Partners continue to trickle out of DWF ahead of its proposed £1bn IPO, with the latest two leavers being snapped up by Fieldfisher. Iain Thomas and Christian Francis are to join Fieldfisher’s real estate finance practice. Thomas led the real estate practice at DWF, where he has been since 2014. He was previously a partner at […]

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Allen & Overy’s CEO of Peerpoint, Richard Punt, is leaving the firm after spearheading the contract lawyer business for five years, The Lawyer can reveal. Punt joined A&O as chief executive officer of Peerpoint in 2014, just under a year after it launched. He had previously been at Deloitte for 18 years, where he was managing partner for […]

The post Another loss for A&O as Peerpoint CEO leaves firm appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Starting today, The Lawyer will be previewing the biggest, most critical cases coming through the English courts on a weekly basis.

Today (Monday 14 January) marks the new term in the English courts and this week sees major cases involving Brexit, betting and anti-bodies.

But before all of that, the High Court welcomes a new judge to its bench as Blackstone Chambers’ silk Nathalie Lieven QC is sworn in following Mrs Justice Pauffley’s retirement.

Lieven has been a deputy High Court judge since 2016 and her promotion to the bench in full was confirmed on 20 December. She will not be the sole High Court arrival in 2019 as the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary says that it is likely another appointment will be made “in the coming months”.

On to the cases.

Sports fans the country over should be keeping a close eye on Racing Partnership Limited & Arena Racing Group v Done Brothers Ltd & Sports Information Systems with the outcome being potentially devastating for televised sports.

Racing Partnership and Arena are challenging the legality of televised pundits commentating on live screens which they can see but are obscured to the public with shows like Sky’s Gillette Soccer Saturday carving out a formidable reputation with this formula for the last 27 years.

Should the Done Brothers – arguably best known for founding the betting chain BetFred – lose, it could spell the end for this format of sports broadcasting in horse racing, football and beyond.

The claimants have turned to Blackstone Chambers’ Ian Mill QC and Tom Cleaver QC, instructed by K&L Gates partner John Mangin who will be facing Blackstone Chambers’ colleague Michael Bloch QC and Brick Court Chambers’ Craig Morrison, instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang partner Dan Tench.

This morning also sees the beginning of a 14-day hearing for Allen & Overy client American pharmaceutical business Eli Lilly.

The US business is seeking clarification over the status of a patent for its anti-IL-17 drug Taltz which is used in the treatment of psoriasis. Eli Lilly is taking on fellow American company and biotech business Genentech which has turned to IP boutique Marks & Clerk partner Mike Gilbert. His clients include some of the biggest names in this tranche of litigation, having represented Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Roche to name just three.

The matchup between arguably the magic circle’s best IP practice and the boutique is bound to be a fascinating contest, not least as the practice looks to reshape itself following Nicola Dagg’s departure to Kirkland & Ellis in May last year.

Before her departure, Dagg was co-leading on the Eli Lilly case. The outcome of this litigation will provide a much clearer indication of how the partners now acting on it – Mark Heaney, Neville Cordell and Mark Ridgway – will carry the practice without her.

Staying in the magic circle, Clifford Chance is instructing barristers from Wilberforce and Brick Court in a key Brexit dispute over a lease’s break clause.

Canary Wharf Group (CWG) v European Medicines Agency (EMA) kicks off today with CWG trying to prevent the EMA from breaking its long-term lease early, having only signed a contract until 2039 five years ago.

The EMA argues that it did not foresee Brexit becoming a reality upon signing the tenancy contract. CWG has taken issues with the EMA’s intention to relocate to the Dutch capital of Amsterdam and is determined to make the EMA honour its contract.

Clifford Chance director of property litigation Ben Hatton has instructed Brick Court’s Lord Anderson KBE QC and Zahra Al-Rikabi, and Wilberforce Chambers’ Joanne Wicks QC to take on DLA Piper partner Peter Fletcher and his counsel team of Wilberforce Chambers’ Jonathan Seitler QC and Emer Murphy, and Blackstone Chambers’ Tom de la Mare QC and James Segan.

Early this week also sees Fountain Court and One Essex Court doing what they’ve built their names on by acting on big-ticket banking litigation. This time, One Essex Court’s Alain Choo-Choy QC leads Fountain Court’s Laura John and Max Kasriel, as well as Blackstone Chambers’ Robert Weekes, instructed by Memery Crystal partner Mark Whelan who are bringing a case against French bank Natixis. Their client, financial services business Marex Spectron, has been in a long-running battle against the French bank with the latest installment of this commercial court claim set for a three-week hearing.

The 2015-called prodigy Kasriel finds himself on another of the week’s major upcoming cases and a pertinent one following the chaos at Gatwick just before Christmas.

Blanche v easyJet was heard at first instance last April with the airline gaining a decision in its favour over its duty to pay compensation over delayed flights. The judge found that certain air traffic control decisions would amount to ‘extraordinary circumstances’, leaving the airline in the clear for paying out compensation.

The case has progressed to the Court of Appeal where Fountain Court’s John Taylor QC and Ben Lynch, instructed by Bott & Co partner Paul Hinchcliffe, will face their chambers’ colleagues Akhil Shah QC and Kasriel, and Norton Rose Fulbright partner Robert Springthorpe.

The post In court this week: Brexit, betting and (anti)bodies appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

This week The Lawyer launches the Litigation Tracker online, a digitisation of its litigation news and analysis service. It will include judgments from 15 English courts since 2015 with data points including counsel, law firms, judges, clients and sectors all fully searchable.

The Litigation Tracker now holds over 8,500 cases involving nearly 8,000 companies.

That data is being supplemented by exclusive intelligence from The Lawyer’s award-winning editorial team, which will include a weekly round-up of upcoming cases in court. This week sees Brick Court and Blackstone in court being instructed by Clifford Chance and DLA Piper.

For details on how to subscribe to this super-premium service, contact ben.oakshott@centaurmedia.com or on 020 7970 4275.

The post New from The Lawyer: the Litigation Tracker goes digital appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Clifford Chance has ramped up recruitment efforts in Luxembourg with a second partner hire so far this year, taking on magic circle rival Linklaters’ funds partner Emmanuel-Frédéric Henrion this time.

Henrion joins Clifford Chance as a partner in the investment funds practice in Luxembourg. This is the firm’s second lateral partner hire in the European financial centre, following the hire of tax partner Geoffrey Scardoni earlier this month from DLA Piper.

Henrion was previously a partner in Linklaters’ Luxembourg office, where he spent 16 years and was most recently the leader of its Luxembourg asset management practice. He is particularly experienced in undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS), structured funds and derivatives.

“Luxembourg is the second largest investment fund centre in the world, and its importance is steadily growing,” said Mark Shipman, Clifford Chance global funds and investment management sector partner.

“We look to significantly increase the scale of our Luxembourg operations,” he added.

The appointment of Henrion will push the total number of Clifford Chance’s partners in Luxembourg to nine.

In September 2018, Clifford Chance revamped its leadership lineup in Luxembourg, creating a senior partner role for the office in what appears to be a strategic Brexit play. Partner Steve Jacoby will take up his role as office managing partner in May this year – just over a month after the UK’s exit from the European Union on 29 March – while Christian Kremer will become the magic circle firm’s first Luxembourg senior partner.

