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Area of Law: Commercial Litigation
Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait v Man Group PLC plus 37 other defendants, involving Jonathan Adkin QC and Charlotte Beynon for the fourth defendant and Philip Marshall QC and Simon Hattan for the fifth defendant, is one of the largest fraud disputes ever heard in the commercial court. in its High Court claim, the Public Institution for Social Security alleges it is owed $847.7 million as a result of a large-scale fraud by its former director-general, Fahad Maziad Rajaan Al-Rajaan. With allegations of bribery and corruption spanning three decades. This case featured in The Lawyer's Top 20 Cases of 2020.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
James Brightwell appeared for India and Jonathan McDonagh appeared for Prince Muffakham Jah in High Commissioner for Pakistan in the UK v National Westminister Bank Plc [2019] EWHC 2551 (Ch), where the Court ruled at trial that funds transferred in 1948 from a bank account held by the Government of Hyderabad had remained thereafter held on trust for the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad. Giles Richardson has also acted for the administrator of the Nizam's English estate.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
John Machell QC, James Weale, and Stephanie Thompson acted for the successful Defendants following a 5-week trial before Teare J in Chernukhin v Deripaska [2019] EWHC 173 (Comm). The case involved a substantial property development in central Moscow and an alleged armed takeover by Oleg Deripaska.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
James Weale acts for the claimant in an application for a charging order against a valuable property in London held through a trust structure to enforce a $20m judgment debt. Following a heavily contested application disclosure, James succeeded in obtaining an order for specific disclosure in respect of over 50 separate categories of documents.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
Lance Ashworth QC and Dan McCourt Fritz acted for the successful Respondents in the Court of Appeal in Taylor v Van Dutch Marine Holding [2020] EWCA Civ 353, in a claim concerning agents for undisclosed principals. They are now instructed for the defendants in Taylor v Khodabaksh in which it is claimed that the original decision in Taylor v Van Dutch Marine Holding was obtained by fraud. That will come on for trial in 2022.
Read MoreArea of Law: Intellectual Property
Stephanie Wickenden represented easyGroup successful High Court appeal from the Trade Marks Registry that gives new guidance on how Nice Classification numbers may be used to interpret a trade mark specification.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
In Filatona Trading Ltd v Navigator Equities Ltd [2020] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 418, James Weale acted for the successful respondent before the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal gave guidance on the inter-relationship between principles of agency law and contractual construction in order to determine when a disclosed principal can intervene in, and assert rights under, a contract. James acts in related proceedings in Jersey which have been listed for trial in March 2021.
Read MoreArea of Law: Private International Law
Prof Jonathan Harris QC (Hon.) & Adrian de Froment instructed by the successful Defendant in trial of a preliminary issue as to the governing law of an agency contract to distribute poultry equipment in North America.
Read MoreArea of Law: Civil Fraud
In Russell v Cartwright [2020] EWHC 41 (Ch), Dan McCourt Fritz and Stephanie Thompson represented three defendants in the trial of a claim for fraudulent non-disclosure and unlawful means conspiracy brought by their former business partner. They were wholly successful at trial, with the Court finding that the parties did not owe fiduciary duties or duties of disclosure and that the defendants had been honest in their dealings with the claimant. The defendants were entitled to their costs on the indemnity basis.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
Prof. Jonathan Harris and Oliver Jones were instructed in Bowes v Panareti [2018] a jurisdiction dispute concerning alleged misselling of properties in Cyprus.
Read MoreArea of Law: Intellectual Property
Michael Edenborough KC leading outside junior counsel and Thomas Elias in two interim applications against D1-3 and D4-5. The first concerned the justiciability of suing in the UK some foreign defendants for trade mark infringements that occurred abroad. The second concerned the scope of pleading that alleged the invalidity of some trade marks. There was a third interim decision that involved the admissibility of opinion evidence given by a trade witness.
Read MoreArea of Law: Civil Fraud
Hugh Norbury QC and Adil Mohamedbhai appeared in Motortrak Ltd v FCA Australia Pty Ltd [2018] EWHC 990 (Comm) a contractual and civil fraud dispute which was tried before Moulder J in the Commercial Court over three weeks. This is an important decision on the law of affirmation of contracts procured by bribes and on the construction of exclusion clauses.
Read MoreArea of Law: Private Client Trusts and Probate
Dakis Hagen QC was instructed for Appleby in Appleby Trust (Mauritius) Limited v Crociani [2018] JCA 136A, the substantive appeal in the long-running and high value Crociani litigation in Jersey. The appeal was allowed to the extent that the equitable compensation to be paid by the main appellants was substantially reduced. The judgment addressed circumstances in which a court will decline equitable compensation as a matter of discretion, even when a breach of trust is established. Stephanie Thompson has since been instructed with Dakis for Appleby in the ongoing litigation and Giles Richardson has advsed another party in related matters.
Read MoreArea of Law: Banking and Financial Services
In Punjab National Bank (PNB) v Srinivasan [2019] EWHC 3495 (Ch), Matthew Morrison appeared for the Third Defendant in connection with an appeal from a judgment setting aside permission to serve the Defendants out of the jurisdiction. PNB's claims in respect of loans totaling US$37 m were based on personal guarantees and allegations that the loans had been produced by fraudulent misrepresentation. The decision to set aside permission on the grounds of non-disclosure of existing foreign proceedings, and the absence of viable claims in contract and deceit, was upheld on appeal.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
Lance Ashworth QC and Matthew Morrison acted on behalf of the Claimant in Blackstar Advisors v Cheyne Capital [2019] EWCA Civ 2210 in a 10-day commercial court trial claiming €25 million of introducers' fees against a hedge fund.
Read MoreArea of Law: Commercial Litigation
In Munkenbeck & Marshall v The Vinyl Factory [2019] EWHC 3255 (TCC) Justin Higgo, assisted by Mark Wraith, successfully defended unjust enrichment claims commenced by an architect in respect of the redevelopment of the Marshall Street Baths in Westminister.
Read MoreArea of Law: Civil Fraud
In Akhmedova v Akhmedov [2018] EWFC 23, Dakis Hagen QC represented the wife in a case in which Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, as part of satisfaction of England's largest divorce award, transferred to her ownership of a superyacht allegedly worth $487m, pierced the corporate veil of a Liechtenstein anstalt, set aside a number of dispositions under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and extended a worldwide freezing order.
Read MoreArea of Law: Regulatory and Disciplinary
On Friday 4 October 2019, Mr Justice Warby granted a Group Litigation Order (‘GLO’), paving the way for many thousands of claimants to bring legal action against British Airways arising out of the well-publicised breach of its website and mobile app which resulted in the theft of customers’ personal data. David Blayney QC, Sophie Holcombe, and Sophia Hurst act for the largest group of claimants, represented by the Lead Solicitors under the GLO, SPG Law.
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