Litigation & Arbitration

The London Litigation & Arbitration team specialises in the resolution of large, high-stakes and complex business and regulatory disputes, often with a reputational angle. The team is part of Milbank’s global Litigation & Arbitration Group, which is the largest and fastest growing practice area in the firm, with 35 partners and nearly 200 other lawyers.

The team has extensive experience of litigation before the English Courts (up to and including the House of Lords), the resolution of complaints, disputes and investigations before a number of regulatory authorities, international arbitration under the auspices of many of the major institutional rules, proceedings before the UK Trade Mark Registry, Oppositions and Appeals before the European Patent Office (Munich) and references to the European Court of Justice.

The team contains a number of lawyers who are recognised as market-leaders. Members of the team have attracted the following accolades from the leading legal directories: “[he has] an eye for detail and rises to a technical challenge”, “[he has] an “excellent reputation” in the arena in top-end, complex business and regulatory disputes”, “... shows great analytical and tactical ability and a tremendous grasp of his cases.”…”, “…[can] take complex details and make it sound so astonishingly easy in court”, “... calm and persuasive in difficult situations” and “[he is] an extraordinary partner”.

The team has particular expertise in the following areas (amongst others): complex commercial disputes, IT and telecommunications disputes (members of the team have been involved in many of the most significant cases to go before the English Courts and regulatory authorities), disputes involving all aspects of intellectual property, project disputes, international and cross-border disputes, corporate and joint venture disputes, public law and regulatory disputes, major investigations, competition and antitrust issues, banking and financial services litigation, civil fraud, insolvency and asset recovery matters and proceedings involving injunctive relief (including search and freezing orders).

The team also has extensive trial experience: our team contains barristers with significant advocacy experience, solicitor-advocates, and solicitors who have been involved in some of the largest cases to go before the English Courts.

The team focuses on finding creative and pragmatic business solutions to our clients’ most complex problems, whether through litigation, arbitration, regulatory proceedings, negotiation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution. We also work with our clients to help them minimise the risks of doing business by devising and implementing policies to assist them in avoiding disputes.

Members of the team are also particularly adept in the use of technology as a means of increasing efficiency and managing costs in major disputes.

The team has been involved in the following matters (either at Milbank or whilst practising prior to joining the firm):

• Acting for one of the world’s leading technology companies in defending claims brought by a major pay-TV company for breach of contract, negligence and deceit, amounting to over £700 million. The trial, which lasted for an entire court year, is one of the largest trials to come before the UK courts.

• Acting for the UK Government in High Court proceedings brought against it by a French communications company over the award of the £1.8bn contract for the provision of the radio communications services to the UK’s emergency services.

• Acting for major bank in relation to claims of US$340m arising out of various loans for the purchase by Russian interests of 27 new vessels involving proceedings in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, the Seychelles and China.

• Acting for one of the world’s leading IT suppliers, in a claim arising from the development and integration of customer management systems, before the Technology & Construction Court, involving claims and counterclaims totalling in excess of £400m.

• Acting for an African government and its bankers in two high-value arbitrations involving the procurement of national grain reserves and the relationship between government, its statutory and executive agencies, and their subcontractors (involving the construction of an outsourcing agreement and subordinate legislation).

• Acting for a substantial UK IT supplier in litigation with the UK government before the Technology & Construction Court concerning the termination of a £150m contract for the delivery of server environments and associated software for a range of online government services.

• Acting for Mercury Communications Limited in its interconnection charging dispute with BT and the Director General of Telecommunications which resulted in a landmark House of Lords decision in Mercury's favour.

• Acting for a leading management consultancy in an LCIA arbitration against a major Italian corporation arising out of a contract for the provision of services to reduce third party procurement expenditure.

• Acting for six utility companies in a major Year 2000 dispute involving claims in excess of £150m.

• Acting for a number of the leading UK telecommunications and media companies in regulatory and competition/antitrust disputes and complaints (including under the Competition Act 1998 and Communications Act 2003) in the context of the availability and pricing of, and terms of access to, products, services and content offered by other communications suppliers.

• Acting for a communications company in a dispute with a leading aerospace and defence contractor over performance issues arising out of a contract for the development and launch of a communications satellite.

• Acting in ICC arbitration proceedings between two major international telecommunications companies over claims relating to the cost of the termination of calls on the systems of the other operator.

• Acting for a shipowner in claims for US$13m in four LMAA arbitrations including successfully securing those claims by the arrest of two vessels and resisting attempts to release those arrests in the High Court and Court of Appeal resulting in new case law on the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act.

• Acting for a leading international telecommunications company in relation to dispute with a major bank over a contract for the creation of one of the world's largest B2B trading exchanges.

• Acting for a number of international IT suppliers in substantial software disputes including those over the provision of defence, customer relationship management, accounting, pensions and unit trust administration, auditing and insurance packages.

• Acting in the leading case of Shierson v Vlieland-Boddy, an early decision on the EC Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings, before the Court of Appeal.

• Acting for two major retail banks and one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies in a number of large IT disputes.

• Acting on behalf of Chinese government interests in a complex jurisdiction dispute resulting in a successful Court of Appeal decision in the "Star Texas".

 

Contacts

Stait, Julian
Keaton, Sean
Harrison, Joel
Tudway, Stephen
Allenby, Zoe