A number of global firms have recently launched into Luxembourg or expanded its team there. Ashurst, for example, opened in Luxembourg in October 2018 with the hire of two partners from Loyens & Loeff’s Luxembourg office.

Last week, Dechert hired Ashurst’s counsel Marianna Tothova as a partner in a bid to boost its investment management practice in Luxembourg.

The post Clifford Chance expands in Luxembourg with second hire in a month appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Plugging a gap in its leveraged finance offering in the City, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson has secured a new partner in London from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy. Neil Caddy has been a partner at Milbank for over six years, joining in 2012 from Mayer Brown. His practice focuses on leveraged financing and restructuring, […]

The post Fried Frank plugs finance gap with Milbank hire appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

The 2018 iteration of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases showcased an appetite for public interest and this year looks set to intensify with Brexit seemingly still set for March. The year’s first critical case in this vein kicked off today (14 January) in Canary Wharf Group v European Medicines Agency with several more to follow. Even though Brexit’s consistency is yet to be decided, it is still going to cast a wide-reaching litigious shadow across this year’s courts.

Put Brexit to one side for a moment and a whole range of fascinating cases emerge.

When it begins in March, Autonomy & Ors v Lynch & Hussein will attract some of the most intense press coverage of any case in the English and Welsh courts this year. The defendants are facing serious allegations of fraud from their former business and its buyer Hewlett Packard over Autonomy’s $12bn sale in 2011.

Autonomy is also the subject of a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) investigation alongside big four accountancy firm Deloitte. With the regulator facing an existential threat following Sir John Kingman’s review of its operations, the FRC needs to prove that it has the mettle to take on the biggest cases and get the right results.

The FRC, though, is not the only major regulator coming under fire in this list as the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is fighting a claim from water tank supplier Balmoral alleging misconduct from one of the UK’s most significant regulatory bodies.

Naturally, with the biggest cases come the biggest names in litigation; both from the Bar and private practice.

Allen & Overy, for example, has thrown almost all of its IP weight behind telecoms client Huawei with Mark Heaney, Neville Cordell and Mark Ridgway all acting on its case against Conversant; Brick Court’s Roger Masefield QC will represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria in its claim against JP Morgan which has its counsel team led by Fountain Court’s Rosalind Phelps; while Slater & Gordon has Masefield’s Brick Court colleague Simon Salzedo QC facing Essex Court’s Richard Millett QC in a dispute stemming from its 2015 acquisition of Quindell against the Watchstone Group.

Read on to see which others have made it into The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2019.

(1) Canary Wharf (BP4) T1 Limited, (2) Canary Wharf (BP4) T2 Limited and (3) Canary Wharf Management Limited

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European Medicines Agency

High Court, Business and Property Court, 14 January, one week

Battles between tenants and landlords are common, but this £500m dispute between the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Canary Wharf Group (CWG) is on another level from most.

After the 2016 Brexit referendum, the EMA announced that it would be relocating its headquarters from London’s Canary Wharf to Amsterdam. Now it argues that it should be able to break the 25-year lease it signed for 10 floors of office space with CWG in 2014 owing to the unforeseen event (five years ago) of the UK leaving the European Union.

Significant businesses are moving parts of their work away from London, though the EMA’s 2017 announcement of intent to relocate raised eyebrows. To prevent this, the CWG immediately commenced proceedings against its tenant. Should the decision go the way of the EMA, it could open the floodgates to an exodus of companies from the capital exercising their freedom to move operations to major European centres.

Wilberforce Chambers has QCs and juniors on both sides of this debate, instructed by Clifford Chance and DLA Piper, with Brick Court and Blackstone QCs advising on specific aspects of EU law.

For the claimant, (1) Canary Wharf (BP4) T1 Limited, (2) Canary Wharf (BP4) T2 Limited and (3) Canary Wharf Management Limited

Wilberforce Chambers’ Joanne Wicks QC and Jonathan Chew, and Brick Court’s Lord David Anderson QC, instructed by Clifford Chance director of property litigation Ben Hatton

For the defendant, European Medicines Agency

Wilberforce Chambers’ Jonathan Seitler QC and Emer Murphy, and Blackstone Chambers’ Tom de la Mare QC, instructed by DLA Piper partners Ian Brierley and Peter Fletcher

N

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Royal Bank of Scotland and National Crime Agency

High Court, Commercial Court, 28 January, five weeks

The claimant in this case, known as N, is described as a “large and well-known payment institution” which fell afoul of suspected money laundering from RBS. As a result, RBS froze the suspected accounts before terminating the entire banking relationship without notice. This, N claims, created an existential crisis and it is now seeking damages on allegations of negligence and breach of contract. Additionally, it is also seeking confirmation that its accounts did not contain any criminal property.

In a novel turn, this case raises questions on how the Proceeds of Crime Act overlaps with the banking contract held between RBS and N.

To defend in this battle, RBS has brought in panel firm Dentons with partner Daren Allen leading. Allen has turned to Wilberforce Chambers’ John Wardell QC and Fountain Court’s Nicholas Medcroft, as the trio face off against Howard Kennedy and Quadrant Chambers in one of the year’s first major banking trials.

For the claimant, N

Quadrant Chambers’ Paul Downes QC and Emily Saunderson, instructed by Howard Kennedy partners Fiona Hinds and Dominic Offord

For the defendant, RBS

Wilberforce Chambers’ John Wardell QC and Fountain Court’s Nicholas Medcroft, instructed by Dentons partner Daren Allen

For the interested party, the National Crime Agency

Monckton Chambers’ Philip Moser QC and Imogen Pound, instructed by the NCA’s in-house legal department

(1) Alexander Mayr, (2) Rouver Investment SÀRL, (3) Life Sciences Partners Limited and (4) Spokane Investments Limited

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CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang 

High Court, Business & Property Court, 28 January, four weeks

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang’s UK arm is facing a multi-million-pound professional negligence claim after an aborted deal for a former private equity client allegedly resulted in £65m worth of losses.

Spokane Investments, an asset management business with ties to the Swarovski family, was a client of the firm’s between 2010 and 2012, seeking advice on the acquisition of a European pharmaceuticals business. At the time, the deal was reportedly worth up to €1bn.

Former Spokane director Alexander Mayr alleges that, after the plug was pulled, his former advisers used confidential documents to persuade the business to terminate his contract and commence legal proceedings against him in three jurisdictions. Most pertinently, Mayr alleges a breach of fiduciary responsibility over a 50 per cent reduction clause in relation to its fees which would be triggered in the event the deal was aborted. That clause, Mayr says, was not honoured with the firm demanding its fees in full.

CMS denies all claims brought against it and is set to go head-to-head against its former client at the end of January, with the case expected to last for the duration of February.

For the claimants, (1) Alexander Mayr, (2) Rouver Investment SÀRL, (3) Life Sciences Partners Limited and (4) Spokane Investments Limited

4 Stone Buildings’ Jonathan Crow QC, James Knott and Karl Anderson, and Serle Court’s Justin Higgo and Stephanie Thompson instructed by Asserson Law senior partner Trevor Asserson

For the defendant, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang 

4 New Square’s Roger Stewart QC and Crown Office Chambers’ Daniel Shapiro, instructed by Simmons & Simmons partner James Pollack

Balmoral

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Competition & Markets Authority

High Court, Commercial Court, 29 January, two days

When water tanks supplier Balmoral was called by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) as an expert witness in a sector-specific cartel case, it wasn’t expecting to get caught up in the main body of the investigation. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened. Balmoral was not found to be a part of the cartel itself, but it is alleged that the CMA went after it separately and it was fined £130,000 as a result.

