamation claim against The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN). It follows the High Court ruling in September that Mitchell, were he to win the claim, would not be entitled to recoup any of his costs from NGN after his solicitors, Atkins Thomson, failed to comply with a costs practice direction.

Continue reading “No pay for delay: Court of Appeal holds firm on costs decision in ‘plebgate’ case”

Squire Sanders settles libel claim over letter before action

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Squire Sanders has settled a libel claim against the firm over the contents of a letter before action (LBA) after a judge rejected its application to have the claim struck out, finding that the LBA could be interpreted as meaning the recipient was guilty.

The top 20 firm was sued for libel by Patrick Hodgins, a former director of Squire Sanders’ client Solym Holdings and subsidiary Solym Carriers, after it sent Hodgins a LBA in January, copied to his new employers, notifying him that Solym were bringing an action for breach of his fiduciary duties, including the duty not to accept benefits from third parties. Continue reading “Squire Sanders settles libel claim over letter before action”