Month: March 2020

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Arbitration – ‘There’s a new generation coming’

Kenneth Beale

‘Arbitration is the Savile Row of dispute resolution. It’s not the M&S off-the-rack suit, you can create a bespoke arbitration clause that does almost anything you want it to do,’ said Kenneth Beale, an arbitration partner at Boies Schiller Flexner in London. Is it then any surprise that financial institutions are increasingly opting to use arbitration for dispute resolution?

Beale was one of a host of top names speaking at Legal Business’ 2019 International Arbitration Summit in November when he made that comment, setting out how much things have changed in the financial services sector in recent years. Continue reading “Arbitration – ‘There’s a new generation coming’”

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Sponsored firm profile: Int-Arb Arbitrators

Int-Arb Arbitrators is a specialist set of international arbitrators and mediators based in London, which has been created to allow each member the freedom to operate without conflicts. Members of Int-Arb Arbitrators are completely independent, not attached to a law firm or barristers’ chambers and with a sole focus of sitting only as an arbitrator or mediator.

Each member is supported by an experienced team who all have legal management backgrounds. Our team know the arbitrators and mediators’ respective practice and areas of expertise, fully. This is complemented with an administrative and business support service provided to members which include diary and practice management, marketing and business development.

Int-Arb Arbitrators has a diverse list which allows an opportunity to provide both suitable and wide-ranging recommendations. The management team offers a bespoke and transparent service to those who approach us, when in search of an arbitrator or mediator. We talk through and have detailed conversations to understand the requirements of the dispute to suggest the most appropriate arbitrator or mediator.

Service delivery and attention to our clients is unparalleled and centred on excellence. We not only save time with your search but add value and comfort when making a choice of arbitrator or mediator.

Firm overview

Our members have expertise in complex investor state, corporate and commercial, construction and engineering, technology and telecommunications, banking and finance, transport, IP, M&A, insurance and re-insurance, mining, energy and oil and gas disputes.

Int-Arb Arbitrators members are internationally recognised and can accept chair, sole and party appointments. Experience covers substantial disputes under all of the key institutional rules including ICC, ICDR, LCIA, ISCID, SIAC, DIAC, HKIAC, CAS, SCC, KCAB, UNCITRAL, WIPO and ad hoc arbitrations in a variety of seats ranging from London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Geneva, Hong Kong and in other regions across the US, Canada, Europe, Latin-America and the Caribbean.

Sam Carter, managing director
Int-Arb Arbitrators

Int-Arb Arbitrators members

David Cairns

Arbitrator

David Cairns is a leading international arbitrator based in Madrid and London. He joined Int-Arb Arbitrators after spending 20 years at international law firm, B Cremades y Asociados in Madrid, Spain.

Specialist areas include investor-state, construction and engineering, commercial and IP disputes. He has a particular region focus of Spain, Latin America and London.

He is fluent in Spanish and has extensive experience of both common and civil law approaches to disputes and arbitration.

Calvin Hamilton

Arbitrator

Calvin Hamilton is a seasoned arbitrator based in Barbados and London with 35 years of international arbitration experience, as counsel and arbitrator including his time as partner at two leading firms in Madrid. His region focus is the Caribbean, Latin America, London and the US.

Specialist areas include investor state, corporate and commercial disputes. He has a good cultural knowledge and understanding of common and civil law approaches.

He is fluent in Spanish, proficient in French and has working knowledge of Portuguese. He is a dual national of Guyana and Spain and admitted in New York and Madrid.

John Judge

Arbitrator

John Judge is an internationally-recognised arbitrator based in Toronto and London. He joined Int-Arb Arbitrators from 39 Essex Chambers in London having previously spent 25 years at Stikeman Elliott, in Toronto.

Specialist areas include construction, engineering and infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and investor state disputes, across the globe.

He has also sat on a wide range of commercial and corporate, banking and finance, investment, M&A, insurance and reinsurance, real estate, IT and telecommunications and transport disputes.

Janet Walker

Arbitrator

Janet Walker is an international arbitrator based in London, Toronto and Sydney who joins Int-Arb Arbitrators from Outer Temple Chambers, London.

