Commercial Litigation UK

  • September 16, 2024

    Law Firm Director Dishonestly Misled Insurer, SRA Says

    The solicitors' watchdog told a disciplinary tribunal on Monday that a law firm director had dishonestly concealed the fact that his company had acquired another firm's work and staff after his insurer declined to offer cover for the change.

  • September 16, 2024

    Tribunal Tosses Asda Workers' Claim For Extra Holiday Pay

    A group of Asda employees have lost their bid for extra holiday pay as an employment tribunal ruled in favor of the supermarket chain, finding that it had the right under its agreement with the union to determine which days count as national holidays.

  • September 16, 2024

    Germophobic Civil Servant Wins Work-From-Home Claim

    A civil servant has won his claim that a refusal by his employer to allow him to work from home full-time discriminated against him as a germophobe.

  • September 16, 2024

    Football Referees Can Be Employees, Top UK Court Rules

    Referees for English football games can legally be considered employees, obliging the company they work for to deduct taxes from their pay, the U.K.'s highest court ruled Monday.

  • September 13, 2024

    Kennedys Hires Cyber, AI Pro From Addleshaw In London

    Kennedys Law LLP has recruited a data protection, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence specialist from Addleshaw Goddard LLP as a partner in London, with the new arrival saying Friday she made the switch to take advantage of the firm's global reach.

  • September 13, 2024

    Property Developer Claims To Be Target Of Legal 'Vendetta'

    The director of a defunct property developer has hit back against a claim that accuses him of breaching his duties to the company, as he argued that the "vexatious" case was brought as part of a "vendetta" by his former co-directors.

  • September 13, 2024

    4 UK Employment Law Developments To Watch In 2024

    A bill expected to bring in new rights for workers and unions is the main event in U.K. employment law in what's left of 2024 — but lawyers say that an upcoming law change on sexual harassment and major disputes could also shape employers' practices. Here, Law360 looks at what to keep an eye on for the rest of 2024.

  • September 13, 2024

    Lawyers To Face Tribunal Over Allegations Of Asylum Lies

    Two more solicitors must face a London disciplinary tribunal over allegations they advised clients to provide fake stories in their asylum claims following an undercover Daily Mail investigation into bogus asylum applications.

  • September 13, 2024

    Transport Giants Bid To Ax $14B 'Guilt By Association' Claim

    Emirati logistics giant DP World and a major Russian transport company urged a London judge Friday to stop or trim the $14 billion claim against them from an imprisoned Russian oligarch, as they argued that he was making "guilt by association" allegations.

  • September 13, 2024

    Sky Can't Force Ofcom To Revisit End-Of-Contract Decision

    Sky UK lost its attempt on Friday to force Ofcom to reconsider whether the media company broke consumer protection rules, even though Britain's competition tribunal has found that the telecommunications regulator had made mistakes in its original decision.

  • September 13, 2024

    Energy Biz Wants To Claw Back £3.8M From Waste Plant Deal

    An energy business has sued the directors of a waste management company that it acquired for almost £40 million ($52 million), alleging that it overpaid for shares in the business because of a mistake that overstated the capacity and output of a food waste processing plant.

  • September 13, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a football agent sue Chelsea FC after being cleared of allegations he threatened the club’s former director, an ongoing patent dispute between Amgen and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and a private school in Edinburgh suing Riverstone Insurance over compensation claims tied to historical abuse allegations made by former pupils. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 13, 2024

    NHS Scotland Sues Accord, Allergan Over Drug Pricing

    Scotland has sued Actavis and Allergan to recover the additional money they allegedly charged for hydrocortisone tablets used to treat a rare autoimmune disorder, the specialist antitrust tribunal said Friday after an appeals court reinstated price-fixing fines against the drugmakers.

  • September 13, 2024

    Hardware Seller Is Withholding $10M In Fees, Tech Co. Says

    A technology company has claimed it introduced a Canadian hardware seller to confidential contacts looking to buy graphics processors, and the seller secured sales from them, but is now withholding around $10.5 million in referral fees.