The CMA alleged that Balmoral took part in an “unlawful information exchange” in a July 2012 meeting where the water tank supplier was invited to join the long-running price-fixing cartel. Though Balmoral declined a place, it did exchange information which the CMA claims was competitively sensitive.

Balmoral is now claiming against the CMA to say that its cartel process is flawed. This is a case that could see a big shakeup in the way the regulator runs its operations at a key time in its history.

For the claimant, Balmoral Water Tanks

Brick Court’s Robert O’Donoghue QC, instructed by K&L Gates partner Neil Bayliss

For the defendant, the CMA

Monckton Chambers’ Rob Williams, instructed by the CMA’s in-house legal department

The Federal Republic of Nigeria

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JP Morgan Chase Bank NA

High Court, Commercial Court, 4 February, two days

This year JP Morgan Chase will defend a claim of more than $1bn over an allegedly fraudulent and corrupt scheme to sell the rights to an east Nigerian oilfield to a consortium of Shell and Italian energy business ENI.

The African nation claims that the sum was held in an account and paid out to progress the oil and gas businesses’ plans. A number of prominent Nigerian officials are also facing allegations of corruption, including former president Goodluck Jonathan.

This hearing focuses on JP Morgan’s attempts to have the claim struck out but RPC partner Alan Williams, instructing a Brick Court team led by Roger Masefield QC, is arguing that the bank breached the Quincecare duty established in 1992 (in Barclays Bank plc v Quincecare Ltd). Under this duty, a bank is effectively prohibited from making payments without a proper inquiry, which the claimant is alleging its financier has breached.

Nigeria claims that JP Morgan was informed that payment instructions could be used to defraud it and, if it is found to have ignored those instructions, this could prove a pivotal judgment for banks’ Quincecare duties.

For the claimant, The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Brick Court’s Roger Masefield QC, Richard Blakeley and Ben Woolgar, instructed by RPC’s Alan Williams

For the defendant, JP Morgan Chase Bank NA

Fountain Court’s Rosalind Phelps QC and David Murray, instructed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Sarah Parkes

Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and Piraeus Bank SA

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Talbot Underwriting Ltd

High Court, Commercial Court, 18 February, 12 weeks

In early July 2011, the oil tanker Brilliante Virtuoso was boarded by pirates while passing through one of the world’s most dangerous shipping routes, the Gulf of Aden. The 26-strong crew were rounded up and narrowly escaped with their lives after a fire was started which tore through the ship, destroying its cargo.

The claimants maintain that the events of that night eight-and-a-half years ago should allow it to trigger its war risk insurance policy from Lloyds of London syndicate Talbot Underwriting.

Talbot disputes this chain of events, alleging the fire was the result of willful misconduct on the owners’ part. It has even gone so far as to suggest that the supposed pirates were affiliated with the claimants and were assisted by the crew to damage that ship’s cargo.

A two-day cross-examination of the Brilliante Virtuoso’s owner Marios Iliopoulos resulted in Mr Justice Flaux siding with the defendant, awarding costs and £750,000 in May 2016. This appeal battle is set to be one of the most intriguing cases to settle exactly what happened on that night near the Horn of Africa.

For the claimants, Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and Piraeus Bank SA

7KBW’s Jonathan Gaisman QC, Richard Waller QC and Keir Howie, instructed by Norton Rose Fulbright partner Chris Zavos

For the defendant, Talbot Underwriting Ltd

7KBW’s Peter MacDonald Eggers QC, Richard Sarll and Tim Jenns, instructed by Clyde & Co partner Simon Jackson

Huawei

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Conversant

High Court, Patents Court, March, June and November, two weeks each for March and June and three weeks in November

An enormous patent case that will undoubtedly have repercussions the world over lands in the English courts this spring. Chinese telecoms business Huawei, along with fellow Chinese co-defendants ZTE, are challenging US marketing company Conversant on jurisdictional grounds over the essentiality of a range of patents the defendant claims to hold.

Parallel proceedings are already making their way through German and Chinese courts, though this will build on a crucial decision in the IP world handed down in the Unwired Planet case, which saw its appeal dismissed in October 2018 against the Allen & Overy-represented Huawei.

For the magic circle firm, it is a key test of how its prestigious IP practice will operate following heavyweight partner Nicola Dagg’s departure to Kirkland & Ellis last May. The firm has three partners working for one of its longest-standing IP clients in Mark Heaney, Neville Cordell and Mark Ridgway as well as three associates and one senior associate. If it doesn’t provide a market-changing decision, it will certainly reveal plenty about the magic circle firm’s practice in the future.

For the claimant, Huawei

8 New Square’s Daniel Alexander QC, Michael Tappin QC and Three New Square’s Miles Copeland, instructed by Allen & Overy partners Mark Heaney, Neville Cordell and Mark Ridgway

For the co-claimant, ZTE

Bristows partner Sophie Lawrance, co-instructing counsel

For the defendant, Conversant

8 New Square’s Adrian Speck QC, instructed by EIP Legal partners Robert Lundie Smith and Gary Moss

London Borough of Hillingdon & Ors

v

Secretary of State for Transport

High Court, Divisional Court, 4 March, 10 days

The bitterly disputed battle of whether Gatwick or Heathrow would be getting a new runway, or extend an existing one, appears to have gone in the latter’s favour. As a result, this is spawning a wealth of public law cases.

This ‘rolled-up’ case is an amalgamation of five separate claims to be heard over 10 days, while a sixth was refused permission to proceed. Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling is now facing claims from the London Borough of Hillingdon and a host of pro-environmental activist groups.

On 5 June 2018, the Airports National Policy Statement recommended that a new north-west runway be built rather than extend that existing northern runway. The controversial third runway’s total cost is estimated at around £14bn so the outcome of this combined case is certain to prove crucial to the future of the project as well as the airport’s overall business. It is sure to prove a real test for Grayling’s credentials as transport secretary.

For the first claimant, Heathrow Airport Limited

Francis Taylor Buildings’ Michael Humphries QC and Richard Turney, instructed by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner partner Tim Smith

For the second claimant, Arora Holdings Limited

Landmark Chambers’ Charles Banner, instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang partners Ashley Damiral and Caroline Hobson

For the third claimant, Friends of the Earth

Landmark Chambers’ Andrew Parkinson, instructed by Leigh Day lawyer Rowan Smith

For the defendant, Secretary of State for Transport

Landmark Chambers’ James Maurici QC, David Blundell, Richard Moules, Andrew Byass, Heather Sargent, and Monckton Chambers’ Robert Palmer and Alan Bates, instructed by Government Legal Department lawyer Joe Sullivan

ACL Netherlands BV (as successor to Autonomy Corporation Limited), Hewlett-Packard Vision BV, Autonomy Systems Limited, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise New Jersey

v

Dr Michael Lynch & Mr Sushovan Hussain

High Court, Business and Property Court, 25 March, 21 weeks

With its roots dating back to the $11bn sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011, this is likely to be one of the year’s most bitterly fought contests between buyers and sellers.