Specialist areas include construction, heavy equipment, M&A, IP, environmental, finance, employment and shareholder disputes.

This combined with more than 20 years as a consultant and expert in a range of matters particularly those arbitration-related. She is fluent in English and has good written and oral comprehension of French and Spanish.

Jane Player

Mediator

Jane is a leading international mediator. Formerly a partner at King & Spalding, co-head of the international dispute resolution group and head of the London disputes team at Bird & Bird, and DLA Piper respectively.

Specialist areas include corporate and contractual claims, fraud and project disputes including pharmaceuticals, energy, technology, IP and media disputes.

She has a reputation for managing cross-cultural aspects of joint venture and international shareholder disputes including early neutral evaluation and expert determination. Fluent in French, Spanish and Italian to varying degrees.

 

OWEN LAWRENCE
Chief Executive
Owen.Lawrence@int-arb.com

Tel: +44 (0) 203 928 7272
DDI: +44 (0) 203 928 7288
Mob: +44 (0) 793 034 2588

SAM CARTER
Managing Director
Sam.Carter@int-arb.com

Tel: +44 (0) 203 928 7272
DDI: +44 (0) 203 928 7280
Mob: +44 (0) 791 719 1476

DEMI ROBINSON
Arbitrator Practice Assistant
Demi.Robinson@int-arb.com

Tel: +44 (0) 203 928 7272
DDI: +44 (0) 203 928 7281
Mob: +44 (0) 753 502 9639

Web: www.int-arbitrators.com
Email: arbitrators@int-arb.com

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Sponsored firm profile:
Trowers & Hamlins

Trowers & Hamlins has one of the largest disputes practices in Birmingham, handling high-end, complex and often cross-border matters for clients across all types of contentious work, with specialisms in commercial litigation, civil fraud and investigations, property litigation and construction disputes.

Our Midlands practice is deeply connected into our wider business, with a significant proportion of our work originating from our international offices across Malaysia and the Middle East, and our strategic partnership with Interlaw – an elite global network of over 7,000 first-class lawyers in 150 cities worldwide.

We act on a wide range of commercial disputes, with key strengths in international, particularly Middle East-related work, heavyweight commercial matters and disputes involving public sector bodies. We are advising the Central Bank of Bahrain bringing claims worth close to £3bn in connection with the AHAB and Saad Group frauds, for example, and we also receive regular mandates from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Our work on disputes emanating from the Middle East includes cases played out in the local courts and arbitral tribunals in that region, as well as in London and other international disputes hubs.

Handling complex high-value matters

Closer to home, our team has had a number of its recent cases in the Commercial Court reported and receives instructions in commercial disputes from both regional and national players. We have a strong record of working with in-house counsel teams in difficult, sensitive and complex claims and investigations.

Trowers has a long history of acting in disputes involving the public sector and continues to be a leader in this field. For example, we are on the panel for the Department of Health, who we advise on various high-value claims.

We are one of the only firms with a team recognised for its civil fraud expertise, where we act for a wide range of public, private and third-sector clients dealing with prevention, investigations and recovery actions across multiple jurisdictions. With deep experience in freezing injunction applications, we also advise on anti-bribery and fraud prevention issues and are increasingly known for significant instructions arising from cyber crime. We support both domestic and international clients dealing with the regulatory and data issues that arise from cyber events and our team regularly speaks at conferences on cyber security and dealing with breaches.

Supporting a broad client base

Our real estate litigation team in the West Midlands has grown considerably in recent years and now stands apart for the breadth of both its work and its client base, covering the full range of City-quality contentious property work in the regional market. Our clients include significant public sector pension funds and investment funds, NHS foundation trusts, West Midlands-based property investors and corporate occupiers, large and small developers, high-net-worth-individual clients, large and small housing associations and care providers, including the West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities Pension Fund, Westminster City Council (investment property), King’s College Hospital, Mainstay Residential, Midland Heart and Citizen Housing Group.