  • September 13, 2024

    Carer Accused Of Fraud Wins £26K Over Forced Resignation

    A carer whose employer accused her of falsely filling in her timesheets has won more than £26,000 ($34,000) as a tribunal found that her boss refused to retract the allegations despite agreeing to extend her hours to cover travel time.

  • September 13, 2024

    EasyGroup Claims 'EasyCargo' TM Threatens Its Brand

    EasyGroup has sued a courier price comparison website over its use of trademark "EasyCargo," as the owner of no-frills airline easyJet alleged that this threatens its family of "easy" TMs in its ongoing battle against what it calls "brand thieves."

  • September 13, 2024

    Shell Companies Shuttered By Court For £1.6M COVID Fraud

    The High Court has shut down two connected companies that fraudulently received £1.6 million ($2.1 million) in COVID-19 support loans, a U.K. government agency said Friday.

  • September 13, 2024

    Retraining Offer No Reason For NCA Investigator To Quit

    A National Crime Agency investigator who quit his job a day after he was offered the opportunity to regain his official accreditation has lost his claim that he was forced to resign.

  • September 12, 2024

    Employment Firm GQ Littler Hires Pro From Baker McKenzie

    GQ Littler has hired a long-serving employment lawyer at Baker McKenzie to its office in London to represent U.K. and international clients, particularly in the financial services, technology and media sectors.

  • September 12, 2024

    EU Probes Bankrupt German Racetrack Sale After Court Loss

    The European Commission relaunched an investigation Thursday into whether Germany supplied illegal state aid in the sale of the Nürburgring motorsports complex after the European Union's top court struck down the competition authority's 2014 decision to clear the aid.

  • September 12, 2024

    Ex-CBA Chief Jo Sidhu KC Accused Of Sexual Harrassment

    A former chair of the Criminal Bar Association is reportedly facing allegations of sexual harassment before a professional tribunal.

  • September 12, 2024

    Lawmakers Urged To Reopen UK Whiplash Injury Portal Probe

    A trade body for personal injury firms has called for MPs to reopen a parliamentary inquiry into the impact on claimants of a new online portal for insurance compensation for whiplash injuries to the neck.

  • September 12, 2024

    BNP Paribas Attempts To Prune London Banker's Claim

    BNP Paribas attempted to trim a manager's claim at a London employment tribunal on Thursday, arguing that the employee had taken a "kitchen sink approach" by adding excessive legal claims onto some of her allegations.

  • September 12, 2024

    Slater & Gordon Beats Former Analyst's Redundancy Appeal

    Slater & Gordon has defeated a cost analyst's appeal against the firm's decision to make him redundant, persuading a London judge on Thursday that a lower tribunal did not botch its investigation into the factors leading to his dismissal.

  • September 12, 2024

    Tesco Ruling Puts Employers On Notice: Keep Your Promises

    A rare injunction issued by the U.K. Supreme Court on Thursday is a warning to employers to stick to what they promised in a contract — but lawyers say it does not prevent bosses from firing staff and rehiring them on worse terms.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Know About The EU Residency Scheme Changes

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    The U.K. government recently announced extensions to residency status under the EU Settlement Scheme, which is a net positive for U.K.-EU relations and will be welcomed by those affected, including employers concerned about losing employees with expired permission, say Claire Nilson and Abilio Jaribu at Faegre Drinker.

  • High Court Dechert Ruling Offers Litigation Privilege Lessons

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    While the recent High Court ruling in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, which concerned torture conspiracy allegations against the firm, held that litigation privilege can be claimed by a nonparty to proceedings, the exact boundaries of privilege aren't always clear-cut and may necessitate analyzing the underlying principles, says Scott Speirs at Norton Rose.

  • What To Know About AI Fraudsters Before Facing Disputes

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    The potential of artificial intelligence to augment fraudsters' efforts is arguably unprecedented, so lawyers will swiftly need to become familiar with the fundamentals of AI to deal with it in the context of disputes, says Daniel Wyatt and Christopher Whitehouse at RPC.

