J&J To Face UK Group Action Over Talc Cancer Claims

By Eddie Beaver

Johnson & Johnson will face a group claim in the U.K. brought by around 2,000 individuals who allege the pharmaceutical giant knew and suppressed information that its talcum powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos, the law firm helming the action told Law360 Wednesday.

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Gov't Must Pay Union For Ending Dues Deal, Top Court Rules

By Adele Redmond

A union for civil servants won its case on Wednesday for compensation as the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the government was not entitled to stop automatically deducting membership fees from workers' pay.

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Top UK Court Rejects Bedzhamov Russian Bankruptcy Order

By Joanne Faulkner

The U.K. Supreme Court refused Wednesday to recognize a Russian bankruptcy order against two properties owned by banker Georgy Ivanovich Bedzhamov in Britain, confirming a legal principle that foreign courts do not have jurisdiction over English land.

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Analysis

All Eyes On The SFO After LC&F Ponzi Scheme Ruling

By Christopher Crosby

Damning findings in civil litigation that the directors of London Capital & Finance ran the bonds company as a Ponzi scheme could foreshadow the Serious Fraud Office's parallel criminal investigation into the failed £237 million ($300 million) investment business, lawyers say.

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Deutsche Bank, Dexia Win Swap Rate Dispute With Brescia

By Joel Poultney

A London court on Wednesday ruled that deals an Italian province penned with Deutsche Bank and Dexia aimed at restructuring the region's debts were valid and that it cannot undo settlement agreements inked in the legal fallout around the transactions.

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Teacher Stern Breached Regs With Payments, SRA Alleges

By Ronan Barnard

The English solicitors regulator accused commercial firm Teacher Stern LLP and two partners of effectively providing banking services to two clients by allowing them to transfer money that was not related to an underlying legal transaction or service.

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Sony Film Co. Can Advance With $49M Share Deal Claim

By Eddie Beaver

Sony Group's Columbia Pictures can move ahead with its $49 million claim that a media company failed to pay for any shares in an entertainment business it had agreed to buy, as a London court ruled on Wednesday that claim documents were validly served in Hong Kong.

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Marsh Says Greensill Bank Can't Add It To Australian Dispute

By Sophia Dourou

Marsh urged a court Wednesday to maintain an order banning Greensill Bank AG from dragging it into litigation in Australia linked to the collapse of the wider group, arguing that the lender is bound by an English jurisdiction clause in its contract with the insurance broker.

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Analysis

SkyKick Ruling Could Put Pressure On Burdened UKIPO

By Alex Baldwin

When the U.K. Supreme Court agreed to tackle what counts as bad faith for trademark filings, the country's intellectual property officials feared that they would be forced to consider the intention of the applicant in all proceedings. All eyes are now on the UKIPO to see how big the deluge of challenges is — and whether the agency can keep up.

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LG Stops Furniture Biz Reviving 'Washtower' TM At EU Court

By Jamie Lennox

South Korean consumer electronics giant LG persuaded a European Union court on Wednesday to dash an appeal by a furniture retailer over its "Washtower" trademark, proving the TM is invalid because it simply describes the company's goods.

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ICO Compliance Officer Loses 'Character Assassination' Claim

By Tabitha Burbidge

The Information Commissioner's Office has beaten a claim by a compliance officer that his manager discriminated against him by trying to sway the outcome of a probe into his alleged misconduct, as a tribunal found there was limited evidence that his allegations were true.

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Worker Wins Appeal Of Bias Ruling That Ignored Her Evidence

By Hanna Vioque

An appellate judge ruled Wednesday that a former data archiver's claims against a city council deserved a re-hearing, because the original decision dismissing her case had completely ignored her version of events.

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New Offense Expands Liability For Corporate Enviro Fraud

The Economic Crime Act's new corporate fraud offense — for which the Home Office recently released guidance — underscores the U.K.'s commitment to hold companies accountable on environmental grounds, and in lowering the bar for establishing liability, offers claimants a wider set of tools to wield against multinational entities, say lawyers at Bracewell.

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