Our construction litigation practice in Birmingham is focused on the development of risk management and dispute avoidance strategies to help clients retain control of projects. When action does become necessary, we guide clients towards the most satisfactory outcome possible, whether that is through adjudication, mediation, conciliation, early neutral evaluation, expert determination or a more bespoke process. The disputes team is an integral part of our projects and construction department, providing a full service to construction projects on a local, national and international basis. We advise housing associations, NHS trusts, contractors and leisure developers across the Midlands region on a range of significant contentious matters relating to construction aspects of various schemes and projects.

We believe our full-service litigation practice in the Midlands stands apart for its ability to cope with complexity and diversity, and for its national and global reach. We have significant expertise using litigation funders to finance claims ranging from £200,000 to over £100m – we always look at the big picture when supporting clients, pursuing the most effective dispute resolution achievable.

In order to develop our relationships with in-house counsel, we run a breakfast series called Counsel’s Club where we discuss topical issues and share experiences, resulting in valuable collaboration and information sharing.

Key partners

Helen Briant

Partner, commercial litigation
E: hbriant@trowers.com
T: 0121 214 8867

Helen Briant is a partner in Trowers & Hamlins’ commercial litigation practice in Birmingham, specialising in commercial litigation and arbitration. She regularly works with in-house legal teams to resolve substantial commercial disputes. She has particular experience in working for clients in the manufacturing and engineering sector. She also has significant experience dealing with complex and sensitive disputes involving private wealth, investments, trusts and estates, and her work is usually cross-border. Briant’s clients include high-net-worth individuals, business owners, trustees, executors and beneficiaries, and many of the cases that she works on involve fraud and dishonesty.

Yetunde Dania

Partner, property litigation
E: ydania@trowers.com
T: 0121 214 8822

Yetunde Dania specialises in residential landlord and tenant property matters for large and small housing associations, and UK and overseas-based private landlords with property portfolios in the UK. Her work includes contentious and non-contentious issues, such as providing advice and assistance to clients in complex possession and injunction claims, defending counterclaims for disrepair and/or allegations of alleged landlord-related regulatory failures, in both the county and magistrates’ courts, and she provides advice across the very wide spectrum of residential landlord and tenant legislation.

Michael Green

Partner, property litigation
E: mgreen@trowers.com
T: 0121 214 8861

With almost 20 years of real estate litigation experience acting for a range of private and public sector clients, Michael Green joined Trowers & Hamlins’ property litigation team in Birmingham in 2018 with the objective of broadening its practice. He acts for investors, corporate occupiers, developers and public sector bodies, including public sector pension funds and other investment funds. Green’s clients comprise a mix of real estate stakeholders in the Midlands, together with London-based clients. He has particular expertise in complex commercial landlord and tenant disputes, including those arising in the context of large-scale redevelopments.

Mark Kenkre

Partner, commercial litigation
E: mkenkre@trowers.com
T: 0121 214 8863

Mark Kenkre specialises in commercial litigation, arbitration and conducting investigations, with an emphasis on complex and commercially sensitive disputes involving allegations of fraud. He has an interest in technology, cyber crime and cyber security issues, including the development of fraud risks relating to blockchain technology and developments in legal technology, and he is a member of the Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association and the Fraud Advisory Panel.

Guy Willetts

Partner, property litigation
E: gwilletts@trowers.com
T: 0121 214 8845

Guy Willetts has more than 30 years’ experience in the resolution of property disputes, acting for owners or occupiers of all types of commercial property (including shops, offices, warehouses and industrial buildings), investors and developers, local authorities, pension funds, NHS trusts and government agencies. He has been involved in a number of landmark cases and is focused on getting the right result in the most cost-effective manner, which may involve alternative dispute resolution, including self-help remedies, mediation, arbitration or expert determination, with the courts as a last resort.

