Commercial Litigation Summit - 7 September 2022

EVENT INFORMATION

Date: Wed 7 Sep 2022

Time: 8.15am-6.00pm

Venue: etc.venues St Paul’s, 200 Aldersgate, St Paul’s, London EC1A 4HD

AGENDA

8.15am Registration
9.00am Opening remarks
Tom Baker, Legal Business

9.10am London and disputes – past, present and future
This panel session will focus on London as a global centre for litigation and arbitration, looking at advantages and disadvantages of both forms of dispute resolution in London – and what improvements could be made. Even more importantly, we will consider what the future may hold – including competition for London from both foreign centres but also other locations within the UK.

Lord Wolfson QC, One Essex Court
Richard Swallow, partner, Slaughter & May
Natasha Harrison, managing partner, Pallas LLP

10.00am The term that must be used: AI and its role in the evolution of litigation
AI, mostly the subcategory of machine learning, was introduced to the legal industry in the 2010s. The 2020 global pandemic and associated lockdowns have accelerated the use of technology in the legal industry. What effect is the evolution of technology and AI having on litigation? Is AI overhyped? What are some practical applications of AI and what the future could hold?

Brian Stempel, senior vice president, strategic client solutions, Lineal
Ilan Sherr, legal director, DLA Piper
Christopher David, director, Clifford Chance
Jenni L. Weaver, counsel, trial and global disputes, King & Spalding

10.50am Coffee break

11.10am Quincecare: banks still in the spotlight
After almost thirty years since the original decision, the English courts have, in the last three years, been grappling with a series of cases relating to the so called Quincecare duty. This is a bank’s fiduciary duty to its customer, to execute the customer’s instructions with reasonable care and skill. This includes refraining from making a payment if it has reasonable grounds for believing that the payment is an attempt to misappropriate funds from the customer. The pendulum had swung against the banks in favour of both corporate and retail customers. Where does the balance lie now? There have been some key decisions in 2022, which this panel will address.

Rick Brown, partner, HFW
Jeffery Onions QC, One Essex Court

12.00pm ESG and Vedanta risk: striking the right balance
ESG and sustainability commitments, reflected in organisational policies and processes demonstrate a corporate actor’s corporate responsibility and sustainability credentials. Far from a marketing tag-line regulators, communities and stakeholders are increasingly seeking to find ways to litigate ESG matters, including in relation to crisis responses, ESG failures, greenwashing and misrepresentations about ESG performance and credentials. The panel discusses emerging ESG litigation risks and how corporate actors can try to strike the right balance between managing this risk and carrying out their activities.

Geraint Webb QC, Henderson Chambers
Anka Taylor, head of Aon transaction solutions, London and EMEA, Aon
Stuart Doxford, partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Daniel D’Ambrosio, associate, Kirkland & Ellis

12.50pm Lunch

1.50pm The anatomy of a CAT claim: mounting, funding, and defending cases at the Competition Appeal Tribunal
The number of new cases filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal is at a record high. A more accessible threshold for certifying claims has led to many law firms seeking to gain market share and capitalise on the spike in activity in this area. This session brings together experts who will discuss what a good claim looks like, how defendants are likely to respond, and the important role litigation funding is playing in enabling these cases to be brought.

Stephen O’Dowd, senior director of litigation funding, Harbour
Maurice MacSweeney, director of litigation funding and sales planning, Harbour

2.40pm Making your data tell a story
The value that advanced technology brings to eDisclosure and investigations is now universally recognised. Technology has transformed what used to be a largely manual process – reducing cost while simultaneously driving improvements in speed and performance. But it’s important not to lose sight of the role that human skills and experience can play in drawing inferences from data and ‘making it tell a story’. In this panel discussion, a group of experts will explore the interplay between analytics and expertise, and discuss how best to strike a balance between mind and machine.

- Justin Collins, regional vice president, legal solutions, Epiq
- Beatriz Verdeja, advanced technologies consultant, Epiq

3.30pm Coffee break

3.40pm Panel TBC

4.40pm Closing remarks
4.50pm Drinks and canapés
6.00pm Event concludes

SPEAKERS

Lord Wolfson, QC, One Essex Court

Former Minister for Justice in the House of Lords, Lord (David) Wolfson QC is one of the leading advocates of his generation and attracts instructions in the most complex and high value disputes. He has been instructed in many of the major banking and commercial disputes in recent years, and his practice extends over a broad range of commercial law, both in litigation and international arbitration. He also accepts appointments as Arbitrator (both sole arbitrator and as part of a panel).

