The Lawyer Top 20 Cases 2024
Serle Court barristers feature The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2024. To read the article in full, view on thelawyer.com (paywalled).
Some of the cases highlighted in the Top 20 Cases article include:
The Eclipse Litigation – James Mather and Mark Wraith instructed by Stewarts
James Mather and Mark Wraith are instructed on behalf of the claimants in the Stewarts action (by Stewarts partners James Le Gallais and Alex Lerner), led by 3VB’s Jonathan Davies-Jones KC. HSBC is defending two jointly managed actions being pursued by Stewarts and Edwin Coe on behalf of claimants who allege financial losses due to the film investment scheme, ‘Eclipse’.
IBM UK v LzLabs and others – James Weale instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
James Weale (instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (UK) LLP) acts for IBM against LzLabs and others (including the entrepreneur, John Moores) in a high-profile claim based on alleged breaches of a licence agreement and unlawful means conspiracy. The claimant alleges that the defendants engaged in unlawful reverse engineering of IBM mainframe software over several years in order to develop a rival product. The defendants deny that the terms of the licence agreement were breached and claim that they were permitted to use the information pursuant to the terms of that agreement. The trial has been listed for 8 weeks in the High Court starting in April 2024.
Municipio De Mariana and others v BHP Group and Vale – Nicholas Harrison, Jonathan McDonagh, Amy Proferes, Adrian de Froment, and Ryan Tang instructed by Pogust Goodhead
A team of Serle Court barristers are involved in Município de Mariana v BHP Group, one of the largest group actions ever commenced in this jurisdiction, described by The Lawyer as a ‘landmark trial’ for 2024, listed for trial in October representing over 700,000 Brazilian victims of the Fundão Dam disaster.
Related Barristers
James Weale KC has a very busy commercial chancery practice with a focus on domestic and international commercial and trusts disputes.
He is recognised as a leading practitioner in those fields by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Chambers Global, Chambers High Net Worth, and Who’s Who Legal, where they describe him as a “brilliant lawyer” and a “Superstar”. He was Chambers & Partners’ Chancery Junior of the Year in 2023.
He regularly appears (both as sole and junior counsel) in the English High Court and has appeared several times in the Court of Appeal. He also has considerable experience in overseas jurisdictions (including as sole counsel), including Bermuda, the DIFC, the BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Panama.
James Weale KC
Call: 2007
Silk: 2026
James Mather
Call: 2006
Jonathan McDonagh
Call: 2011
Amy Proferes’ practice covers both traditional and commercial Chancery. She has particular interests in contentious probate, company, civil fraud, and property, and is experienced in dealing with cases where these areas overlap. She appears regularly in the High Court, often unled, but also enjoys working as part of a larger team.
Amy is ranked as a leading junior in Private Wealth & Probate by Legal 500 and in Chancery: Traditional by Chambers & Partners. The directories describe her as “remarkably versatile across company law and trust and estate disputes” and “very thorough, has an intricate knowledge of the law, and is also very approachable.”
Amy Proferes
Call: 2012
Adrian de Froment
Call: 2013
Mark Wraith
Call: 2017
Ryan Tang is developing a broad commercial chancery practice across Chambers’ core practice areas. Building on his prior experience in large-scale commercial litigation as an associate at a Magic Circle law firm, he has acted in the ongoing Mariana dam litigation since joining Chambers in October 2023. In addition to his commercial work, he is also developing a practice in intellectual property and charity law, and has been ranked as a Rising Star by Legal 500 in the latter category. Ryan is routinely instructed as sole counsel in High Court litigation in all of these areas. Alongside his English practice, he is developing an active practice in the Middle East
Ryan Tang
Call: 2022