 

10 Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 2QD

Tel: 0121 214 8800

Web: www.trowers.com

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Sponsored briefing: Four tips for successful foreclosure in Ukraine

GOLAW

Following changes to legislation last year, Valentyn Gvozdiy makes recommendations to creditors

The major part of banking litigation relates to the disputes between financial institutions and borrowers, over unpaid debt and provided collaterals. To avoid spending years in litigation that eventually may lead to a negative result for the creditor, we recommend staying in line with the latest developments in this field and court practice. It should be noted that during 2019 numerous changes were introduced in Ukrainian legislation aimed at protection of creditors’ rights and interests from unfair debtors. Here are several recommendations for financial institutions before initiating any dispute with borrowers. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Four tips for successful foreclosure in Ukraine”

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Sponsored briefing: Technology projects – Plan for success (and if things go wrong)

Addleshaw Goddard looks at the impact of technology on future planning

Involving a disputes lawyer in your business shouldn’t start when you get into a dispute

If you are in business, you are a technology business – this is the reality of the modern marketplace. From the smallest pop-up shop to FTSE 100 entities, technology is at the core. Digitalisation and automation are now woven through every aspect of business, whether front-end customer engagement, supply chains, outsourcing, back-end administration or compliance and audit functions. And this trend will continue; recent data shows many businesses are planning to spend between 20% and 50% of their investment capital on digital projects.

With that opportunity comes risk: increasingly, the prospects and viability of a business are tied to its tech.

Your business needs to be alive not just to the benefits that new technologies will bring to your operations, but also to the challenges inherent when introducing it and, once implemented, your increasing reliance on it. As your business becomes ever-more dependent on technology (with the rise of 5G, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud storage, big data and blockchain), so the scale of the risk to your business increases if that technology fails. Several companies have made unwanted headlines over high-profile tech disasters.

Planning for change

Most technology projects are intended as a catalyst for change within a business – whether to vital logistics and administration functions, the customer journey, or the business as a whole. Robust planning processes are essential from the beginning of such projects. All your stakeholders must buy in, so as to realise the changes you are seeking. And even with that planning and commitment in place, most IT implementation projects will often encounter time, money, resource and/or scope issues during their implementation.

Your business needs a clear strategy (commercial, technical and legal) to steer a course to success. And success will demand not just leadership and discipline from the senior management, but also a robust and holistic contract and implementation plan – covering everything from scoping, tendering, contact negotiation and signing, through to the ‘go-live’ and continued operation/upgrades and ultimately exit.

You need to think carefully about what you want to achieve with this new tech and how and when you want to achieve it. Are these deliverables understood by your providers and clearly set out in your contract? Are there sufficient incentives in your contract for the provider to deliver against the requirements and milestones? Will your operations, including your data, be sufficiently protected throughout this period of change?

Getting the right advice at the start could save a series of headaches (or worse) later on.

Planning for challenges

Inevitably, as with all projects, tech initiatives will see varying degrees of success. So you need to be prepared if, or more likely when, your project faces challenges. What levers do you have (contractual or otherwise) to get the project back on track?

And when a dispute materialises, the contract will be tested. Does it place escalation obligations on the parties that are constructive or distracting? Does it encourage co-operation or brinksmanship? How easy is it to withhold payment or services – or even terminate? What limitation and/or exclusion provisions apply? What about exit management? Having a clear strategy that can cater for both success and failure will be key in these circumstances.
Ultimately, you may need to bring or defend a claim. While this tends not to be a GC/board’s preferred option, the prospect of proceedings can sometimes be used strategically to achieve a final resolution, frequently without the need to go to trial.

Importantly, time is often a more critical factor in tech disputes than in many other forms of dispute. Technology evolves at a fast pace. Accordingly, in a dispute it can be vital for issues to be resolved before the existing tech on which the business presently depends becomes obsolete, or the market moves on and your investment (or even your whole operation) is sunk. Where timing is a factor, many businesses will want to consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR) before legal proceedings are commenced. This can include the new contractual adjudication scheme launched by the Society for Computers and Law, a three-month procedure that aims at swift settlement of tech disputes.

Even where a tech project has been implemented successfully, issues may arise later on. Such an issue could occur due to a security breach (eg, hacking incident) or human error (eg, accidental data disclosure). It is increasingly important for businesses to be as well drilled for tech incidents, such as a cyber-attack, as they are for a fire. Prompt action will be needed to secure your tech infrastructure, reassure your customers, regulators, workforce and investors, keep your supply chain intact, restore business critical operations, manage the media fallout and seek redress from the culprits. The extent to which businesses (even ‘big business’) are ready for this type of potentially business-critical risk varies greatly.