Richard Swallow, head of disputes and investigations group, Slaughter and May

Richard Swallow is head of Slaughter and May’s disputes and investigations group and has over 25 years experience representing clients in high-value, multi-jurisdictional proceedings and significant global regulatory and criminal investigations. Areas of particular expertise include commercial and corporate disputes, group/class action litigation (competition, mass tort and securities claims), banking litigation, corporate crime and sanctions investigations. He is currently acting for Credit Suisse in its defence to claims brought in the English High Court by the Republic of Mozambique arising out of the $2bn financing of state tuna fishery and maritime security projects.

Natasha Harrison, managing partner, Pallas LLP

Founding partner and legal powerhouse, Natasha is a barrister and solicitor who specialises in complex commercial litigation and arbitration disputes. On speed dial with some of the biggest global companies, her expertise lies in high profile, high-value cases for hedge funds, private equity funds, investment banks, corporations and governments. With a portfolio of encompassing high-stakes business disputes, distressed debt investments, sovereign debt investments, investments in special situations and emerging markets, securitizations and complex finance arrangements, and restructuring disputes, she has a reputation as being one of the leading litigators of the most important investor disputes of the last decade.

Awarded the Heroes Woman Role Model title for the third year running, Natasha is pioneering the way for gender diversity in the workplace. In 2021 she won Legal Advisor of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards and Outstanding Winner of Leaders in Law. She was also shortlisted for a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Law Society, Managing Partner of the Year in 2021 and she is top ranked in Legal 500.

Brian Stempel, senior vice president, strategic client solutions, Lineal

As a 27-year industry veteran, Brian Stempel has developed a sterling reputation as an executive translator for practice technology strategy and operational excellence across leading Global 100 firms and their Fortune 1000 clients. He is an intuitive leader with acute business acumen and expertise in channel development while excelling at collaborating with legal teams to develop innovative, value-creating solutions.

llan Sherr, executive director, Aiscension; legal director, DLA Piper

llan Sherr is an experienced competition lawyer at DLA Piper and executive director of Aiscension, DLA Piper’s award-winning compliance monitoring tool. Ilan has 20 years’ experience in advising clients in competition law, such as cartels, anti-competitive agreements, merger control and state aid as well as EU law, trade and free movement. For the last four years Ilan has also led the development of Aiscension.

Aiscension is a neural-net AI, built to detect cartel behaviours and offer organisations additional compliance security against increasing regulatory scrutiny. Since launching the cartel module in 2021, Ilan has continued to develop the capabilities of Aiscension, and is working with a team of DLA Piper lawyers to train the AI to detect bribery and corruption. The module for anti-bribery and corruption will be launched in Autumn 2022.

Christopher David, director of white collar crime, Clifford Chance

Christopher David is director of white collar crime at Clifford Chance. Christopher specialises in representing both companies and individuals in white collar crime matters mainly involving allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, insider dealing, tax evasion, cartels or money laundering. These matters predominantly involve investigations undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the National Crime Agency (NCA), as well as overseas agencies, such as the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, Christopher has considerable experience in cross-border corporate and internal investigations on behalf of multi-national corporations and major financial services clients. These investigations often involve multiple jurisdictions, as well as compliance issues and risk management. Christopher also has experience working as a member of a DoJ-appointed independent Compliance Monitorship team and is the co-author of A Practical Guide to INTERPOL and Red Notices published by Bloomsbury Professional.

Jenni L. Weaver, counsel, trial and global disputes, King & Spalding

Jenni L. Weaver is an attorney in King & Spalding’s E-Discovery practice. Her practice focuses on electronic discovery issues, particularly with respect to representation of clients in matters of product liability and governmental investigations. Her primary focus is ensuring her clients’ European operations and electronic discovery processes are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Additionally, Jenni provides advice and counsel to clients to help limit the scope and cost of document review through managing data processing and proper metadata field mapping, early case assessment, search term development, developing efficient workflows, workable review protocols. Jenni works closely with in-house counsel, co-counsel and vendors to ensure consistency, efficiency and quality throughout the duration of the document review process. Jenni also works with clients to develop standardized ESI protocols, records management policies, records retention schedules and litigation hold practices.

Rick Brown, HFW

Rick Brown is co-head of the fraud and insolvency team. Rick specialises in complex, high-value cross-border fraud and insolvency matters, including those which involve claims for breach of contract, fraud and/or breach of fiduciary duties and asset tracing. He has also worked on a number of offshore trust matters in the Caribbean, Gibraltar and elsewhere. He regularly deals with and instructs investigators and offshore lawyers.

Rick has considerable experience in acting for insolvency practitioners, mainly on contentious complex cross-border insolvency matters. He has valuable experience of interlocutory hearings and trials in the Commercial Court in the British Virgin Islands and elsewhere in the Caribbean and has significant experience acting for clients on claims involving parties from Russia and the CIS, as well as the Middle East.

