Commercial Litigation UK

  • April 15, 2024

    Prince Harry Ordered To Pay Gov't Costs In Security Case

    A London judge has ordered Prince Harry to pay 90% of the government's legal costs and refused him permission to appeal after he lost his challenge to its decision to downgrade his taxpayer-funded security when he quit his royal duties.

  • April 15, 2024

    AML Exec Loses Bid For Interim Pay In Whistleblowing Case

    The co-founder of a London-based payments platform provider has lost his bid to be paid his £190,000 ($237,000) salary while he pursues a whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claim against the company.

  • April 15, 2024

    Skat Kicks Off £1.4B London Trial Against British Trader

    A British trader was accused Monday of being the "mastermind" behind a fraudulent trading scheme that cost the Danish tax authority £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) at the start of a year-long High Court trial.

  • April 15, 2024

    Trainee Solicitor's Bid To Claim SQE Fees From Ex-Firm Fails

    A trainee solicitor cannot recoup fees for her legal qualification examinations from her former employer, with a tribunal finding that she failed to prove that the law firm had agreed to pay the fees.

  • April 15, 2024

    Avoiding Legal Pitfalls In M&A Deferred Pricing Deals

    One of the worst markets for M&A dealmaking in a decade has spawned innovative pricing models such as deferred consideration arrangements for buyers and sellers to come to terms, but lawyers warn that these agreements have to be watertight to protect against future litigation.

  • April 13, 2024

    Newcastle Beats Sports Direct's Kit Injunction Bid

    The Competition Appeal Tribunal has dismissed Sports Direct's request for an injunction to force Newcastle United to stock its stores with the soccer club's replica kits after a rival retailer was given an exclusive supply deal.

  • April 12, 2024

    CJEU Grand Chamber To Hear Patent Jurisdiction Referral

    The EU's highest court is set to hear arguments on whether a member state has authority to hear patent invalidity defenses for foreign patents, in a rare instance of a patent referral made to the court's 15-judge grand chamber.

  • April 12, 2024

    US-based MSD Broke Ban On Using 'Merck' In UK, Court Finds

    U.S.-based Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC's use of the "Merck" name on websites and social media breached the terms of a court order barring it from using the name in the U.K. to protect German drugmaker Merck KGaA's rights, a London court ruled Friday.

  • April 19, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Bolsters Munich Office With Partner Hire

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has hired the Munich office managing partner of Reed Smith LLP to shepherd its expanding global disputes practice.

  • April 19, 2024

    Lewis Silkin Brings Back Disputes Pro From Hausfeld

    Lewis Silkin LLP has rehired a technology and insolvency expert from Hausfeld LLP in a bid to boost its commercial disputes practice.

  • April 12, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen footwear brand Dr. Martens hit online retailer Temu with a passing off claim, Welsh soccer club Swansea sue its former head coach Russell Martin, Russian diamond tycoon Dmitry Tsvetkov file a claim against his former business Equix Group Ltd., and U.S. bank Omega Financial Corporation hit African oil and gas company Tende Energy with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 12, 2024

    John Lewis Beats Muslim Worker's Discrimination Claim

    Department store John Lewis has beaten accusations that it discriminated against a Muslim employee, but it botched the process for sacking him, a tribunal has ruled.

  • April 12, 2024

    Abbott Loses Bid To Nix UK Whistleblowing Case On Appeal

    An appeals tribunal has rejected Abbott Laboratories' bid to escape a whistleblowing case brought by the founders of a British DNA technology business that it bought, concluding on Friday that the founders had an arguable case that U.K. judges had jurisdiction.

  • April 12, 2024

    Temp Engineer Must Pay £27K For 'Vexatious' Behavior

    An employment tribunal has ordered a temp to pay thousands of pounds in litigation costs for bringing a claim he knew he would lose, having previously failed to show on three other occasions that he was an employee or a worker.