Planning for the future

The UK is the third-largest market for AI investment behind the US and China. A report by Microsoft last year showed 56% of businesses are adopting AI, and suggested every company may incorporate it in some form in the next five years. So, before too long, what we currently think of as ‘tech risk’ will just become ‘risk’. An office without email is unthinkable now, despite the fact that many senior executives began their careers in offices without much more than a single computer. It is likely the same will become true of AI, blockchain and many other ‘new technologies’.

Planning for success

As a business, you have a careful balancing act to manage. You will have to continue to evolve your IT systems to remain relevant and ahead of competitors, but you must also do what you can to ensure the new technology is implemented and operated in a way that is as low-risk as possible.

The success of your IT will increasingly go hand in hand with the fortunes of the business itself. Having tech issues resolved quickly and efficiently (and, yes, perhaps quietly), across all your operations and jurisdictions, will be essential.

Engaging the right advisers who can give the right guidance at the right time, taking a holistic view of the business (and not just tech) issues, with full-service capability to act across sectors and borders, and who are themselves tech competent and enabled, can save valuable resource, time and money – and potentially the business itself. And, while you can’t always plan for the unforeseen, having a strategy to deal with such risks will be invaluable in the event of unwanted interference in your business.

 

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Sponsored briefing: Key trends in contentious construction

Watson Farley & Williams

The team at Watson Farley & Williams discuss the latest developments in the sector

It has been a busy few years for the London contentious construction team at Watson Farley & Williams. Following the recruitment of specialist Rebecca Williams in 2015 and the relocation of former Bangkok partner Rob Fidoe in 2016, the team has gone from strength to strength, building on the capabilities of the firm’s leading non-contentious practice to make its mark in the construction market. The team, which was joined by construction hotel and leisure expert Barry Hembling in 2019, is now an award-winning practice, working for domestic and international clients operating across a range of sectors, and conducting groundbreaking litigation, which is shaping new law. This includes the landmark decision in PBS Energo AS v Bester Generacion UK Ltd [2019], where the English High Court refused to enforce an adjudication decision as there was a properly arguable defence that the decision had been obtained by fraud – the first occasion on which the court refused to order enforcement in such circumstances. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Key trends in contentious construction”

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Sponsored firm profile:
Cripps Pemberton Greenish

When you have a dispute, you need a lawyer who can get straight to the facts of the matter. Client focused and commercial in our outlook, we can be relied upon to take a practical and pragmatic approach to dispute resolution. If you’re looking for a scorched-earth approach we can oblige, but we are more often found steering matters along a more constructive path.

With a total of 38 lawyers, of whom 13 are partners, our team of dispute resolution specialists is large enough to offer a full range of services and deep expertise, while being compact enough to care.

We have disputes specialists in the following areas:

  1. Commercial contracts disputes: the full spectrum of commercial contracts and agreements.
  2. Post-transaction claims: including breach of warranties or indemnities.
  3. Director and shareholder disputes: we are recognised experts in this field.
  4. Insolvency-related disputes: including winding-up and directors’ duties claims.
  5. Real estate and construction disputes: we are nationally recognised for our expertise.
  6. Professional negligence: experienced pursuers of negligent advisers.
  7. Regulatory disputes: health and safety, environmental and other regulations.
  8. Employment litigation: including injunctions to enforce covenants.
  9. Wealth disputes: nationally recognised expertise in wills and trusts litigation.

We resolve disputes for all kinds of UK and international businesses. While we work for clients across all industry sectors, we have specialist knowledge of the advertising media and technology, health and care, retail leisure and hospitality sectors.

Many of the team are ranked in the legal directories and are celebrated as leaders in their fields. These include Ed Weeks (shareholders disputes), Jo Ford (insolvency), Miles Paffard and Kerry Glanville (real estate), Nitej Davda (construction), Russell Simpson (professional negligence) and Phil Youdan (regulatory).

