"impressive silks and juniors are praised for their strength in depth"
Serle Court “offers a variety of skill sets that others can’t provide, and houses some of the biggest names at the Bar”
Area of Law: Civil Fraud
Philip Jones QC and Gareth Tilley are acting for HMRC in HMRC v IGE USA Investments Ltd, a claim arising from the Revenue’s contention that it has rescinded tax settlements with the UK Subgroup of the US conglomerate worth upwards of £650m. The trial is to take place in late 2021. An interlocutory decision of Zacaroli J reported at [2020] EWHC 2121 (Ch) permitting the Claimants to amend to allege fraud is currently on appeal to the Court of Appeal raising the question of what if any limitation period applies to equitable claims for rescission on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation.
Read MoreArea of Law: Private Client Trusts and Probate
Dakis Hagen QC appeared for the first defendant in Geneva Trust Company (GTC) SA v IDF & Anr (21/12/2020) FSD 248 OF 2017 (IKJ) in her successful application for a stay of a claim in the Cayman Islands seeking declarations as to the validity of a Cayman Islands trust which trust was already being impugned by her in ongoing litigation in Italy. The application was met in part by the argument that the Cayman court had an exclusive statutory jurisdiction to determine such matters under s. 90 of the Cayman Trusts Law (which, it was said, in that context abrogated the power to stay on grounds of forum non conveniens); the court noted that such had been the orthodox view historically based on authorities stretching back 20 years.
Read MoreArea of Law: International and Offshore
In Basin v Rouge CFI 057/2018, James Weale appeared in the last in-person hearing in the DIFC Court before lockdown. Following a trial, James obtained judgment for the claimant in a claim under a guarantee agreement: [2018] CFI 057. The Court gave guidance on the extent to which variations to underlying obligations affect the validity of an associated guarantee. James also successfully defeated a jurisdiction challenge submitted to the Joint Judicial Committee (Cassation No. 9 of 2019).
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
David Drake acted for the successful defendants in SPI North Ltd v Swiss Post International (UK) Ltd [2020] EWHC 3268 (Ch), where the court had to consider the practical limits to the permission, frequently given to respondents to an amendment application, to make “consequential” amendments to their own responsive statement of case.
Read MoreArea of Law: Competition Law and State Subsidies
David Drake appeared for the successful respondents in the Supreme Court hearing Secretary of State for Health v Servier Laboratories Ltd [2020] 3 WLR 1207, where it was held that the EU law principle of absolute res judicata arising from decisions of the European Courts annulling acts of EU institutions could not be applied in a legal context detached from the annulling judgment.
Read MoreArea of Law: Civil Fraud
Jonathan Adkin QC and Charlotte Beynon act for the fourth defendant and Philip Marshall QC and Simon Hattan for the fifth defendant in Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait v Al-Rajaan and Ors, one of the largest fraud claims ever heard in the Commercial Court. PIFSS alleges that the defendants are liable for over US$800m as a result of a large-scale fraud perpetrated by its former director general, Mr Al-Rajaan, in conjunction with the other defendants. The Serle Court contingent recently successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the English Court to hear the claims against their clients, with the Court directing that the claims should be heard in Switzerland, a decision which the Claimant has been given permission to appeal.
Read MoreArea of Law: Company
Gareth Tilley acted as junior counsel for the Official Receiver in Re Keeping Kids Company; Official Receiver v Atkinson, the disqualification proceedings arising from the collapse of the charity Kids Company. These are believed to be the first-ever proceedings for disqualification of charity trustees as company directors and they raise questions about the standard to be applied to unpaid trustee directors, whether a remunerated charity CEO can or ought to be classified as a de facto company director, and what degree of latitude the trustee directors have in relation to the pursuit of charitable objects when the company is of doubtful solvency.
Read MoreArea of Law: Private Client Trusts and Probate
Constance McDonnell QC successfully resisted the adjournment of a trial sought for Covid-related reasons in Lucas v Gatward [2020] EWHC 3040 (Ch). The widely reported case about ownership of a family home settled shortly before the trial due to commence in November 2020.
Read MoreArea of Law: Company
Philip Jones QC was successful in the Privy Council in Ocean Sino, a case which involved a claim by one joint owner of a BVI company to wind it up on the just and equitable ground. He had previously acted at the original trial and before the BVI Court of Appeal.
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