Litigation
We are a leading litigation practice. Companies, financial institutions and governments from around the world trust us to advise them on the resolution of their most demanding disputes. We bring to our work a technical strength and a commercial awareness that consistently achieves outstanding results, in and out of court.
- We are a recognised leader across a broad spectrum of disputes. Household name clients across a broad range of industry sectors come to us for our track record of securing favourable outcomes on high-profile, legally novel, factually complex disputes.
- We are experts in complex group litigation, acting for multinational corporates on high-profile, legally novel, factually complex disputes.
- Our work for some of the world’s leading financial institutions has made us one of the foremost banking litigation practices in London.
- Our competition litigation practice is preeminent: we are advising on the largest standalone and follow-on damages claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the High Court.
- Our tax disputes practice comprises specialists from our Disputes and Investigations and Tax groups who work closely together on tax disputes, forming a formidable, integrated team of experts able to deal with all aspects of the case innovatively, seamlessly and efficiently.
- We regard it as a mark of our success that many of our cases settle at a pre-action stage, allowing our clients to focus on their business while preserving their commercial and reputational interests. Where the court room cannot be avoided, we are robust but pragmatic, an approach underpinned by the technical strength and strategic insight of our multi-specialist litigators.
We put at our client’s disposal the expertise and insight of the whole firm – including our market-leading Global Investigations, Competition and Corporate practices. Our international approach enables us to work with leading firms from around the world as an integrated team, giving our clients a first class service without borders.
Key experience
on its successful appeal to the Supreme Court in Hopcraft regarding broker commissions in a motor finance context. The landmark decision from the Supreme Court determined that motor dealers acting as a credit broker do not owe fiduciary duties to their customers and dismissed the Hopcrafts’ claims against Close Brothers entirely, providing important legal and commercial clarity for the motor finance industry.
in relation to High Court litigation and proposed collective proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal arising out of the foreign exchange investigations. In the collective proceedings, in December 2025 the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment providing important clarification on the test to be applied when determining whether collective proceedings may be certified on an opt-out or opt-in basis.
in relation to a mass tort group claim, following the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn the decision of the High Court in Limbu v Dyson.
and other entities who are defendants to claims arising out of the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Brazil. The case involves around 620,000 claimants advancing claims under Brazilian law.
in its defence of one of the largest ever competition law follow-on damages proceedings in the UK courts and Competition Appeals Tribunal which cover multiple individual claims, group actions and competing applications for Collective Proceedings Orders.
in respect of a group claim threatened by Malawian tobacco farmers, concerning allegations of child and forced labour on third party farms in Malawi.
in complex, multiparty litigation in the English High Court arising out of the USD$2 billion financing of state tuna fishery and maritime security projects in the Republic of Mozambique between 2013 and 2016. Following settlements reported in October and November 2023, the litigation was successfully resolved so far as concerns Credit Suisse.
and its Board of Directors in respect of a derivative action brought by ClientEarth, a minority shareholder, based on allegations of breaches of directors’ duties in respect of the Board’s management of Shell’s climate change related risks and response.
on a collective proceedings claim brought by Mr Justin Gutmann in relation to an alleged abuse of dominance for charging so-called ‘loyalty penalties’.
in proceedings brought in the London Commercial Court against Vijay Mallya, the prominent Indian businessman, and associated persons for breach of numerous high-value contractual arrangements.
The experience, technical skill and commercial awareness of our lawyers allows us to provide our clients with a complete litigation and dispute resolution service of the highest calibre.
