The Court of Appeal has awarded a further £375k in damages against Withers while dismissing the firm’s appeal of the case brought by former client Wellesley Partners (WP).
SFO drops case against Slaughter and May client Olympus
The UK Serious Fraud Office has dropped its case against Slaughter and May client Olympus two years after charging the Japanese photo company with making false and misleading financial statements.
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Leader: A challenging time for disputes teams in a polarised market
The return of our Disputes Yearbook finds the wider outlook for contentious work considerably changed over the last 12 months. The flood of disputes that were not so long ago carrying along pretty much all vessels has receded on both sides of the Atlantic. Limitation periods have dramatically slowed the flow of litigation linked to the banking crisis, while rising business confidence has turned the mind of executives to deal-doing rather than cleaning up old messes. It is a more challenging time for the run-of-the-mill disputes team.
Nevertheless, it remains a more-than-respectable environment in which to ply the services of high-end disputes shops. Even if the march of more proactive enforcement and regulation across many sectors has paused for breath, the long-term trends show no suggestion of abandoning the global-wide push towards a more regulated business environment. The creeping extension of corporate liability and the vogue for developing economies to start clamping down on at least the most flagrant corruption look set to continue for years to come.
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Undisputed – the next generation of partners setting the disputes agenda
As contentious work increasingly drives revenues at major City firms, Legal Business canvasses the leading teams to find the new partners setting the disputes agenda.
Over the last decade, an undeniable emphasis on contentious skills has occurred among the elite City firms. While seasoned litigators and arbitration specialists still dominate the landscape, firms are working harder than ever to develop their younger generation of partners.
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Perspectives: Sir Bernard Eder
I’ve had a happy time. My wife said at school I spent most of my time in the library. I came to 4 Essex Court in 1975. This is my home. In those days, 4 Essex Court was the number one set of chambers for commercial work and I met the head Bob MacCrindle. He was Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Obama, Putin… a mixture… it was like getting a part in a Hollywood film because no one got into 4 Essex Court in those days.
I remember Bob saying: ‘I’ll tell you three things. One, I’m leaving’. He went to Shearman & Sterling in Paris around the time tax rates were 98% or something like that. Second, he said, ‘you’re going to buy my chair and table’. I was 22, didn’t have any money and he said ‘that will be £100’. I said ‘okay’. I still have that furniture. Thirdly, he gave me some advice and said: ‘If you don’t have to say anything, don’t.’ That stayed with me. I’ve been incredibly short in my judgments.
Signature Litigation: Policing arbitration – can accountability deficit be addressed?
Natalia Chumak
Partner, Signature Litigation
natalia.chumak@signaturelitigation.com
Nick Storrs
Senior associate, Signature Litigation
Over recent decades, arbitration for dispute resolution has become increasingly popular. Commercial parties are becoming far more amenable to resolving their differences by private means rather than through national court systems, which can be more costly and time-intensive. There is, of course, nothing wrong in engaging in a private, consensual process and there are numerous advantages of doing so. But the framework within which such disputes are resolved must be unimpeachably robust in order to meet the objective in any dispute resolution process: to do justice between the parties in accordance with the law. Accordingly parties’ autonomous right to submit disputes to arbitration needs to be structured within a legislative framework which governs and regulates the arbitral process. This is in part to:
Omani sovereign wealth fund calls in Freshfields to sue Bulgaria
Oman’s largest sovereign wealth fund has hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to take Bulgaria to arbitration over its role in the collapse in Balkan bank KTB, while the Bulgarian government has instructed Arnold & Porter to defend the claim ahead of preferred law firm White & Case.
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Supreme Court rules in favour of wives in hidden wealth divorce case
The UK’s top court has ruled in favour of two wives whose husbands hid the extent of their wealth when settling their divorces, setting a precedent which the wives’ lawyer says will lead to a rise in challenges in divorce settlements.
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Law firms avoid ‘dangerous precedent’ as High Court clarifies PII rules in landmark dispute against insurer AIG
A client of City-based law firm Royds has been granted a landmark ruling over an insurance-related dispute against insurer AIG with the High Court clarifying the Solicitors’ Minimum Terms of Cover rules.
UK to strengthen global grip on financial disputes with autumn launch of specialist banking court
Given that it has long been a part of the sales pitch for English courts that they have the specialist judges to handle complex commercial matters – and London’s status as one of the world’s leading finance centres – it’s strange that it has taken this long. But it has been confirmed this week that the UK is to create a financial court to handle major banking disputes at The Rolls Building in London.