Leigh Day has today launched an opt-out class action in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) against Severn Trent Water, with litigators at firms including Herbert Smith Freehills primed to defend. The much-anticipated claim alleges that the Midlands and Wales water company has abused its market dominance by underreporting how often it sewage is spilled into […]
The High Court has dismissed ClientEarth’s novel climate action against Shell’s board of directors, provoking the environmental organisation to appeal the decision. Represented by Pallas Partners’ Will Hooker acting pro bono, ClientEarth brought the derivative action earlier this year, after buying 27 shares in the oil giant. As a shareholder of Shell, which is defended […]
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has added nine lawyers to its ranks in Paris after hiring an energy and infrastructure team from Linklaters. Led by project and structured financing specialist partner Darko Adamovic, the France-based team is understood to operate both domestically and internationally. The hires also include of counsels Vincent Poilleux and Alex Bluett, alongside […]
A partner from Simmons & Simmons’ energy and infrastructure practice is making the move to a US firm, as hires in this sector continue apace. The Lawyer has learnt that Kirkland & Ellis is hiring Serra Tar as a partner. She joined Simmons & Simmons as a partner in April 2022, having previously spent more […]
Shearman & Sterling is to lose two more of its projects team, this time to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Partner duo Ben Shorten and Trinh Chubbock are leaving the firm, a month after Shearman lost a global energy and infrastructure team to Ashurst. Shorten and Chubbock join Gibson Dunn’s London practice, where Shorten will serve as […]
Today (21 June), the Supreme Court is set to hear a climate-related legal challenge with four respondents and a total of four interveners, including Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, The Office for Environmental Protection, and West Cumbria Mining. The case will see a host of barristers from Garden Court Chambers, Landmark Chambers and Cornerstone Barristers […]
Firms including Harcus Parker, JMW and Leigh Day are lining up claims for businesses across the country, as they look to take on energy companies that they allege have been arranging “secret commissions” with brokers. Manchester-headquartered JMW Solicitors announced on 8 June that it was one such firm fighting for compensation from energy companies, while […]
A pair of firms has been appointed to SmartestEnergy’s legal services panel following a rare tender from the B2B energy company, The Lawyer has learnt. Reed Smith and Walker Morris is the duo that has made it onto the roster, forcing SmartestEnergy’s longstanding incumbent Gowling WLG out of the picture. Walker Morris will support SmartestEnergy […]
Listed water services company Pennon Group has finalised its first panel review under its new general counsel, with Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May among those appointed. The other firms with places on the panel are Ashfords, Burges Salmon, Charles Russell Speechly, Squire Patton Boggs, TLT and Winston & Strawn. The selected firms will […]
Scottish independent firm Brodies has launched an office in Abu Dhabi, making it the firm’s seventh office in total and its first venture outside of Europe, The Lawyer can reveal. The office has been coined Brodies Middle East, and the decision to open it has been driven by the firm’s existing energy clients in Abu […]
Ashurst has swiped a global energy and infrastructure team from Shearman & Sterling, just days after the US firm announced its transformative tie-up with Allen & Overy The defecting Shearman team includes London-based project finance partners Sanja (Sonny) Udovicic and Julia Derrick, as well as Seoul-based partner Anna Chung, and Singapore-based partner Jean-Louis Neves Mandelli […]
Update: ClientEarth announced on Friday that it had been granted an oral hearing to request the High Court reconsider its decision, something the Companies Act permits it to do The High Court has dismissed ClientEarth’s derivative claim against Shell’s board. The environmental law organisation, represented by Pallas Partners’ Will Hooker acting pro bono, brought the […]