HP alleges that it overpaid by at least $5bn for the software company, with founder Michael Lynch and former chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain now defending themselves against the largest fraud claim ever levelled at individuals in the English courts.

Travers Smith has instructed barristers from One Essex Court, including the revered Laurie Rabinowitz QC, and Brick Court for HP to take on Clifford Chance and 4 Stone Buildings for Lynch, and Simmons & Simmons and Brick Court for Hussain. The latter could face a jail sentence in the US after being found guilty of fraud, while Lynch was also charged with the same offence in late November, though the magic circle firm moved swiftly to vigorously deny the claims against its client.

Lynch has already announced a $160m counterclaim against HP for reputational damage, while the Financial Reporting Council investigates his actions and those of Deloitte during the sale to uncover how the valuation could have been so overestimated.

For the claimants, HP Group

One Essex Court’s Laurence Rabinowitz QC, Conall Patton, Emma Jones, Fountain Court’s Patrick Goodall QC and Brick Court’s Max Schaefer, instructed by Travers Smith partners Toby Robinson, Andrew King, Jan-Jaap Baer and Stephanie Lee

For the first defendant, Dr Michael Lynch

4 Stone Buildings’ Robert Miles QC, Richard Hill QC and Sharif Shivji, instructed by Clifford Chance partner Kelwin Nicholls and senior associates Andrew Murn and Harriet Slack

For the second defendant, Sushovan Hussain

Brick Court’s Simon Salzedo QC, instructed by Simmons & Simmons partner Ian Hammond

Campaign Against Arms Trade & Ors

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Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

High Court, Commercial Court, 9 April, three days

Amid rising anti-Government sentiment over Brexit, this challenge to the UK’s continued sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia would be easy to miss, though it is in no way any less significant.

The claimant – the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) – has brought this challenge to the trade at a time of intense scrutiny around Saudi Arabia’s attitude to human rights. Following the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death at the nation’s embassy in Istanbul, the pressure has been mounting and the CAAT now argues the UK must end its armament trading relationship.

As a mark of the relevance of this point to the British Government, ‘Treasury Devil’ Sir James Eadie QC is to work with Matrix Chambers’ Jonathan Glasson QC, himself a well-respected human rights practitioner.

CAAT has turned to specialists in the field Leigh Day with Brick Court tenants Martin Chamberlain QC and Jemima Stratford QC working in tandem.

This three-day hearing could significantly alter the UK’s trading relationship, not only with Saudi Arabia, but with any nation of a similar public profile.

For the first claimant, the Campaign Against Arms Trade

Brick Court’s Martin Chamberlain QC, instructed by Leigh Day partner Rosa Curling

For the second, third and fourth claimants, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch UK

Brick Court’s Jemima Stratford QC, instructed by Deighton Pierce Glynn partner Ahmed Ali

For the defendant, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Blackstone Chambers’ Sir James Eadie QC and Matrix Chambers’ Jonathan Glasson QC, instructed by the Government Legal Department

Bailey & Ors

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GlaxoSmithKline UK Limited

High Court, Queen’s Bench Division, late April, 11 weeks

Though originally listed as a Top 20 case in 2011, the litigation over whether GlaxoSmithKline’s antidepressant drug Seroxat is a defective product is finally able to kick on after Addleshaw Goddard played an instrumental role in changing the litigation funding market.

Fortitude Law will be representing more than 100 claimants after securing a group litigation order, though Addleshaws was able to obtain ATE insurance which broke the ‘Arkin cap’. Though the value of the case is comparatively low to some on this list – valued at just north of £10m – the ramifications of a successful decision for Fortitude could result in the long-promised tsunami of cash from the litigation funders.

John Kelleher, the Addleshaws partner originally handling the GSK relationship, has since moved to offshore firm Carey Olsen, with City-based partner Louisa Caswell taking over following his departure. The outcome of this case will undoubtedly send shockwaves through the funding market, with effects likely to be of keen interest to other big pharma entities and product liability lawyers, too.

For the claimant, Bailey & Ors

2 Temple Gardens’ Jacqueline Perry QC and Niazi Fetto, and Crown Office Chambers’ Michael Kent QC and Harry Lambert, instructed by Fortitude Law partner Darren Hanison

For the defendant, GlaxoSmithKline UK

Henderson Chambers’ Charles Gibson QC, Malcolm Sheehan QC, Andrew Kinnier QC, Adam Heppinstall and James Williams, instructed by Addleshaw Goddard partner Louisa Caswell

Road Haulage Association or United Kingdom Trucks Claim, Royal Mail Group Limited, BT Group plc & Ors, Dawsongroup plc & Ors, Wolseley UK Limited & Ors, Suez Groupe SAS & Ors, Veolia Environnment S.A. & Ors, Ryder Limited & Another, Arla Foods and Adnams plc & Ors

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Daimler, DAF, Iveco, MAN, Volvo/Renault and Scania

Competition Appeal Tribunal, 3 June, five days

Alongside the Merricks/Interchange case, the trucks litigation is one of the most significant follow-on damages cases being heard in the English courts.

Six of the world’s largest trucks manufacturers are facing collective action claims from a host of firms with the two leading claims coming from Addleshaw Goddard and Backhouse Jones and Weightmans. The European Commission handed down a €2.9bn fine in July 2016. Lining up to defend these m

anufacturers former further damages are some of biggest names in litigation with Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Slaughter and May and Travers Smith all on the opposite side.

The June hearing will ultimately decide which of these two collective actions will proceed, testing the appetite to allow class action claims to be heard in English and Welsh courts. To date, an English court has not made used of the collective actions regime which was introduced in 2015.

Regardless of the outcome, this case is set to leave an indelible mark on how the court system approaches collective action claims which could, consequently, be of keen interest to the litigation funders’ plans.

For the first potential group action claimant, Road Haulage Association Ltd

Brick Court Chambers’ James Flynn QC, instructed by Backhouse Jones partner Steven Meyerhoff and Addleshaw Goddard partner Mark Molyneux

For the second potential group action claimant, United Kingdom Trucks Claim

Matrix Chambers’ Rhodri Thompson QC, instructed by Weightmans partner Tristan Feunteun

For the second, third and fourth claimants, Royal Mail Group Limited, BT Group and Dawsongroup

Monckton Chambers’ Tim Ward QC, instructed by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner partner Edward Coulson

For the sixth, seventh and eighth claimants, Wolseley UK Limited & Ors, Suez Groupe SAs & Ors and Veolia Environnement S.A. & Ors

Brick Court Chambers’ Marie Demetriou QC, instructed by Hausfeld partners Scott Campbell and Anna Morfey

For the ninth claimant, Arla Foods

Kings Chambers’ Adam Aldred, instructed by Walker Morris

For the tenth claimant, Adnams Plc & Ors

Monckton Chambers’ Alan Bates, instructed by Edwin Coe

For the first defendant, Daimler

Monckton Chambers’ Paul Harris QC and 4 New Square’s Nicholas Bacon QC, instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Boris Bronfentrinker