  • April 12, 2024

    Denmark's £1.4B Tax Fraud Trial Heads For 'Uncharted Waters'

    Denmark will open its £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) dividend fraud case in London on Monday, beginning a yearlong trial that will have wide implications for other disputes arising out of the cum-ex trading scandal that has swept Europe.

  • April 12, 2024

    Sky Managers Can't Appeal Dismissal Case On New Grounds

    Two former Sky store managers cannot reargue their claim that the company owes them money following a mandatory change of role, an appeals tribunal has ruled, blocking them from raising a challenge on grounds that did not come up in the original case.

  • April 12, 2024

    Apple Loses Bid To Toss $1B App Maker Charges Case

    The Competition Appeal Tribunal refused on Friday to toss a £785 million ($996 million) proposed class action by app developers against Apple over commission payments after finding that the claimants had a real shot at showing that the case was governed by U.K. law.

  • April 12, 2024

    Bayer Loses UK Protections For Billion-Dollar Blood Thinner

    A London court on Friday invalidated Bayer AG's patent for its best-selling blood thinner Xarelto, agreeing with an array of generic drugmakers that the German pharmaceutical giant had given away too much information in conference materials about the drug before seeking protections.

  • April 12, 2024

    Clyde & Co. Must Face Ex-Client's Pared-Back Negligence Suit

    Clyde & Co. LLP must face part of a construction magnate's negligence claim over a failed legal case concerning a soured investment, after a London judge tossed part of the case on Friday but ruled that one aspect of it had a real prospect of success.

  • April 11, 2024

    Autonomy Became Less Transparent Before Sale, Jury Told

    An ex-market analyst testifying Thursday in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch duped HP into buying the British company for $11.7 billion told jurors that the company became less forthcoming about some of its accounting a couple of years before the sale.

  • April 11, 2024

    BlackRock Can't Deduct Interest On $4B, London Court Finds

    Financial services firm BlackRock cannot deduct interest on $4 billion in loans it used for the 2009 purchase of Barclays Global Investors because avoiding taxes was the main reason for the way it structured the transaction, a London appeals court ruled Thursday.

  • April 11, 2024

    Ex-Sidley Partner Says CPS Did Not Disclose Prosecution Info

    A former Sidley Austin LLP partner, a former senior KPMG LLP official and a banking adviser have hit back at the Crown Prosecution Service in the men's £66 million ($82.8 million) claim over a failed tax fraud prosecution, arguing that their prosecutor hid important information from them.

  • April 11, 2024

    Law Firm Denies Thwarting Driver's Injury Claim

    JMW Solicitors has pushed back at accusations by an injured delivery driver that it filed his compensation claim against the wrong defendant to avoid a conflict of interest with a valuable client.

  • April 11, 2024

    Plus-Size Clothing Retailer Sues Over Alleged Knockoffs

    A British fashion retailer has accused a London-based garment supplier of selling knockoffs of its "Yours" and "Yours Curve" plus-size women's clothing brands with a "Yours Curvy" line of products.

  • April 11, 2024

    Airbnb Owner Was Housekeeper's Employer, Tribunal Rules

    A housekeeper who worked at a Scottish castle was an employee instead of a worker and can proceed to sue her old boss for unfairly dismissing her, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach

    Author Photo

    The European Commission's recent record-breaking fine on Illumina for acquiring Grail without approval underscores its tough stance on merger control enforcement, showing that companies in Europe need to be vigilant in complying with regulatory requirements, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.

  • UK Top Court Ruling Spells Uncertainty For Litigation Funders

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Paccar Inc. v. Competition Appeal Tribunal has called litigation funding agreements impermissible, causing astonishment in the legal industry and raising questions over how funders should now approach litigation, say Mohsin Patel at Factor Risk Management and Imran Benson at Hailsham Chambers.

  • 4 ADR Techniques To Know In Employment Cases

    Author Photo

    With increasing pressure on Employment Tribunal resources and recent presidential guidance highlighting alternative dispute resolution methods, practitioners should know the key types of ADR available for employment claims, how they differ and what the likely future implications are for those involved in tribunal litigation, says Sarah Hooton at Browne Jacobson.