To discuss how we can help, please contact:

Ed Weeks
Partner
E: ed.weeks@crippspg.co.uk
T: +44 (0)1892 506 196

TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Number 22 Mount Ephraim
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN4 8AS

Tel: +44 (0)1892 515 121

LONDON
45 Cadogan Gardens
London
SW3 2AQ

Tel: +44 (0)20 7591 3333

Web: www.crippspg.co.uk

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Perfect storms – Cases of the year

Sarah Parkes

Cash-rich funders; conflict-free boutiques; class actions aplenty. While some predict another economic downturn on the horizon, providing an uptick in conventional litigation work, these themes have defined the more eye-catching disputes of the past year. Add to the mix an increase in cyber-related litigation and accusations of fraud and regulatory missteps against some of the leading firms’ key institutional clients, and a kinetic disputes scene emerges.

Many of these developments are US imports, particularly class actions and a more aggressive approach to accusations of fraud. These US-style claims are often being pursued by disputes boutiques increasingly allying themselves with external funders. As a result, the stranglehold City bluebloods have over big-ticket litigation has loosened, while some feel only two or three of the smaller players are of sufficient quality to cause real disruption (see our boutiques report). Continue reading “Perfect storms – Cases of the year”

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Interview with: Kresna Panggabean and Benny Bernarto, TNB & Partners

Kresna Panggabean
Benny Bernarto

GC: What do you see as the main points that differentiate TNB & Partners from your competitors?

Kresna Panggabean (KP): We are one of the few international firms operating a disputes practice in Indonesia. Most international businesses know that Indonesian courts can be notoriously challenging to navigate and that the legal market for dispute resolution is dominated by local players. While we are happy to provide clients with a full service offering, we do not focus on matters in the local courts. Instead, we focus on cross-border corporate disputes where we can plug into the strength of the Norton Rose Fulbright network to add value.

Benny Bernarto (BB): Norton Rose Fulbright has been an established presence in Indonesia for nearly 30 years from its Australian connection and has, through various forms of associations and incorporations, acquired longstanding expertise in the Indonesian market. While the core strength of our practice in Indonesia has been handling corporate and banking and finance transactions, over the last three years we have been putting a lot of effort into building our dispute resolutions offering, working hard to increase the capacity of the firm to serve clients on a broader range of matters.

We (Kresna and I) are corporate lawyers by background, which helps a lot in understanding the nature of corporate disputes. In my experience, there are not many disputes lawyers in the Indonesian market who have a strong corporate background or understand complex, cross-border corporate transactions. We have knowledge of how international companies operate and can follow what our partners across Norton Rose Fulbright have seen in other jurisdictions and bring that expertise to bear on matters in Indonesia.

As a rule, clients want to work with the same firm or lawyers. If a dispute arises in connection with an M&A they want to stay with the same firm. Likewise, clients who deal with Norton Rose Fulbright offices outside Indonesia want to keep the same firm if they end up facing a dispute elsewhere. Because these clients are based outside Indonesia they are often unfamiliar with the very unique market dynamics

GC: What are some of the trends facing the dispute resolution landscape in Indonesia?

BB: Business is becoming more disputatious and client demand for dispute resolution services is increasing. This will certainly continue. As the global market becomes more sophisticated we will naturally see more disputes. Market sophistication leads to disagreement and dispute, new regulations lead to disputes, and cross-border trade is almost inevitably going to be followed by cross-border disputes.

KP: Indonesia is an incredibly disputatious market. In the last couple of years, we have received an increasing number of enquiries from clients facing disputes, so it is important for us to have a strong disputes offering. There are really two main sources of these disputes. We are seeing more disputes related to M&A or joint ventures, but we are also seeing an increase in things like anti-bribery and corruption investigations. That means disputes are evolving and a disputes lawyer can no longer focus only on the sorts of matters which end up in court. We have worked hard to help clients when things go wrong by specialising both in the fast-moving nature of cross-border investigations, which are typically being driven from the US, while also integrating our disputes offering more closely with the corporate practice.

GC: What are some of the issues international clients need to be aware of when it comes to facing a dispute with an Indonesian counterparty?

KP: My first advice would be to settle disputes before they go to court or arbitration wherever possible. Of course, this is not always possible, but it is certainly worth exploring any avenues that can lead one away from a dispute to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

Mediation and other forms of ADR are recognised here but are neither common nor effective, and it can be a challenge to get an Indonesian party to consider settling. However, we work closely with our clients to explore all options and examine the likely costs of each course of action.