For the second defendant, DAF

Monckton Chambers’ Daniel Beard QC and Meredith Pickford QC, instructed by Travers Smith partner Caroline Edwards

For the third defendant, Iveco

Brick Court Chambers’ Kelyn Bacon QC, instructed by Herbert Smith Freehills partners Kim Dietzel and Gregg Rowan

For the fourth defendant, MAN

Brick Court Chambers’ Daniel Jowell QC, instructed by Slaughter and May partners Richard Swallow, Damian Taylor and Holly Ware

For the fifth defendant, Volvo/Renault

Brick Court Chambers’ Mark Hoskins QC, Sarah Ford QC and Sarah Abram, instructed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partners Bea Tormey and Nicholas Frey

For the sixth defendant, Scania

Blackstone Chambers’ Brian Kennelly QC, instructed by Allen & Overy partner Jonathan Hitchin

High Commissioner for Pakistan in the UK

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NatWest Bank PLC

High Court, Business & Property Court, 4 June, three weeks

With its roots dating back as far as September 1948, this case is far from straightforward. The seven-decade long dispute, between Pakistan and India as claimants and Natwest as defendants, could finally be set for a conclusion.

A sum of £1m was transferred from the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad’s account to the then high commissioner for Pakistan in the UK during a short military campaign that saw India annex the region of Hyderabad. Eight years later, the Nizam attempted to bring proceedings against the high commissioner, but they were blocked by a sovereign immunity plea upheld in the House of Lords. The decision that was reached at the time stated that the matter would be stayed until Pakistan elected to sue the bank.

Pakistan issued proceedings in June 2013 and was joined in the litigation by India, the eighth Nizam and the seventh Nizam’s estate. As a result, this brings some of London’s most recognised private client practices to the fore with the likes of Devonshires, TLT, Pennington Manches, Stephenson Harwood, Withers and Serle Court lining up opposite Ashurst.

For the claimant, Pakistan

Serle Court’s Khawar Qureshi QC and 4 Stone Building’s Jonathan Brettler, instructed by Stephenson Harwood partner John Fordham

For the first defendant, HEH the 8^th Nizam of Hyderabad

10 Old Square’s Eason Rajah QC and Bryony Robinson, instructed by Withers partner Paul Hewitt

For the second defendant, Prince Muffakham Jah

3 Verulam Buildings’ Hodge Malek QC and Serle Court’s Jonathan McDonagh, instructed by Devonshires partner Philip Barden

For the third defendant, India

Blackstone Chambers’ Timothy Otto QC, One Essex Court’s Clare Reffin and Serle Court’s James Brightwell, instructed by TLT partner Neil Meakin

For the administrator, The Estate of the 7^th Nizam

Serle Court’s Giles Richardson, instructed by Pennington Manches partner Chris Lintott

For the fourth defendant, Natwest Bank Plc

Fountain Court’s Adam Zellick QC, instructed by Ashurst partner Jon Gale

Yukos Finance B.V. & Ors

V

Stephen Lynch & Ors

High Court, Commercial Court, 10 June, six weeks

What began as an arbitration hearing over a decade ago is now making its first appearance in the English courts. Shareholders of the forcibly bankrupted oil business Yukos are bringing a $2bn claim against a raft of five defendants alleged to have conspired with the Russian government to auction off subsidiaries of their former business. With parallel cases running the world over, the combined value is thought to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The claimants allege that its imposed 2006 bankruptcy was part of a campaign by the Russian state to re-appropriate the business’s assets, resulting in its assets being auctioned off. ‘Lot 19’ is of particular interest to this case as it involved a 49 per cent stake in a Slovakian business which owned a crucial oil pipeline running to Russia.

Some of the largest names in Russian litigation are involved in this case with solicitors from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Clifford Chance and Fieldfisher instructing barristers from Serle Court, Essex Court, Fountain Court, One Essex Court. Opposite them, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and 7KBW will be hoping to claim victory for the appellant.

For the claimant, Yukos Finance & Ors

7KBW’s Dominic Kendrick QC, Jawdat Khurshid QC and Frederick Alliot, instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang partner Bernard O’Sullivan

For the first defendant, Stephen Lynch

The defendant is self-represented

For the second and third defendants, Stephen Jennings and Robert Reid

Fountain Court’s Andrew Mitchell QC and Alex Milner, instructed by Fieldfisher partner Colin Gibson

For the fourth defendant, Richard Deitz

Essex Court’s Stephen Houseman QC and One Essex Court’s Sebastian Isaac, instructed by Clifford Chance partner Julian Acratopulo

For the fifth defendant, Robert Foresman

Serle Court’s Jonathan Adkin QC and Sophia Hurst, and One Essex Court’s Abra Bompas, instructed by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner Mark Dawkins

Goldscheider

V

Royal Opera House

Court of Appeal, July 2019

The Royal Opera House (ROH) has launched an appeal against violist Chris Goldscheider that will reach court in July 2019, following a March 2018 High Court decision that ruled the music venue was liable in damages for ‘acoustic shock’.

In the first case of its kind, Goldscheider alleged that he suffered ‘acoustic shock’ during a rehearsal in his right ear caused by the high noise levels made by various brass instruments. He claimed that as a result, he was unable to work as a musician.

Following an eight-day trial, the High Court rejected the ROH’s contention that the wearing of ear protection by Goldscheider was sufficient to discharge their duty of care. In October 2018, the ROH was granted permission to appeal this ruling to the Court of Appeal. The court’s decision will have potentially significant consequences for the UK music industry.

For the appellant, Royal Opera House

Crown Office Chambers’ David Platt QC and Alexander Macpherson, instructed by BLM partner Nigel Lock

For the respondent, Chris Goldscheider

Doughty Street Chambers’ Theo Huckle QC, alongside Old Square Chambers’ Jonathan Clarke, instructed by Chris Fry of Fry Law

The Secretary of State for Health and the NHS Business Services Authority

V

Servier Laboratories Limited, (2) Servier Research and Development Limited, (4) Les Laboratoires Servier SAS, (5) Servier SAS

High Court, Business and Property Court, 1 October, three weeks

The “ever-greening” of drug patents has caused much ire in recent years as big pharma companies seek to maintain their margins. The latest litigation of this ilk comes against French-headquartered Servier, against which the Secretary of State for Health and the NHS allege a breach of EU and UK competition laws after it supposedly paid to delay the patent expiry of its blood pressure lowering ‘blockbuster’ drug, Perindopril.

The £250m claim has been eight years in the making after it was first issued in 2011. A European Commission investigation took three years to rule that Servier had entered into anti-competitive agreements with generic drug manufacturers, abusing its position as a dominant supplier of its drug.

October marks the first substantive hearing of this case in an English court with partners from Geldards, Peters & Peters and RPC all turning to Monckton Chambers for counsel, with Serle Court also appearing on the claimant lineup.

Servier has called on Sidley Austin and Brick Court Chambers for its defence in the three-week case. They argue that losses suffered by the NHS could have been mitigated by prescribing cheaper drugs as generic drug manufacturers can produce similar medicine for up to 95 per cent less than the dominant brands.