Rick is also ranked in Who’s Who Legal for asset recovery and has been recommended in the dispute resolution (commercial litigation) section of The Legal 500.

Jeffery Onions QC, One Essex Court

Jeffery Onions has a broad commercial practice, both as an advocate and in an advisory context. He has particular expertise in banking/finance/structured finance, private equity, company/insolvency, civil fraud, energy/oil and gas/renewables, insurance/reinsurance, shareholder disputes and international arbitration. He was instructed on behalf of Barclays in the successful defence of the claim in PCP Partners v Barclays.

Geraint Webb, QC, Henderson Chambers

Geraint Webb QC is a barrister at Henderson Chambers. He is recommended as a leading in silk in 8 different practice areas across Chambers UK and the Legal 500, namely: Group Actions, Product Liability, Property Damage, Environmental Law, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Professional Negligence, Insurance & Reinsurance, and Inquests & Inquiries.
He has acted in many group actions, mass tort claims, multiparty commercial actions and multi-party arbitrations. He is typically instructed on behalf of corporate defendants and insurers. He is regularly instructed in respect of major property damage claims, environmental damage claims, human rights claims and product liability claims, including pharmaceuticals/medical devices, automobiles, consumer and industrial products. His work involves many different sectors including oil and gas/extractive industries, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, life sciences, food and drink, and consumer goods. His work frequently involves cross-border disputes and jurisdictional issues as well as related insurance coverage disputes.

Anka Taylor, head of Aon transaction solutions, London and EMEA, Aon

Anka leads the Aon Transaction Solutions team in London and across EMEA, focusing on complex, cross-border transactions for Aon’s clients in the region.
She has almost 20 years’ experience in the M&A insurance industry, as a senior underwriter for 10 years (originally responsible for establishing and developing the insurer’s M&A business), and subsequently as a broker for W&I, tax and litigation insurance, including working on several of the largest-ever transaction solutions insurance placements.
Having qualified and practiced initially as a litigator at Macfarlanes, Anka’s rigorous approach and perspectives across all aspects of M&A insurance underwriting and placement, make her a go-to broker for managing and executing complex transactions.

Stuart Doxford, partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Stuart Doxford is a litigation and arbitration partner for Kirkland & Ellis in London, his vast experience extends across financial markets and commercial litigation with a particular focus acting for financial institutions and asset management firms in a broad range of high value disputes.
Stuart has contributed to publications such as the AIMA Journal, Financier Worldwide and Legal Business Disputes elaborating on mitigating litigation risk and the complexities of climate and ESG related disputes. In 2018, he won the ‘Most Innovative Use of Technology’ at The Lawyer Awards and was shortlisted for the FT Innovation Award for developing an online risk management tool to ensure clients were prepared for the most complex challenges associated with jurisdiction, governing law and enforcement of judgments following Brexit.

Daniel D’Ambrosio, associate, Kirkland & Ellis

Daniel D’Ambrosio is a ESG & Impact associate for Kirkland & Ellis in London, his experience in ESG and human rights risk advisory extends across corporate, commercial and sustainable finance transactions, regulatory compliance matters and complex human rights and ESG disputes.
Supporting clients to navigate the increasing ESG regulatory landscape, he has advised on identifying and mitigating ESG risks across a range of compliance and transactional matters, including through the development of policies, risk assessments, diligence procedures and investigation protocols; as well as, constructing contractual mechanisms to mitigate risks arising in business relationships and across supply chains

Stephen O’Dowd, senior director of litigation funding, Harbour

Maurice MacSweeney, director of litigation funding and sales planning, Harbour

Justin Collins, regional vice president, legal solutions, Epiq

Justin Collins is regional vice president for EMEA at Epiq, responsible for sales and account management through teams located in the region. He has more than 20 years’ experience in sales, product management, learning and development and marketing across a variety of sectors. Prior to Epiq, Collins worked at Alternative Networks plc where he headed up various functions in sales, product management, learning and development, and marketing. During the course of his career, he has specialised in go to market strategy, commercial packaging, acquisition integration, and the incubation of new business units. Prior to Epiq, Collins worked at Alternative Networks plc where he headed up various functions in sales, product management, learning and development, and marketing. During the course of his career, he has specialised in go to market strategy, commercial packaging, acquisition integration, and the incubation of new business units.

Beatriz Verdeja, advanced technologies consultant, Epiq

Beatriz Verdeja, advanced technologies consultant, is a Spanish qualified lawyer based in Epiq’s Zurich office. She has worked in the eDisclosure industry for nine years. Currently, with expertise in both law and technology, Beatriz helps clients solve complex legal matters with the use of advanced analytics software and processes. LLB Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Madrid)| LLM EU Competition Law King’s College (London).