BB: Most disputes are driven by business teams. The commercial view is that if you can’t get what you want you go to court and try to win. We like to remind them that in order to do that they will need to spend time and money. Clients understand that disputes are expensive, but they rarely appreciate how time consuming and expensive they can be.

There can be a tendency for business to see things like employment-related matters as “not real disputes”, but even these can become very expensive if they are not handled properly. There is a temptation to think, “it’s just an employee, let’s go to court”, but the costs and timelines can spiral unpredictably.

Similarly, we advise businesses to be proactive when it comes to investigations as the processes can be quite unpredictable. For example, we were instructed by an oil and gas contractor based in the US to conduct an investigation into suspected bribery involving several of its employees. We teamed up with our colleagues in Singapore to interview their staffs and establish a case for termination. However, we quickly discovered that the alleged practices were not confined only to those employees facing investigation but were in fact prevalent across most of the sales division. What started as a relatively contained FCPA compliance investigation became a systemic problem for the business involved.

KP: The next most important consideration is to determine whether you are going for litigation or arbitration. Our position is generally to push for arbitration, particularly when advising entities based outside Indonesia, as it is less complex and has a more certain timeframe. It is also safer – arbitral awards can be enforced in Indonesia while court judgements generally cannot be enforced.

In terms of selecting a seat we recommend that our clients based outside of Indonesia push to have their disputes settled at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) or Indonesia’s arbitration centre – Badan Arbitrase Nasional Indonesia (BANI). Both have a good list of arbitrators, including many who are internationally recognised, but it is often preferable for international businesses to seek a neutral jurisdiction.

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Freshfields and Slaughters drafted as Government reveals details of Covid-19 business support package

The UK Treasury and Bank of England (BoE) have called in their go-to counsel Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as they iron out details of the multibillion-pound support scheme to underwrite British business through the coronavirus crisis.

The UK Government announced last week the Covid-19 Corporate Financing Facility to help companies with cash flow as the rapid spread of the virus has forced governments to put a third of the world’s population in shutdown. Continue reading “Freshfields and Slaughters drafted as Government reveals details of Covid-19 business support package”

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Guest comment: HSF disputes chief assesses the City litigation market’s Covid-19 response

Damien Byrne Hill

In light of the human impact of Covid-19, the immediate concern for businesses is the health and safety of their people and clients.

In addition, the pandemic has caused unprecedented turmoil for the global economy and many businesses are struggling to cope with the huge challenges. Most are feeling the strain financially. Some are fighting for economic survival.  Continue reading “Guest comment: HSF disputes chief assesses the City litigation market’s Covid-19 response”

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Listed firms suffer Covid-19 fallout as Knights staff face sweeping cuts and Ince cancels dividend

London Stock Exchange

Knights board members and staff earning more than £30,000 face pay cuts of at least 10% and some staff will be made redundant, while Ince has followed Gateley in slashing its interim dividend due to the impact of coronavirus.

The listed law firms today (26 March) provided trading updates to the London Stock Exchange, citing increased economic uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and responding with measures ranging from pay cuts and redundancies to dividend cancellations and warnings around collecting fees.

Continue reading “Listed firms suffer Covid-19 fallout as Knights staff face sweeping cuts and Ince cancels dividend”

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Coronavirus update: The Legal 500 pushes back research schedule to ease pressure on clients and firms

coronavirus cells under the microscope

The Legal 500 is pushing back its research schedule in response to the coronavirus pandemic, suspending all client contact for the next four weeks.

At a time when law firms and their clients are under unprecedented pressure, we have taken the decision not to add to the burden. All client feedback surveys for the UK Solicitors Guide, the UK Bar and Latin America will be suspended for four weeks, until the end of April. For the UK this will affect first-time contact with London clients and client survey re-sends for everywhere outside London. Continue reading “Coronavirus update: The Legal 500 pushes back research schedule to ease pressure on clients and firms”

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Linklaters acts on $500m ‘virtual trial’ while insurers and claimants agree coronavirus ceasefire

The Commercial Court is going fully virtual on a case worth over $500m this week, with Linklaters and King & Spalding among those acting remotely as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Meanwhile, insurers and claimants have reached an accord, with the groups set to work together throughout the pandemic to ensure a continued access to justice.

