Corporate and Commercial Disputes

Shareholder dispute

Defending a claim in the London Court of International Arbitration regarding a dispute by a former shareholder who claimed his shares were unlawfully purchased from him by the company: £3.3m.

Fraud

A claim for fraud arising out of the dishonest diversion of business, clients and income by the Managing Director and others: £3,000,000.

High value claim

Defending a claim arising out of the design, construction, procurement, commissioning and installation of cooling units at data centre halls: £77m.

Joint venture agreement losses

A claim pursuant to personal guarantees for losses arising out of a Joint Venture Agreement: £7m.

Negligence claim against solicitors

Claim against solicitors for drafting errors in a Share Purchase Agreement: £4.5m.

High value risk mitigation

Assisting a national PLC with an ongoing project to address a myriad of financial and regulatory issues. We have worked with this client to identify and rectify these issues so as to achieve the client’s objectives in a cost-effective manner whilst successfully managing what could have been significant potential reputational risk for our client.

Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Lawyers

High value director dispute

Acting for a luxury IT system and creative design company in a dispute involving the forced removal of a director and 50% shareholder for breach of fiduciary duties and shareholders’ agreement. The shareholder is aiming to recover its shares through a share buyback. The dispute, ongoing for over two years, has severely impacted our client’s business growth and development, complicated by the absence of a shareholders’ agreement and threats of unfair prejudice claims and attempts to wind-up the company.

Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Lawyers

Defending complex enforcement action

Acting for a property construction and development company facing enforcement action over two loans totalling approximately £3.9m, secured by property and subject to multiple assignments. In response to the lender’s actions, we challenged the loans on various grounds, including regulatory compliance under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, asserting that they constitute unfair relationships under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and disputing the validity of receiver appointments and default interest provisions, arguing that they are unenforceable as a penalty.

Construction and Engineering

Multi-angled shareholder dispute

Acting for a large care home group embroiled in a dispute with a departing employee/director who is also a shareholder and involved in competing businesses. The case involves complex issues of constructive dismissal, unfair prejudice, and refusal to relinquish shares, compounded by allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation and discussions around rescission of shareholder agreements. We are actively engaging in negotiations to force share buybacks and defend against expected High Court claims, which have disrupted the group’s growth plans, resulting in loss of management time and potential revenue.

Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation Lawyers

High value enforcement action

Representing an offshore lender involved in a joint loan of approximately £12m to two companies for land development in the North West of England, secured by legal charges and personal guarantees. After the companies defaulted, we assisted in various enforcement actions, including appointing receivers, and addressing issues with UN1 registrations from potential buyers. We are currently pursuing the directors under their personal guarantees to mitigate a substantial shortfall of over £6m for the lender.

Banking and Finance