Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP (JD Supra United Kingdom)

As previous client alerts have set out, momentum is building across a range of jurisdictions toward legalizing companies’ obligations to respect human rights and promote ESG issues generally. While in Europe, this has centered on mandatory human rights due diligence proposals, in the UK attention has focused on adapting the ‘failure to prevent’ structure as set out in the UK Bribery Act 2010.

I. What’s the issue? The London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is the most widely used interest rate benchmark in the world, referenced in some $373 trillion notional value of financial transactions of all types. But in light of the various price-fixing scandals surrounding LIBOR and the limited activity in the London interbank market, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”)...

On 24 December 2020, the EU and the UK finally reached agreement on the terms of the “EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement” (the “Brexit Agreement”). Its 1200 plus pages do not contain much that need detain litigators as it is entirely silent on matters relating to rules on service, jurisdiction, choice of law and enforcement of judgments. As a consequence, the existing network of EU law rules...

Recent Decisions by English Courts on Provisions Allowing for the Correction of Arbitration Awards - It is widely recognised that parties who are dissatisfied with arbitration awards will generally have very limited rights to challenge those awards. Indeed, the finality of arbitration awards is often one of the attractions of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism.

The United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) today released its much anticipated judgment in Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell Plc, unanimously overturning the Court of Appeal’s previous finding that the English courts did not have jurisdiction over a claim against Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Shell) and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC).

In light of the various price-fixing scandals surrounding the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and the limited activity in the London interbank market, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) announced in 2017 that it will no longer sustain the publication of LIBOR as a reference rate by the end of 2021. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has warned that “[e]veryone in the financial

Formalities- Contractual procedure and requirements for issuing a notice of termination, as well as formal requirements for service of notices should be strictly complied with.i Determine (for example) whether the notice: AX... Please see full Publication below for more information.

The COVID-19 crisis has set in train a cascade of events that will impede, delay or prevent performance of many contracts in the coming months. Businesses are likely to face pressure from many directions: shortages of materials, shortages of staff, limitations on movement of personnel, restrictions on conducting operations, other legislative and administrative actions, and the insolvency of...

The COVID-19 crisis has set in train a cascade of events that will impede, delay or prevent performance of many contracts in the coming months. Businesses are likely to face pressure from many directions: shortages of materials, shortages of staff, limitations on movement of personnel, restrictions on conducting operations, other legislative and administrative actions, and the insolvency of...

Arbitration Laws Updated in the UAE; New Construction Arbitration Guide Released; and the UK Court of Appeal Weighs in on Liquidated Damages - New UAE arbitration laws: The UAE has introduced a new arbitration law, the Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration.  It repeals the arbitration chapter previously embedded in the federation’s civil procedure laws, which had been criticized for failing

Patent Applications Naming Artificial Intelligence System as Inventor Raise Intriguing Questions - In August 2019, a team of patent attorneys led by Ryan Abbott, a law professor at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, filed patent applications in various jurisdictions, including the United States, naming a sole inventor:  DABUS, an artificial intelligence system developed by the...

Last week the UK Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) published its long-anticipated guidance on the steps companies should take when choosing to cooperate with the agency’s investigations. A mere five pages long, the SFO’s Corporate Co-operation Guidance (the “Guidance”) nevertheless provides welcome insight on what the SFO takes cooperation to mean, and what actions will be perceived as inconsistent...

On 16 April 2018, Quinn Emanuel secured a significant victory when the English Court of Appeal delivered a landmark judgment in the case of Walter Hugh Merricks v. MasterCard Inc & Ors, in which Quinn Emanuel acts for Mr Merricks (the UK’s former Chief Financial Ombudsman). The case, the largest claim ever brought in England, is also the first mass consumer class action brought before the English

The English Court of Appeal has handed down its much-anticipated judgment in The Director of the Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006. At first instance, the High Court took a restrictive approach to both litigation privilege and legal advice privilege. The Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal, finding that the London-headquartered mining...

Background - The UK government has made a number of recent moves that have major implications for individuals and entities that hold assets in the UK. In March 2018, the government announced plans to establish the world’s first public register of beneficial ownership of non-UK companies that own or buy property in the UK. The government then confirmed, in May 2018, that it also intends to...

