Sports Direct takes on Newcastle United in kit rights clash The Magpies are heading to the Competition Appeal Tribunal tomorrow (9 April) for one day in a claim brought by Sports Direct, as the high street sports equipment retailer challenges Newcastle United over its third-party kit sales policy. Sports Direct, represented by Travers Smith, alleges […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan client Phones 4u (P4u) has been granted permission to appeal its £1bn competition suit against some of the biggest mobile network providers, following a defeat in the High Court last year. The firm has succeeded in having eight grounds approved to take to appeal, including the allegation that an exchange […]
Macfarlanes is set to defend the Performing Right Society (PRS) in a class action brought by Blur’s drummer in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The opt-out claim is brought by Dave Rowntree, who is also a prospective Labour MP, on behalf of 160,000 UK songwriter members of the PRS. Rowntree alleges that PRS, which collects […]
Clifford Chance has lost the mandate to represent Epic Games in the US video game developer’s ongoing competition claim against RPC-repped Google. The Lawyer understands that Epic Games, best known for the online video game Fortnite, switched legal representation to Norton Rose Fulbright around six months ago. According to a 2021 confidentiality ring order on the Competition […]
Sports Direct takes on Newcastle United in kit rights clash The Magpies are heading to the Competition Appeal Tribunal tomorrow (9 April) for one day in a claim brought by Sports Direct, as the high street sports equipment retailer challenges Newcastle United over its third-party kit sales policy. Sports Direct, represented by Travers Smith, alleges […]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan client Phones 4u (P4u) has been granted permission to appeal its £1bn competition suit against some of the biggest mobile network providers, following a defeat in the High Court last year. The firm has succeeded in having eight grounds approved to take to appeal, including the allegation that an exchange […]
Macfarlanes is set to defend the Performing Right Society (PRS) in a class action brought by Blur’s drummer in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The opt-out claim is brought by Dave Rowntree, who is also a prospective Labour MP, on behalf of 160,000 UK songwriter members of the PRS. Rowntree alleges that PRS, which collects […]
Clifford Chance has lost the mandate to represent Epic Games in the US video game developer’s ongoing competition claim against RPC-repped Google. The Lawyer understands that Epic Games, best known for the online video game Fortnite, switched legal representation to Norton Rose Fulbright around six months ago. According to a 2021 confidentiality ring order on the Competition […]
Welcome to your weekly edition of The Hearing, your insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. Yesterday marked the last day of the Hilary Court term, so in this final edition of The Hearing before we take next week off, we take a look at the Supreme Court decision that has come as a relief […]
“I’ve seen the future, and it’s porn, sharks and Nazis.” Twitter hadn’t even been founded at the time, but the above quote from the niche 2005 sitcom Bromwell High turned out to be unintendedly prophetic when considering the journey of one of the planet’s largest social media companies. Once ‘the world’s town square’, Twitter, latterly […]
One of Europe’s most enduring rumours is about Simpson Thacher & Bartlett opening in Luxembourg. It is one of the jurisdiction’s key referrers of work for the local Luxembourg players, meaning there is an amount of paranoia among them about what would happen if Simpson Thacher decided to open its own office there. The idea […]
Which is the best personal injury firm in the country? Irwin Mitchell, perhaps? Maybe Leigh Day, or Slater & Gordon? Wrong, wrong, wrong. The answer in fact is Cheshire six-lawyer outfit Gavin Edmondson Solicitors, which according to the website reviewsolicitors.co.uk scores better than almost 2,500 PI firms across the country for its quality. What about […]
Cash piles rose during the pandemic, but the latest year-end shows a turnaround. Across the UK 200, debt levels are increasing, and those precious cash reserves are being eroded by a tide of rising costs. This evidence suggests the trend is most prominent among firms that occupy the mid-tier; these firms are spending big as […]
Who says UK firms are getting left behind in the global legal market? Whoever it is should take a look at the top end of this year’s UK 200, which later this month highlights that for the first time ever, all four magic circle firms have a turnover of more than £2bn (though it’s worth […]
The Stewarts-repped London International Exhibition (ExCel) Centre has successfully seen off an appeal by insurers over its Covid-19 business interruption claim. The case, which was one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2023 and Top 10 Appeals of 2024, concerned whether pandemic lockdowns entitled the Centre to claim £16m under the disease occurring “at […]
A&O Shearman has set out its post-merger integration plans, which includes closing one of its global offices and reducing its partnership by 10 per cent by the end of the financial year. The firm said today that its partnership would reduce within the year following a strategic review of its business post-A&O’s tie-up with Shearman. […]
Dentons and Reed Smith have taken the leading roles on eSky Group’s purchase of travel business Thomas Cook. Dentons private equity partner Nicholas Plant, along with Michał Wasiak, a partner in the firm’s Warsaw office, were at the helm of the team for Polish purchaser eSky. They were supported by corporate associate Alex Macdonald, IP […]
Football law has typically been the domain of sports specialists. However, in recent years, there has been a growing number of large, elite firms and chambers entering the football market. Clifford Chance and Freshfields act for Manchester City, and Slaughter and May and Linklaters represent the Premier League. Latham and Watkins worked on the Chelsea […]
A former Ashurst employee has agreed to the outcome of an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), after he was found to have stolen two laptops and sold them. Irfan Malik, an IT service desk analyst, was accused of removing “two laptops from the firm’s IT storeroom without its knowledge or consent”. The SRA […]