  • UK Insolvency Reform Review Shows Measures Are Working

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    The U.K. Insolvency Service's recently published review of legislative reforms to the corporate insolvency regime demonstrates that despite being underutilized, the measures have been shown to help viable companies survive, and with the current difficult economic environment, will likely be an important aspect of organizational restructuring going forward, says Kirsten Fulton-Fleming at Taylor Wessing.

  • More UK Collective Actions On The Horizon After Forex Ruling

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    A U.K. appeals court's recent decision in Forex case Evans v. Barclays is likely to significantly widen the scope of opt-out collective proceedings that can be brought, paving the way for more class actions by prospective claimants who have previously been unable to bring individual claims, say Robin Henry and Tamara Davis at Collyer Bristow.

  • How Russia Sanctions May Complicate Contract Obligations

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    Against the backdrop of recent comprehensive sanctions against Russia and Belarus, a review of recent U.K. case law clarifies that certain force majeure clauses likely cover trade sanctions, and that future litigation will further develop the scope of force majeure and frustration in the context of sanctions, says Frances Jenkins at Quillon Law.

  • New Guidance Offers Clarity For Charities On ESG Investing

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    The need for charities to understand investing in line with environmental, social and governance aspirations has never been more pressing, and recently updated U.K. Charity Commission guidance should give trustees confidence to make decisions that are right for their organization, says Robert Nieri at Shoosmiths.

  • Taking Stock Of Company Climate Duties After ClientEarth

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    Despite the High Court's recent dismissal of ClientEarth v. Shell, the case nonetheless has key consequences for companies that are susceptible to being targeted by nonprofit activists as environmental, social and corporate governance lawfare continues, says Dan Harris at Chancery Advisors.

  • Copyright Cheat Sheet: Finding Substantially Similar Songs

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    Using the recent copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran over his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" as a case study, forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig provides an overview for attorneys of which musical elements do and do not, when altered, create the sense of a new or distinct composition — a determination increasingly sought from experts in court.

  • Lessons On Cricket Patent History And IP Protection At UPC

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    On the heels of the creation of the Unified Patent Court in Europe, Susan Bradley at Marks & Clerk looks at how its development is interwoven with the history of cricket, and why inventors in that field have always taken advantage of the latest developments in intellectual property protection.

  • FCA Case Failures Highlight Value Of Robust Investigation

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    The recent U.K. upper tribunal judgment in Seiler, Whitestone and Raitzin v. The Financial Conduct Authority, criticizing the regulator for accepting a narrative advanced by the firm, makes clear that such admissions must not get in the way of a proper investigation to enable agencies to target the correct individuals, say Tom Bushnell and Olivia Dwan at Hickman & Rose.

  • Reputation Management Lessons From Spacey Case

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    While a U.K. jury recently acquitted actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault charges, his reputation has been harmed, illustrating the importance for lawyers to balance a client's right to privacy with media engagement throughout the criminal process, says Jessica Welch at Simkins.

  • Factors To Consider In Protecting Software With Trade Secrets

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    With trade secrets protecting subject matter that would not otherwise be eligible for a patent now a mainstay of many multinationals’ intellectual property strategies, software developers have a number of considerations in deciding whether this is a viable alternative to protect their invention, says Dave Clark at Potter Clarkson.

  • What ClientEarth Ruling Means For Shareholder Climate Suits

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    The High Court recently confirmed its earlier decision in ClientEarth v. Shell, illustrating that environmental groups seeking to bring a derivative action against corporate directors' strategic decision making may find it challenging to obtain admissible evidence to establish a prima facie case of a breach, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.

  • Directors Should Beware Reinvigorated UK Insolvency Service

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    The recent lengthy disqualification of Carillion directors serves as a salutary lesson to executives on the level of third-party scrutiny to which their actions may be exposed, and a reminder that the directors’ fiduciary duty to creditors is paramount once a company is irretrievably insolvent, says Ben Drew at Fladgate.

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