For the first claimant, The Secretary of State for Health and the NHS Business Services Authority

Monckton Chambers’ Jon Turner QC and Philip Woolfe, and Serle Court’s David Drake, instructed by Peters & Peters partners Jonathan Tickner and Jason Woodland and of counsel Emma Ruane

For the second claimant, the Scottish and Northern Irish Ministers

Monckton Chambers’ Daniel Beard QC, Julian Gregory, Alexandra Littlewood and Imogen Proud, instructed by RPC partner Catherine Percy

For the third claimant, the Welsh Ministers

Monckton Chambers’ Josh Holmes QC and Laura John, instructed by Geldards partner Paul Hopkins

For the defendant, (1) Servier Laboratories Limited, (2) Servier Research and Development Limited, (4) Les Laboratoires Servier SAS, (5) Servier SAS

Brick Court Chambers’ Kelyn Bacon QC and Daniel Piccinin, instructed by Sidley Austin partner Marie Manley

Avonwick Holdings Limited

V

Azitio Holdings Limited, Dargamo Holdings Limited, Oleg Mkrtchan and Sergiy Taruta

High Court, Commercial Court, October, four weeks

This is a hugely complex piece of Ukrainian litigation requiring involvement from a number of major players in the CEE disputes market. British Virgin Islands-based Avonwick Holdings commenced proceedings against the defendants in this case in the summer of 2016, following one of the largest transactions in Ukrainian history. Avonwick claims that it sold a 33 per cent interest in the Industrial Union of Donbass, equating to $1bn to Mkrtchan and Taruta. That sum forms the basis of Avonwick’s claims against the buying parties.

That sale, Avonwick alleges, included fraudulent misrepresentations with claims of fraud and conspiracy forming the bulk of the argument as well as two parallel counterclaims which combine to the sum of $340m.

The defendants deny all charges with Baker McKenzie, Covington & Burling, Hogan Lovells and a host of magic circle sets forming the defending cohort against a pair of London-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partners acting for the claimants alongside Brick Court Chambers in one of Q4’s most hotly anticipated clashes.

For the claimant, Avonwick Holdings Limited

Brick Court Chambers’ Neil Calver QC and Stephen Midwinter QC, instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partners Nick Marsh and Khaled Khatoun

For the first and third defendants, Azitio Holdings Limited and Oleg Mkrtchan

One Essex Court’s David Wolfson QC and 3 Verulam Buildings’ Ali Malek QC, instructed by Covington & Burling partners Craig Pollack and Greg Lascelles

For the second and fourth defendants, Dargamo Holdings Limited and Sergiy Taruta

Essex Court Chambers’ David Foxton QC, Nathan Pillow QC, Siddarth Dhar, Anton Dudnikov and Louise Hutton, instructed by Hogan Lovells partner Michael Roberts

For the third defendant to additional claims, Prandicle Limited

3 Verulam Buildings’ Peter Ratcliffe, instructed by Baker McKenzie partner Hugh Lyons

(1) PCP Capital Partners LLP & (2) PCP International Finance Limited

V

Barclays Bank PLC

High Court, Commercial Court, 1 October, eight weeks

This Q4 case between Yorkshire-born financier and founder of investment firm PCP Capital Partners Amanda Staveley and Barclays Bank is already set to be one of the most fiercely contested pieces of litigation in the whole of 2019.

Its roots date back to a mammoth £11.8bn fundraising that Staveley’s firm completed with Qatar in 2008, which helped Barclays avoid a bailout from the UK Government at the peak of the Great Financial Crisis.

Now, Staveley is taking Barclays to the High Court for $1bn with the aid of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan London co-managing partner Richard East and Wilberforce Chambers’ John Wardell QC. She alleges to have arranged a parallel deal with an Abu Dhabi-based consortium in October 2008, though she argues that this never would have happened had she known about side deals negotiated separately by Barclays and Qatar.

The case has already been postponed to avoid prejudicing a related criminal case involving the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation into Barclays’ operations in Qatar. The bank has described Staveley’s case as misconceived. It is expected by nobody that this will be a cut-and-dried affair.

For the claimant, (1) PCP Capital Partners LLP & (2) PCP International Finance Limited

Wilberforce Chambers’ John Wardell QC and Blackstone Chambers’ Robert Weekes, instructed by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Richard East

For the defendant, Barclays Bank PLC

3 Verulam Buildings’ Ewan McQuater QC, and One Essex Court’s Alexander Polley and Oliver Butler, instructed by Simmons & Simmons partner Stephen Moses

Financial Reporting Council

V

Autonomy Corporation Plc and Deloitte

Tribunal venue TBC, 7 October, nine weeks

The second Autonomy case comes at a time of increased scrutiny for both the regulator involved – the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) – and Big Four accountancy firm, Deloitte.

The publication of a review led by mathematician Sir John Kingman into the FRC gave some strong recommendations, the most pertinent being that the FRC be replaced by an independent statutory regulator with “a new mandate, new clarity of mission, new leadership and new powers”. This followed criticism of the government body after Carillion’s demise which also prompted Deloitte’s role, as well as those of the other Big Four, to be heavily questioned for their auditing standards.

This case represents a chance for the FRC to demonstrate its value as it seeks to provide clarity to the allegedly inflated valuation Autonomy was given by the accountancy firm during its sale to HP. As the largest-ever investigation conducted by the FRC, this will test the organisation’s capacity to the full as it brings allegations of lack of integrity and lack of objectivity from the Deloitte partner at the time, something that is unprecedented against any of the Big Four.

Unusually for a case of this magnitude, the legal community remains in the dark about who has been called upon to represent the defendants with the hearing expected to take place at a major City law firm’s offices.

For the claimant, the Financial Reporting Council

7KBW’s Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, and Fountain Court’s Henry King QC and Max Evans, instructed by FRC executive counsel Elizabeth Barrett and senior lawyer Andrew Twomey

For the first defendant, Autonomy Corporation

TBC

For the second defendant, Deloitte

TBC

Slater and Gordon (UK) Limited

V

Watchstone Group Plc

High Court, Commercial Court, 28 October 2019, 6-8 weeks

Brick Court will act for Slater and Gordon as it seeks damages from Watchstone Group for losses associated with its acquisition of Quindell’s professional services arm.

The claim follows Slater and Gordon’s (S&G) purchase of the professional services division in 2015. The law firm alleges that the former CEO of Quindell, which has since been renamed Watchstone, overstated the value of the division when there were talks for S&G to acquire it in 2015.

Shortly after the acquisition the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into Quindell’s official profit figures. The investigation led to Quindell’s 2013 and 2014 accounts being restated and caused S&G to post a loss of A$958.3m (£493m) during the first six months of 2015/16.

Should the claim prove successful S&G may be able to recover £50m of the purchase price of Quindell. The £50m was held in escrow during the acquisition and is currently frozen pending the outcome of the dispute.

For the claimant, Slater and Gordon

Brick Court Chambers’ Simon Salzedo QC and Laura Newton, instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang partner Jeremy Mash

For the defendant, Watchstone Group

Essex Court Chambers’ Richard Millett QC and Maitland Chambers’ Watson Pringle, instructed by Dorsey & Whitney partner Matthew Blower

The post Revealed: The Top 20 cases of 2019 appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Lawyers from the top European firms will converge on Grosvenor House on Tuesday 19^th March 2019, for The Lawyer European Awards – an unrivalled celebration of excellence across the Continent.