  • EU Privacy Framework Will Aid Int'l Data Transfer Compliance

    Author Photo

    The underlying certification mechanism in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework recently adopted by the European Commission has pros and cons, and by understanding its mechanics businesses and organizations can grasp the means to ensure General Data Protection Regulation compliance in their data transfers, say lawyers at Chiomenti.

  • Opinion

    Plea For A New Int'l Tribunal For Russia's Crime Of Aggression

    Author Photo

    Legal experts worldwide should support the International Bar Association and other organizations calling for a United Nations special criminal tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, or risk standing by as war atrocities and threats to global security increase, says Olga Kostina at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

  • EU Case Shows Wide Approach To Blocking Telecom Mergers

    Author Photo

    The EU court's recent judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms may make it more challenging to secure clearance for telecom and other companies pursuing mergers, illustrating its broad approach to mergers that risk harming competition without creating a dominant position, say Dominic Long and Christopher Best at Allen & Overy.

  • Protecting Reputation In The Age Of Shareholder Activism

    Author Photo

    With the rise in investors using equity ownership to influence the management of a company, shareholder activism has taken on fresh impetus, and general counsel have a critical part to play in safeguarding an organization's reputation by engaging in open communication and implementing effective corporate governance, says Neil McLeod at The PHA Group.

  • Factors Driving Increased Litigation Against European Cos.

    Author Photo

    European government regulation and enforcement, economic inflation and litigation funding are driving an increase in litigation, especially class actions, against corporations in Europe, a trend that seems to be here to stay, says Henning Schaloske at Clyde & Co.

  • US-EU Plan On AI Illustrates Differing Opinions On Regulation

    Author Photo

    While the recently announced U.S.-EU voluntary code of conduct for artificial intelligence demonstrates a commitment to deliberate management of the technology, differing views on AI regulation in both regions — and globally — highlight the challenges of achieving a universal solution, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • EU Ruling Sets Antitrust Analysis For Vertical Price-Fixing

    Author Photo

    The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in Super Bock v. Autoridade da Concorrência marks a significant step forward by introducing well-established EU competition law principles in the context of vertical price-fixing agreements, and seems to align with the U.S. approach, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • What Venezuelan Gold Fight Means For UK One Voice Doctrine

    Author Photo

    The Court of Appeal's judgment in Deutsche Bank v. Central Bank of Venezuela clarifies the application of the "one voice" doctrine to foreign court judgments, highlighting that the reasoning depends on the recognition or nonrecognition of a head of state or government that is contrary to the U.K. government's position, say lawyers at Latham.

  • The Importance Of A Proactive Approach To Workplace Safety

    Author Photo

    Two recent Crown Court cases regarding gross negligence manslaughter highlight the costs of failing to prioritize safety at work, which should act as a catalyst for companies to review and update their health and safety policies, say lawyers at Fieldfisher.

  • How Conflict Management Can Prevent Arbitration Disputes

    Author Photo

    Recent International Chamber of Commerce guidance highlights that thinking beyond traditional arbitration and litigation can deliver huge benefits for businesses, which should be proactive in utilizing mediation, evaluations and expert determinations to expedite resolution and reduce costs, says Jennifer Haywood at Serle Court.

  • Loot Box Regulation In Europe Could Benefit From Reform

    Author Photo

    In light of recent court rulings concerning video game loot boxes, authorities across Europe are taking increasing note of this mechanism, yet with a coordinated approach, appropriate regulations and a focus on enforcement, there is no need to issue a ban, say Elia Kim and Hazal Kirci at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Rare UK Ruling Offers Clarity On Business-To-Consumer Arb.

    Author Photo

    In an unusual ruling, the High Court recently refused to enforce a foreign-seated arbitration award in Payward v. Chechetkin — as doing so would be contrary to public policy — which is an important reminder for businesses to tailor dispute resolution provisions to the needs of specific consumers, say Charlie Morgan and Elizabeth Kantor at Herbert Smith.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Commercial Litigation UK archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!