Julian Stait

Partner

Contact
F +44 20.7615.3100

London

100 Liverpool Street

London, UK EC2M 2AT

T +44 20.7615.3005

F +44 20.7615.3100

Julian is head of the firm’s London Litigation and Arbitration team.

He is recognised as one of Europe’s leading dispute resolution lawyers in the main legal directories which have described him as “‘superb’ and the ‘go-to name, simple as that’”, “‘a master of litigation procedure and tactics’”, “among the best trial lawyers in the UK” and “‘simply superb; he is one of the best litigators around and stays exceptionally close to the detail without ever losing sight of the bigger picture’”.

Julian was named as the leading litigator in Europe at The American Lawyer’s inaugural Transatlantic Legal Awards. He is ranked in the following areas in the leading legal directories: Banking Litigation; Commercial and Transactions Litigation; Competition/Antitrust Litigation; IT Litigation; and Telecommunications Litigation. He is also ranked as a ‘Dispute Resolution Star’ in Benchmark Litigation (Europe) and has been admitted to the Legal 500’s ‘Hall of Fame’ for Premium Commercial Litigation.

Primary Focus & Experience

Julian specialises in the resolution of large, high-stakes and complex business and regulatory disputes and investigations. He has extensive experience of litigation before the English Courts (up to and including the Supreme Court), 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, expert determination and other forms of ADR.

He has acted in: a number of the largest and leading technology, outsourcing and communications cases to come before the English Courts; high-profile competition/antitrust cases and investigations; major cross-border investigations; complex banking disputes; major fraud litigation; as well as other high-profile business disputes.

Julian has acted for a number of the world’s leading companies (particularly those operating in the finance and TMT sectors) as well as governments.

His recent experience includes leading teams in the following matters:

  • Acting for Visa in multiple sets of proceedings in the High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal (and subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court) in relation to alleged infringements of competition law relating to the setting and implementation of multilateral interchange fees associated with the use of debit and credit cards, including in proposed “opt-out” and “opt-in” collective proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. A 4-month trial in one of these cases was listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 20 Trials of 2016.
  • Acting for a leading international bank in defending a High Court claim brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on behalf of several failed US banks in relation to alleged infringements of competition law and misrepresentations arising out of the setting of USD LIBOR.
  • Acting for a leading UK energy company in proceedings in the Technology & Construction Court in relation to a failed IT project.
  • Acting for AstraZeneca in its successful High Court litigation with IBM arising out of the termination of a US$1.5bn IT infrastructure project.
  • Acting for Rabobank in relation to regulatory investigations into the setting of the LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmarks and settlements reached in 2013 with the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the US Department of Justice, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Dutch Central Bank, the Dutch Public Prosecutor and the Japan Financial Services Agency.
  • Acting in litigation between two of the world's leading technology companies arising out of a contract relating to a £5 billion project for a UK government department.
  • Acting on behalf of a leading global investment management firm in the defence of high-value claims brought by a UK pension fund alleging negligence and breaches of contract in relation to a £500 million investment in an enhanced cash portfolio of US MBS securities shortly before the financial crisis.
  • Acting for one of the world's leading technology companies in defending claims brought by a major pay-TV company for breach of contract, negligence and deceit, amounting to over £700m. The trial of the action, which lasted for an entire court year, is one of the largest trials to come before the UK courts, and was listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 10 Trials of 2007 and 2008.
  • Acting on behalf of the Official Committee of the Unsecured Creditors of Lehman Brothers on a number of aspects of the English restructuring and insolvency of Lehman entities, including the defence of claims under a US$ multi-billion programme of synthetic CDS products.
  • Acting for a leading UK pay-TV company in relation to various appeals before the Competition Appeal Tribunal arising out of Ofcom’s high-profile investigation into the Pay TV market, listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 20 Cases of 2011.
  • Acting in LCIA arbitration proceedings between two leading satellite operators in relation to claims for breach of contract and misrepresentation arising from the critical malfunction of a communications satellite.
  • Acting for one of the world’s leading IT companies in relation to disputes arising out of a US$1 billion global outsourcing agreement.
  • Acting for Visa Inc. in its agreement to acquire Visa Europe for up to €21.2 billion.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Chambers and Legal 500 have said of him in recent years: “Julian Stait… has ‘everything you’d want from a litigator: he’s a great team leader, excellent with clients and has superb analytical skills’”, “Julian Stait …‘has phenomenal depth’ and ‘is always prepared to dig a little deeper and find a solution’”, “His  reat skill is in how to run a big, strategically important case”, “Julian Stait is variously described by senior market sources as ‘superb’ and the ‘go-to name, simple as that’”, “Julian Stait is ‘a master of litigation procedure and tactics’”, “Julian Stait is among the best trial lawyers in the UK”, “He is a brilliant litigator. An excellent leader who is tactically astute and keeps a cool head in stressful times” and “Julian Stait is ‘simply superb; he is one of the best litigators around and stays exceptionally close to the detail without ever losing sight of the bigger picture’”.

Julian was a co-author of the chapter on Evidence in the Encyclopedia of IT Law (Sweet & Maxwell), he was a co-author of Dispute Resolution in Project Finance Transactions (a chapter in International Project Finance – Law and Practice (Oxford University Press) and is a currently a co-author of the UK chapters of The Technology Disputes Law Review and The Private Competition Enforcement Review (both published by The Law Reviews).

Prior to joining Milbank in 2009, Julian had been a partner for over 13 years at a major international law firm where he had served as global co-chair of its Litigation & Arbitration Group. His move to Milbank was listed in Legal Business as one of the ten most significant lateral moves in 2009. Between 2014 and 2023, Julian served as Co-Managing Partner of Milbank’s London Office.

Additional Details
Education
  • The University of Law, L.P.C.
  • University of Southampton, LL.B.
Admissions
  • England and Wales