The shortlist, published today, spans firms large and small, from European giants to specialist boutiques. Last year Danish firm Kromann Reumert was crowned European Law Firm of the Year, which particularly impressed the judges with its digital focus and its investment in career plans for each of its professionals.

For more information on how to book your table, scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Law firm of the year: Benelux

AKD
Alber & Geiger
GSK Stockmann (Luxembourg)
Strelia
VANDENBULKE

Law firm of the year: Eastern Europe and The Balkans

Boyanov & Co
Gecic Law
Karanovic & Partners
Kinstellar
Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii
Schoenherr
Wolf Theiss

Law firm of the year: Germany

Arnecke Sibeth Dabelstein
Flick Gocke Schaumburg
Gleiss Lutz
Görg Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten
GvW Graf von Westphalen
Noerr

Law firm of the year: Italy

BonelliErede
Chiomenti
Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners
LabLaw Studio Legale
Legance – Avvocati Associati
Nctm Studio Legale
Portolano Cavallo

Law firm of the year: Russia, Ukraine and the CIS

AEQUO
ALRUD
Asters
Centil Law Firm
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners
GRATA International
Sayenko Kharenko

Law firm of the year: The Baltics

COBALT
Ellex
Sorainen
TGS Baltic

Law firm of the year: Turkey

Akol Ozok Namli
Bezen & Partners
Kılınç Law & Consulting
Moral & Partners

European corporate deal of the year

Arthur Cox
Borenius Attorneys
Herbert Smith Freehills CIS
Lenz & Staehelin
Skadden (Moscow office)
Uría Menéndez
VdA

European finance deal of the year

AEQUO
Arthur Cox
Ellex
INTEGRITES
PLMJ
Schalast
Watson Farley & Williams 

Most innovative technology initiative

ECIJA
Garrigues
GWW
Kennedy Van der Laan | Sync
McCann FitzGerald
Norton Rose Fulbright
Synch Advokat

European specialist law firm of the year

ECIJA
Kopec & Zaborowski
LabLaw Studio Legale
LALIVE
Pusch Wahlig Workplace Law
Sagardoy Abogados
VANDENBULKE 

 European managing partner of the year

Casper Herler, Borenius Attorneys
Zbigniew Drzewiecki, Drzewiecki Tomaszek & Wspólnicy
Barry Devereux, McCann FitzGerald
Tobias Bürgers and Alexander Ritvay, Noerr
Luís Pais Antunes, PLMJ
Dr. Tobias Pusch, Pusch Wahlig Workplace Law
João Vieira de Almeida, VdA

To book your table, contact Bruce Allmand-Smith on +44 (0)20 7970 4625.

Date & Location: Tuesday 19^th March 2019 at Grosvenor House (86-90 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 7TN)

The post The cream of the Continental crop: The Lawyer European Awards shortlist 2019 appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s senior manager of legal technology operations Jamie Whalebone is to join DWF to boost the firm’s growing managed services unit, marking the second hire from the magic circle firm in a matter of months. As part of his new role as head of legal service delivery and transformation, from next month Whalebone will co-lead […]

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Latham & Watkins is one of the heavy hitting City firms that have been ushered in to advise on the next chapter of New Look’s restructuring saga, following the arrival of Sidley Austin’s Yen Sum last yer. Sum won a place for the bondholders while at Sidley Austin and has carried the work over to her […]

The post New Look restructuring saga continues with new firm line-up appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Six start-ups have joined the third cohort of Slaughter and May’s Fast Forward programme, as the firm resumes its search for the next technology entrepreneurs. This year, the programme will move away from the fintech focus that characterised the first two editions to include other areas such as sustainability-based and green technology, which aims to […]

The post From fintech to green tech: Slaughters hands out £30,000 to six new start-ups appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Crowell & Moring’s new London managing partner Robert Weekes has set out plans to launch a training contract in the City office, having joined the US firm today from Squire Patton Boggs.

Weekes’ move was revealed by The Lawyer last November, months after it was revealed that Squires’ global head Stephen Mahon would be relocating from the US to lead operations in London.

As head of Crowell’s London office, Weekes will be filling a similar position as before, having been a former City managing partner of Squires.

Now in his new role, Weekes said he plans to bring in a training contract to the London office from September 2021. His plans for the London office also include a pledge to triple its headcount by the end of 2022; Crowell currently has eight partners in London and six fee-earners.

To grow, Weekes has highlighted expansion in litigation, followed by the corporate group and regulation practices. Banking, insurance and financial regulation will be part and parcel of this growth plan. Weekes himself is a litigator, specialising in the financial disputes and investigatory work.

Litigator Weekes will take over from partner Jim Regan, who shares his time between the London and Washington offices. Regan had served as the point of contact between the firm’s head quarters and the London office.

Founded in 1979 by a group of 53 breakaway lawyers from Jones Day, Crowell totals more than 500 lawyers around the world.

Weekes said: “The firm wouldn’t have hired me if it didn’t want to grow. I have a reputation for expansion. I see myself as a person who knows how to grow teams that work well together across practice groups to find innovative and commercial solutions for clients.”

Crowell currently counts Microsoft, BMW, Siemens and BlueCross BlueShield among its clients.

The post Crowell & Moring plans London training contract after Squires hire appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Revealing today double-digit revenue growth in its first six months as a listed firm, Knights is also looking to streamline its management functions with a new COO from Procter & Gamble.

The appointment of Richard King as the firm’s first COO means Knights CEO David Beech can focus more on increasing the firm’s top line, new acquisitions and people hires. Until now, Beech has also been looking at IT, processing and efficiency, although this will now fall under King’s remit. King was previously P&G’s European director of IT and global business services, spending over 15 years at the company.

Beech said the appointment “will be transformational” and a way to “optimise our opportunities”. The firm has also hired a recruitment manager and new facilities senior manager to aid with operational support.

The hire comes on the same day as Knights’ first half-year results as a listed firm, as well as its third acquisition since listing of Leicester-based employment firm Cummins Solicitors. Other purchases since listing on the alternative investment market are Spearing Waite and Turner Parkinson.

Revenue was up nearly 37 per cent to £23.9m in the first six months of the year; Turner Parkinson was an £8.5m firm prior to the acquisition while Spearing Waite brought in just over £7.1m. Cummins Group is smaller, last year reporting turnover of just under £1m.

The three acquisitions means Knights has completed a goal it set itself prior to listing on AIM in June last year, which was to announce three acquisitions. Knights was the fourth firm to have listed in the UK. It is understood that DWF will list this year on the London Stock Exchange’s main market, which would make it the sixth firm to go public in this country.

Knights became a top 100 firm in 2015 after acquiring Darbys Solicitors. The deal was the first major acquisition by Knights since it received a cash injection from Hamilton Bradshaw, the private equity house backed by entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den investor James Caan, in 2012. In 2014 Knights incorporated the business, moving from LLP to limited company status and rebranding as Knights Professional Services Ltd.

