Analysis

BT Delivers Warning Shot To Standalone UK Class Actions

By Joanne Faulkner

Success for BT in the first-ever collective action to reach judgment in the U.K. could dampen the spirits of lawyers and litigation-funders backing more risky standalone claims that do not draw on pre-existing enforcement decisions to establish liability.

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Osborne Clarke Pro Fined £50K Over Zahawi Libel Letter

By William Janes

A tribunal fined an Osborne Clarke LLP partner who represented Nadhim Zahawi £50,000 ($62,700) on Friday for trying to stop a blogger revealing that the former chancellor was contemplating libel action over allegations of dishonesty in his tax affairs.

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Analysis

The Biggest UK Commercial Litigation Cases Of 2024

By Lucia Osborne-Crowley

The High Court and Court of Appeal resolved some landmark legal disputes in 2024 — the justices liberated the open-source cryptocurrency community from spats over intellectual property protection and determined liability for the high-profile collapse of London Capital & Finance.

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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Analysis

The Biggest Employment Law Developments In 2024

By Adele Redmond

The Labour Party's victory at the general election and its introduction of the biggest overhaul of the country's employment rights in decades dominated the employment law landscape in 2024 — but other developments ushered in new operational considerations that employers will have to adapt to in 2025.

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Analysis

The Top FCA Enforcement Cases Of 2024

By Christopher Crosby

The blockbuster fines imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority on challenger banks Starling and Metro for anti-money laundering failures, its notable penalties against Barclays and its conviction of a former Goldman Sachs banker for insider dealing are just a few of the key cases from 2024.

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Reading FC Owner Sued For £12M Over Confidentiality Breach

By Ronan Barnard

A Louisiana lawyer's company has filed a £12 million ($15 million) claim against a company held by the owner of Reading Football Club for allegedly breaching legally binding provisions in a takeover deal.

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Top UK Court Won't Hear Excel Biz Interruption Test Case

By Martin Croucher

The U.K. Supreme Court has blocked an effort by insurers to overturn a landmark insurance test case ruling involving the Excel exhibition center in London, with thousands of policyholders now in line for payouts for losses from the COVID-19 pandemic almost five years ago.

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Ex-Axiom Ince Execs Hit With Fraud Charges Over Collapse

By Christopher Crosby

The Serious Fraud Office charged five former Axiom Ince leaders with fraud on Friday over the collapse of the law firm with a £65 million ($81 million) hole in its client accounts.

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Skyscanner Blasts French Rival Over 'Flyscanner' TM

By Hanna Vioque

Scottish company Skyscanner has accused a French rival of using similar trademarks in a move to mislead internet users and draw traffic to its own, less reputable, search engine for cheap flights.

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Zaha Hadid's Firm Can't Exit Deal To License Her IP

By Hanna Vioque

A London judge ruled Friday that the late Zaha Hadid's architectural firm has no right to nix a deal signed before her death giving it a license to use her trademarks, leaving the high-profile firm on the hook for millions a year in fees.

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Spain Can't Use Immunity To Block Translator's Bias Case

By Sophia Dourou

Spain cannot rely on state immunity to overturn a translator's harassment and discrimination claim, a London appeals court ruled Friday, finding that the conduct complained of was not part of a governmental activity.

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Law Firm Accuses Employee Of Exaggerating Disability Claim

By Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Law firm Cartwright Cunningham Haselgrove & Co. accused a former employee of being untruthful in her disability discrimination claim on Friday, with lawyers for the firm alleging she had "exaggerated" her injuries from a car crash.

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HMRC Worker Wins Harassment Claim But Not Race Bias

By Hanna Vioque

An Afro-Caribbean caseworker has proved that a dismissive email sent by bosses at HM Revenue & Customs amounted to harassment, but lost dozens of other race bias allegations he brought at an employment tribunal.

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Sainsbury's Worker Fired For Harassment, Not Union Role

By Adele Redmond

A longtime Sainsbury's staffer has lost his claim that he was fired for acting as a trade union representative, with an employment tribunal ruling that he was lawfully dismissed for harassing his female colleagues.

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Footballer Wins Appeal Over Handling Of Abuse Complaint

By Jamie Lennox

A footballer convinced an appeals tribunal on Friday that his former club had victimized him after he complained about racial abuse by a fan, proving that the club penalized him by cutting communications with his agent.

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Unfairly Sacked Firefighter Is 'To Blame' In Gorilla GIF Dispute

By Adele Redmond

A firefighter who was fired for sending a GIF of a gorilla to a Black colleague more than a year after an investigation concluded there was no disciplinary case to answer has won his claim of unfair dismissal, despite a tribunal ruling that his behavior was "blameworthy."

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£3.5B 'Dartford Disneyland' Park Co. Must Close, Court Rules

By Eddie Beaver

A company that had wanted to build a £3.5 billion ($4.4 billion) "Disneyland-style" theme park must be wound up for "serious and irremediable" breaches of its agreement to pay creditors, which include Paramount, a London court has ruled.

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Boxer's Mother Loses Libel Case Over Amazon Documentary

By William Janes

The mother of Olympic boxer Nicola Adams has lost her libel case against Amazon, with a London court ruling Friday that an Amazon Prime documentary about the athlete's life made true allegations that Dee Adams had sent her daughter abusive texts.

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Law Firm Awarded £4.2M For Co.'s Mishandled PPI Claims

By Eddie Beaver

A London court awarded a specialist litigation law firm almost £4.2 million ($5.3 million) on Friday for the costs of a professional services company's botched handling of payment protection insurance claims.

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Takeaways On Freezing Injunctions After Dos Santos Ruling

The Court of Appeal's recent decision in dos Santos v. Unitel moved the needle in favor of applicants for freezing injunctions in two ways, say lawyers at Cooke Young.

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