‘It’s not always about winning and losing, it’s about preserving relationships’ – the Commercial Litigation Summit 2024

‘It’s not always about winning and losing, it’s about preserving relationships’ – the Commercial Litigation Summit 2024

The Legal Business Commercial Litigation Summit 2024 saw barristers, solicitors, in-house counsel and other professionals in the disputes sector come together to discuss the key issues in today’s commercial litigation market – and how to stay ahead of the game.

The event, which was held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, got underway with a panel entitled ‘When litigation is stranger than fiction (and even your partner tolerates you reading out the best bits from the daily transcript)’, led by One Essex Court’s Neil Kitchener KC, who was joined by CMS partner Vanessa Whitman and fellow One Essex Court barristers Sandy Phipps and James Fox. Continue reading “‘It’s not always about winning and losing, it’s about preserving relationships’ – the Commercial Litigation Summit 2024”

‘There is total support for getting this done’ – funders and litigators react to King’s Speech litigation funding snub

‘There is total support for getting this done’ – funders and litigators react to King’s Speech litigation funding snub

The King’s Speech this July included an ambitious total of 40 bills – but there was no mention of the litigation funding bill that the last government introduced in March.

Now, the government has confirmed that it will not legislate to overturn the effects of the Supreme Court’s July 2023 PACCAR decision, which prohibited litigation funding agreements (LFAs) that allowed funders to recover a percentage of damages, until summer 2025 at the earliest.

Legal Business caught up with those who know the market to explore what this means for the sector.

Continue reading “‘There is total support for getting this done’ – funders and litigators react to King’s Speech litigation funding snub”

Scaling up: a look back at the last ten years of disputes in London

Scaling up: a look back at the last ten years of disputes in London

When Legal Business first launched its Disputes Yearbook back in 2014 Brexit was barely on the radar, most people had not heard of Wuhan and post-financial crisis disputes work and oligarchs were helping firms cast aside any doubts about how sustainable further disputes growth was at either the biggest players in the City or the boutiques spinning out from them.

While much has changed, many of the key market players are still the same today and some of the bigger trends keeping litigators busy now were still evident a decade ago – albeit in nascent form. Continue reading “Scaling up: a look back at the last ten years of disputes in London”

Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit: Stranger than fiction

Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit: Stranger than fiction

Even amid a stellar agenda at Legal Business’ Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit 2023 last November, CMS’ session – Shams and charades: Lessons learned from abusive litigation against banks – made shockwaves around the auditorium of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London’s Westminster.

Indeed, it’s not often that a panel discussion elicits gasps of astonishment from delegates, but that’s exactly what happened when CMS’ finance disputes partners Tom Dane and Vanessa Whitman (pictured) sat down with Neil Kitchener KC of One Essex Court to discuss their experience representing Allied Irish Banks in the curious case of Kallakis v AIB. Continue reading “Financial Regulatory and Disputes Summit: Stranger than fiction”

‘A timely reminder’: SDT issues joint highest-ever fine in anti-money laundering crackdown

‘A timely reminder’: SDT issues joint highest-ever fine in anti-money laundering crackdown

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined Clyde & Co £500,000 and former partner Edward Mills-Webb £11,900 following a slew of anti-money laundering breaches.

At a hearing that took place last week (9-11 January), the SDT considered a statement of facts and admissions agreed by the parties, ultimately finding all allegations to be proved. The SDT ordered Clyde & Co to pay a £500,000 fine, as well as contributing to the SRA’s £128,197.48 costs. Meanwhile, Mills-Webb was ordered to pay a £11,900 fine and contribute towards the SRA’s £54,941.77 costs. Continue reading “‘A timely reminder’: SDT issues joint highest-ever fine in anti-money laundering crackdown”

Norton Rose Fulbright loses another litigation partner as departures continue to mount

Norton Rose Fulbright loses another litigation partner as departures continue to mount

In another blow for Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), commercial litigation partner Radford Goodman has left for Mishcon de Reya. Goodman joined Mishcon’s insolvency team on Tuesday (9 January) as a partner.

NRF has experienced a string of partner departures throughout 2023, particularly across its litigation practices, and in the wake of the resignation of its global chief executive Gerry Pecht in September 2023. Continue reading “Norton Rose Fulbright loses another litigation partner as departures continue to mount”

The ESG Report: Litigation – Perpetual motion

The ESG Report: Litigation – Perpetual motion

ESG litigation is now a buzzword in disputes. Legal Business turned to litigators and funders to examine the market – and what we can expect moving forwards

‘If we accept the wider definition that is so popular in everyday usage, you’d probably say that ESG litigation has exploded in the last three to five years and is not really showing any signs of stopping.’ Continue reading “The ESG Report: Litigation – Perpetual motion”

Sponsored briefing: The Effects of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on Turkish Litigation Practice

Sponsored briefing: The Effects of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on Turkish Litigation Practice

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has affected almost all individuals and businesses in Turkey with over 3,629 confirmed cases, as of 26 March 2020, in all of Turkey. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The Effects of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on Turkish Litigation Practice”

Supreme Court rules in favour of Morrisons in landmark data breach case

Supreme Court rules in favour of Morrisons in landmark data breach case

In a significant move for the future of large data breach and privacy cases, Morrisons Supermarkets has successfully defeated a group litigation claim following a decision by the Supreme Court this morning (1 April).

The case centres on whether a company can be held vicariously liable for the actions of a single employee, after thousands of members of staff found their personal information disclosed on the internet by a rogue employee in the company’s audit team. Continue reading “Supreme Court rules in favour of Morrisons in landmark data breach case”

Still punching – Can boutiques keep moving up a weight class amid mounting competition?

Still punching – Can boutiques keep moving up a weight class amid mounting competition?

‘Gone are the days where the client would just default to a certain adviser because that is who it has used all along,’ says Signature Litigation partner Daniel Spendlove. ‘Corporates, especially one-off distressed clients, are thinking about who they use carefully and that puts firms like ours in a strong position.’

Boutiques have been a striking feature of the disputes landscape for more than a decade. The rhetoric extols the virtues of the stripped-back model, unconstrained by the extra overheads that come with having multiple practice areas, and the conflict-free feature allows full-service firms to feel confident in referring disputes work to non-competitors. ‘What clients get is a focused offering. We’re not cross-selling other departments. We are simply here to handle a case,’ adds Spendlove. Continue reading “Still punching – Can boutiques keep moving up a weight class amid mounting competition?”