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Deliveroo has reshuffled its in-house legal team after the departure of chief legal officer Rob Miller, who has left the food delivery service after just 12 months. Miller joined Deliveroo at the start of 2018 from tech startup Improbable, where he led its legal team for a year too. The former Fieldfisher lawyer also held […]

The post Deliveroo legal chief among raft of high-level exits from startup appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Dechert’s former Dubai co-managing partner Gavin Watson has left the firm for Pillsbury, where he will work as a partner in its London office. Watson will relocate from the Middle East for his new role, with a focus on cross-border corporate transactions in the oil and gas space. He joined Dechert in 2012 from defunct firm […]

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Airbnb faces a plethora of regulatory challenges, and EMEA GC Fiona Dormandy insists getting the best advice comes from having freedom of law firm choice

The post “I’ve never had a panel – I prefer choice” – Airbnb’s Fiona Dormandy appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Legal employees at Jaguar Land Rover face uncertainty at the company after it announced it was embarking on a programme to slash 4,500 jobs worldwide. The job cuts across the vehicle manufacturer, which are part of its £2.5bn plan to reverse losses, will begin with a voluntary redundancy programme in the UK. The bulk of the cull will […]

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Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is to launch its first alternative legal services centre in New York, with the firm’s in-house tech unit now generating over £40m worth of revenue worldwide. The firm is opening in New York with a new e-discovery team, as well as a smaller operation in Hong Kong. Building on its existing e-discovery capabilities […]

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In what has already been a busy January for Kirkland & Ellis‘s City operations, the firm is gearing up to hire another new lateral from Weil Gotshal & Manges. The Lawyer understands that Weil’s most senior tax lawyer in London, David Irvine, has resigned for Kirkland. Irvine started his career at Deloitte in Australia as a tax […]

The post Not Freshfields this time, but Weil: Kirkland makes second partner hire of the year appeared first on The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.

Cast your mind back to a moment of high drama in the Inns in 2016, when Sonia Tolaney QC headed a breakaway group from 3VB to One Essex Court. The band of laterals, which included James Macdonald and Sandy Phipps, originally included 3VB joint head Adrian Beltrami QC, who started moving his boxes to One Essex and then – who in a splendid plot twist – decided to stay put at his old set.

One wonders whether this episode focused minds at 3VB, which according to Litigation Tracker’s Q3 report last year, has seen a 21 per cent rise in tenant headcount since 2016, growing from 67 to 81 tenants – the fastest growing of any set in the Bar Top 30.

In particular, the arrivals of Hodge Malek QC halfway through 2018 and Hefin Rees QC in October are very visible evidence of a bounceback by 3VB after Tolaney’s high-profile defection. The arrival of two 39 Essex Chambers silks of different seniority (Rees took silk in 2013, Malek was made up in 1999) underlined 3VB’s plan to build out both its senior and middle pool of QCs.

The Bar grapevine attributes around £5m in combined billings of both silks and the team of juniors that went across to 3VB in 2018.

How busy are the new hires likely to be this year? Historical Litigation Tracker data shows that Malek has made at least nine appearances across the Chancery, and Commercial Courts since 2015, including one in the Court of Appeal. Seven of those appearances have been in trusts cases, and he has been instructed by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Devonshires, Payne Hicks Beach and Russell-Cooke among others for the likes of Berkeley Group Holdings, Canaccord Genuity Wealth and Kea Trust Company. Most colourfully, he was instructed by Devonshires for Alexandra Tolstoy and her children before Birss J in the Chancery division during the  mammoth case against Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev in 2017.

But what does 2019 hold for 3VB?

Coming up in June this year is another elephantine case that makes the Tolstoy trial look puny by comparison: High Commissioner for Pakistan in the UK v. NatWest Bank Plc, on which he is acting for Prince Jah, and is instructed by Philip Barden of Devonshires. That particular saga has made it into The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2019.

Hefin Rees QC’s recruitment several months after the advance party from 39 Essex Chambers was less sensational than the group hire, but is nevertheless part of 3VB’s strategy to develop international coverage within that select group of sets whose members regularly boast Caribbean tans.

Rees’s home CV is solid: it includes a seven-week Chancery trial in 2018; a three week Commercial Court trial in 2017; and Harlequin Property (SVG) Ltd v Wilkins Kennedy, instructed by ELS Legal which made it into The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases 2016.

But it’s his offshore work that has been the most eye-catching, and has included two trials in the BVI in 2017; a trial in Cayman in 2017; and a four-week trial in Barbados in 2015. Rees has worked particularly closely with Walkers in that time, the most recent has been Chad Holm v Sancus, a contract dispute regarding Bank of Asia in BVI.

And this year? Rees is back in the Caribbean this very week, this time in Cayman on Tangerine Investment Management Limited (in official liquidation) v DMS Governance Limited, which considers whether an offshore provider of directors to Cayman trust funds can be held vicariously liable for the acts and omissions of a director it placed in the trust fund to provide corporate governance. Rees, instructed by Conyers Dill & Pearman, is opposite Fountain Court’s Ben Valentin QC, instructed by Campbells.

2019 cases for 3VB’s juniors

Rees’s junior on Tangerine this week is Cleon Catsambis (called 2011), who was among the group of juniors to move from 39 Essex Chambers last year to 3VB. Which brings us back to the question of what this year holds for that group of juniors.

Inevitably, not all the cases are in the public domain – James Potts (called 2011), for example, is instructed as Hodge Malek QC’s junior on a major ongoing matter that is confidential.

Other of the 39 Essex Chambers hires are easier to track, however. Not long after arriving at 3VB Saima Hanif (called 2002) appeared on The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, R (On the Application Of) v The Secretary of State for Health, instructed by Penningtons Manches and led by her old setmate Alison Foster QC of 39 Essex Chambers.

Hanif, who has a strong track record on FCA cases, has also worked on numerous occasions with Malek, such as on Roberts v The Financial Conduct Authority, in which she was instructed by Withers. This year she is acting for one of many defendants, Indigo Securities, in a tax fraud claim by the Danish tax authority, again working with Malek and instructed by Matthew Hennessy-Gibbs at Keystone.

Farhaz Khan (called 2005), recently seen on Shurbanova v FX Capital Markets LLC in 2017 in which he was instructed by KWM Europe for the defendant forex firm in a breach of contract claim, has had a number of Financial List cases and has simultaneously built out a strong practice in Dubai-related work. Current instructions include acting for Atlas Mara, the African bank run by Bob Diamond, in defending claims brought by its former CEO in the DIFC Courts. Back in London, he will be acting for the Council of Lloyd’s in regulatory proceedings against reinsurer MS Amlin regarding breaches of Lloyd’s rules concerning use of money held on trust to pay out claims.

This week Yash Bheroo (called 2011) is instructed by Alistair Wilcox at the Solicitors Regulation Authority in SRA v Chetinkaya & Curab, a three-day trial that began yesterday (15 January) taking place at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in which solicitor advocate Jonathan Goodwin is instructed on the other side.  Bheroo will be acting on behalf of the SRA on another trial that has been adjourned to later in the year.

And next for 3VB? Further hires look likely – indeed, just today 3VB announced that former Freshfields arbitration partner Brian King is joining the set as an associate member. ‘We already have impressive strength in a number of practice areas, but they can always be enhanced by extra quality,’ says chambers director Robin Jackson. ‘Organic growth is fundamental, but we also strive to make 3VB attractive to those who already have excellent established practices.’ No subtext, there: rather, a statement of intent.

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