Disputes Yearbook 2019: Menu
Bench strengths – Sizing up the City’s top dispute teams
The best dispute lawyers often have something of the diva or rockstar about them – argumentative, uncompromising and brash. Michael Davison, head of Hogan Lovells’ litigation, arbitration and employment group, describes Neal Katyal, who runs the firm’s Washington DC disputes team, as such a figure. It is easy to see why: at the age of 48, Katyal had argued more Supreme Court cases than anyone else in US history and appeared as himself in Netflix’s political drama House of Cards.
London, of course, has no shortage of big characters in litigation, even if the clubby world of hard-living, hard-working boys is giving way to a more diverse crowd. To assess the prospects for the disputes market, Legal Business decided to focus on a dozen of the largest players in the City, spanning traditional leaders, the largest specialist firms and a handful of the most expansive US outfits. Continue reading “Bench strengths – Sizing up the City’s top dispute teams”
Gender diversity debate: Quantum of equality
Alex Novarese, Legal Business: Tracey, shall we talk about the background of the All Rise project?
Tracey Dovaston, Barclays: We realised we had an opportunity as part of Barclays’ panel process to make some of our expectations on diversity measurable. We set out the expectations of our panel firms, which include that diverse teams work on Barclays matters. We encourage panel firms to recommend diverse teams at the tender stage and that those teams then work on the matter. We want to be introduced to people other than those we have been working with for many years. Continue reading “Gender diversity debate: Quantum of equality”
Global disputes hubs jostle for position – Where in the world?
For large companies and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, disputes are an inevitable feature of doing business. According to the Litigation Trends Annual Survey, published by Norton Rose Fulbright, US companies now spend $1.2m on disputes per $1bn of annual revenue. Add in the growth of non-US companies involved in disputes and tens of billions of dollars are being spent worldwide in resolving them. Where those disputes are resolved, and in what form, is evolving in line with the global economy – as economic power shifts eastwards, so does the volume of disputes.
Despite this trend, which is underpinned by intense competition from rival dispute resolution centres in Asia, London continues to be the world’s most favoured international disputes destination – at least for now. As rival jurisdictions seize the opportunity to increase their share, the battle for business shows no sign of abating. Continue reading “Global disputes hubs jostle for position – Where in the world?”
Disputes perspectives: Sir David Green QC
Looking back, I spent 25% of my time at the Serious Fraud Office reacting to a campaign against the SFO orchestrated [by] the [UK government]. In order to do that I was building alliances with politicians in the Lords and the Commons, with journalists, with academic and City lawyers, with independent NGOs and with international organisations. They were all hugely supportive, and ultimately the SFO survived.
I’m not saying that there aren’t two sides to this argument, but I fought as I did because I believed very strongly in the need for an independent SFO. The reason being that if you are investigating the kind of companies at the very top of the blue-chip list, people who can literally pick up the phone and speak to the Prime Minister, it is incredibly important in terms of public confidence that the prosecutor has visible and real independence. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Sir David Green QC”
Disputes perspectives: Jolyon Maugham QC
One of the things about being a barrister is that you’re independently-minded, which means all the big Remain campaigns find me a mixed blessing. People’s Vote are trying to draw me in, so they said if I wrote something they’ll get it in one of the broadsheets tomorrow.
I am independently-minded but I do like to play nice with others where possible. So I stayed up until about 10pm putting something together. It’s going in The Independent. Continue reading “Disputes perspectives: Jolyon Maugham QC”
Market Report: Tax Litigation – Out of the shadows
Political pressure to crack down on evasion and Bribery Act-style powers are pushing tax disputes onto boardroom agendas, writes Dominic Carman
Tax investigations and disputes historically rarely made the headlines, except for the occasional world-class footballer or rows over globe-trotting firms slashing their tax bills. Continue reading “Market Report: Tax Litigation – Out of the shadows”
Market Report: White-Collar Crime – Closing the net on corruption
With deferred prosecution agreements proving a success and the scale of investigations increasing, things have never been busier for corporate crime firms. Anna Cole-Bailey discusses
The consensus among white-collar crime partners is that financial misconduct cases are not going away any time soon. With many investigations historic, they leave deep footprints over time. Continue reading “Market Report: White-Collar Crime – Closing the net on corruption”
Market Report: Competition Litigation – Healthy competition
With the trickle of follow-on damages claims after high-profile competition investigations threatening to become a flood, Dominic Carman examines how firms are preparing their clients for battle
‘We have talked about competition litigation emerging as a work stream in civil litigation for a long period of time, but we have seen a real boom in activity over the last few years,’ says Francesca Richmond, partner at Baker McKenzie. ‘Defendants to regulatory investigations should now expect civil claims to be filed against them and account for that in their overall strategy.’ Continue reading “Market Report: Competition Litigation – Healthy competition”
Market Report: IP Disputes – Strong and stable
Despite Brexit uncertainty with the launch of Europe’s central patent court, Dominic Carman finds plenty for IP litigators to get their teeth into
Case volumes in intellectual property (IP) remain, to borrow a phrase, strong and stable. ‘We’ve not seen much variation in terms of the number of cases in front of the UK Patents Court,’ says Gareth Morgan, IP partner at CMS UK. ‘We monitor claim forms on a monthly basis: typically, there are between 100 and 125 cases issued every year in the Patents Court, of which somewhere between ten and 20 go to trial.’ Continue reading “Market Report: IP Disputes – Strong and stable”