The Commercial Court’s ‘virtual courtroom’ will be in place from tomorrow (26 March) for a case where Linklaters will represent Bank of New York Mellon while King & Spalding is representing the other defendants The Statis, Ascom Group and Terra Raf in a ‘substantial multi-party litigation’,  with The National Bank of Kazakhstan and The Republic of Kazakhstan acting as claimants. The case had originally been scheduled for seven days in the court with witnesses from America, Belgium and Kazakhstan all set to be called before travel restrictions were laid down due to the spread of Covid-19.

Continue reading “Linklaters acts on $500m ‘virtual trial’ while insurers and claimants agree coronavirus ceasefire”

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A&O bullish on US investment drive with hire of federal enforcement firepower in DC

Allen & Overy  has again thrown itself behind its strategy to accelerate investment in its US business after fruitless merger talks with O’Melveny & Myers, having hired a pair of federal enforcement partners from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe in Washington DC. 

The addition of Billy Jacobson and Jonathan Lopez, both veterans of the fraud section of the US Department of Justice, is another shot in the arm for the City giant’s lofty stateside ambition to redouble investment in DC and New York at a time of leadership transition for the firm. It also comes at a time when firms are scaling back strategic recruitment as the global coronavirus pandemic unfolds.  Continue reading “A&O bullish on US investment drive with hire of federal enforcement firepower in DC”

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Allen & Overy’s election delivered an all-star line-up but have the big issues been resolved?

Wim Dejonghe

Towards the end of 2019, Legal Business remarked that the issue at the heart of Allen & Overy (A&O)’s looming leadership election was if the process would resolve whether the winners could achieve the right to genuinely lead the City giant. Now that the election has concluded, with the re-election of Wim Dejonghe (pictured) as senior partner and the elevation of projects and energy head Gareth Price as managing partner in place of Andrew Ballheimer, it is far from clear that the point has been settled.

That is not a criticism of the calibre of the candidates and winners. Generally regarded as the best managed of the Magic Circle’s four internationalists, A&O certainly attracted a line-up of heavyweight candidates, by no means a given in law firm leadership run-offs. This was most obvious in the contest between Dejonghe and banking co-head Philip Bowden for senior partner and Price and litigation head Karen Seward for the managing partner brief. Continue reading “Allen & Overy’s election delivered an all-star line-up but have the big issues been resolved?”

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Guest post: Coronavirus tears up competition regimes for foreign investments as Europe struggles to shield reeling economies

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc with the global economy, disrupting all manner of business throughout the world. Stock markets have plummeted and many companies are having to grapple with economic damage that seemed unimaginable at the start of the year.

This unprecedented environment could afford opportunistic buyers the chance to acquire or invest in companies that have been weakened by the crisis. In addition, creditors may unintentionally find themselves in a position where they acquire control over a business. Continue reading “Guest post: Coronavirus tears up competition regimes for foreign investments as Europe struggles to shield reeling economies”

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Coronavirus latest: Supreme Court goes virtual as junior lawyers plea against postponing exams

Supreme Court, England

For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court conducted a case entirely through video conferencing this morning (24 March), after taking the decision to close its building to the public due to the spread of Covid-19.

The move saw the matter of Fowler (Respondent) v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Appellant) conducted virtually, with all cases and judgment hand-downs set to continue via video conferencing until further notice. The measures will see legal teams and counsel, as well as each of the justices, located separately. Continue reading “Coronavirus latest: Supreme Court goes virtual as junior lawyers plea against postponing exams”

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‘Impossible to predict’ coronavirus fallout sees Gateley cancel £3m dividend and suspend guidance

Michael Ward

Listed law firm Gateley has withheld more than £3m in shareholder payouts to keep hold of cash with activity dented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm said today (24 March) it would cancel its interim dividend of 2.9 pence a share, which was due to be paid at the end of this month, in order to ‘maximise the group’s short-term liquidity’. The total interim dividend due to shareholders, including the firm’s partners, was about £3.4m, up more than 11% on last year. Continue reading “‘Impossible to predict’ coronavirus fallout sees Gateley cancel £3m dividend and suspend guidance”