Introduction - The case of Taurus Petroleum Limited v State Oil Marketing Company of the Ministry of Oil, Republic of Iraq [2017] UKSC 64 involved Taurus Petroleum Ltd. (“Taurus”), a Geneva-based oil trading company, and the State Oil Marketing Organisation of Iraq (“SOMO”). Disputes between the parties arose out of a series of contracts for the sale of crude oil and LPG and were referred to...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in United States v. Allen, --- F.3d ----, 2017 WL 3040201 (2d Cir. July 19, 2017) (slip opinion available at https://goo.gl/FkfwNN), which holds that U.S. courts must give both use and derivative use immunity to individuals providing testimony lawfully compelled by a foreign government, will have far-reaching implications for all cross-border...

Background - In recent years, “FRAND” issues have been a hot topic, subject to litigation and administrative scrutiny around the world. Generally speaking, Standard-essential patents (“SEPs”), are patents that are required to implement a technical standard. Numerous technical standards govern a wide range of technologies from WiFi and cellular telephones to electrical plugs and outlets. In...

Across the world, tax authorities are becoming more aggressive and have sharpened their focus on corporates and multinationals. As a result, tax audits, investigations and disputes have increased significantly, both at the domestic and cross-border levels. Tax authorities are also now introducing offenses targeted at corporates and partnerships that fail to prevent tax evasion.

Section 166 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 empowers the Regulator to require that an authorised firm appoints a ‘skilled person’ to report on specific matters of concern or requiring verification. The Regulator must first approve the firm’s proposed choice of ‘skilled person’. The firm must provide “all such assistance” as reasonably required by the ‘skilled person’ and pay the

The UK Court of Appeal has held the funders of a losing claimant subject to a costs order on an indemnity basis as a result of the conduct of the claimant and its instructing solicitors. In Excalibur Ventures LLC v Texas Keystone Inc & ors (2016) EWCA Civ 1144, each funder was liable for the defendants’ costs “to the extent of the funding” advanced. No distinction applied to funds earmarked...

The new Competition Appeal Tribunal Fast-Track Procedure for Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises. On October 1, 2015, significant competition law reforms took effect in the United Kingdom under the Consumer Rights Act of 2015. In addition to providing for opt-out collective (class) actions for competition claims, the reforms also include provisions establishing a new fast-track procedure (“FTP”)...

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (UK), enacted on March 26, 2015, heralds a significant development in UK litigation. Following years of debate, and despite the concerns of many that the UK would suffer from the apparent excesses of U.S. class action litigation, the Act introduces opt-out collective actions (the British term for class actions) for competition claims. This new regime should take...

English Court of Appeal Confirms Extra-Territorial Reach of Contempt Proceedings Against Foreign Company Directors: Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co. and Another v. Al Refai and Others [2014] EWCA (Civ.) 715, [2014] WLR (D) 239. In a recent decision, the English Court of Appeal has confirmed that the principle against extra-territorial application of legislation does not prevent a...

Measure of Damages for Breach of a Contract to Drill Exploratory Oil or Gas Well - U.S. and English Law. With recent increasing frontier exploration activity, greater attention has fallen on the value of work obligations received for the grant or assignment of exploration and development rights. In many parts of the world, it is common for rights to be granted in return for, inter alia, an

Parallel Judicial Proceedings in Europe: “The Alexandros T” [2013] UKSC 70. In a landmark decision, the U.K. Supreme Court has provided parties with a meaningful way to discourage opponents from commencing proceedings in the courts of another EU Member State in breach of an exclusive jurisdiction agreement in favor of the English courts. The Supreme Court held that, in certain circumstances, the...

Companies that have suffered losses from an infringement of EU or national EU Member State competition laws have expanding options for attempting to recover those losses. EU competition enforcement policy in recent years, both at the supra-national and the national Member State levels, has given significant emphasis to facilitating private damages actions. As a result, there has been a steady...

UK Supreme Court Rules on Unjust Enrichment and Subjective Devaluation. Benedetti v. Sawiris & Ors [2013] UKSC 50. The Supreme Court has recently confirmed that where a claim for unjust enrichment relates to services received by a defendant, the starting point for identifying the value of the benefit conferred on the defendant is the price that a reasonable person in the position of the...

U.K. Supreme Court Affirms Power of English Courts to Issue Anti-Suit Injunctions Against Proceedings Commenced Overseas in Breach of an Arbitration Agreement - The U.K. Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC v. AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP ([2013] UKSC 35), a dispute between a Kazakhstani hydroelectric plant owner and the...

Piercing the Corporate Veil: VTB Capital plc v. Nutritek International Corp and Others [2013] UKSC 5 - In a recent case, the United Kingdom Supreme Court unanimously refused to pierce the corporate veil in order to treat an alleged controller of a company as a party to a contract entered into by that company. Accordingly, the claimant bank was unable to rely on a jurisdiction clause in the...