From the Litigation Tracker

Amazon

LCM backs Amazon “Buy Box” collective action for second time

Third-party funder Litigation Capital Management (LCM) has thrown its hat in the ring for the second time to back a £1bn class action against Amazon regarding its “Buy Box” feature. In November 2022, it was announced that Hausfeld would be bringing a collective action against Amazon on behalf of 50 million consumers represented by class […]

baby toddler money

The Hearing: £150,000? Junior barristers are laughing

Welcome to the Hilary term and welcome back to The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market. As the market gears up for the busy dash to summer, three of The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases are set to hit the courts this month: British American Tobacco’s $800m challenge to PwC over its […]

Claim Spotter: Investment platform takes on Stephenson Harwood

Stephenson Harwood in new dispute with alternative investment platform Stephenson Harwood is at the receiving end of a fresh dispute brought by alternative investment platform Yieldstreet, filed on 31 May in the Commercial Court. Yieldstreet has instructed HFW to bring a part 7 ‘General commercial contracts and arrangements’ claim on its behalf. A part 7 […]

DAF Trucks

In court this week: PwC, Trucks and VietJet

British American Tobacco takes on PwC over negligence row British American Tobacco (BAT) subsidiary BTI is taking on Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) this week for a 39-day trial beginning tomorrow (4 June). The next eight weeks will see Hogan Lovells represent BTI as it goes head-to-head with Reed Smith for PwC in the Financial […]

Financial Times

Crispin Odey launches defamation claim against FT

A claim has been issued against the Financial Times by Crispin Odey, nearly a year after the newspaper’s investigation into the hedge fund manager was published. In June 2023 the FT published an investigation with allegations of sexual harassment or assault from 13 women who had worked for his firm, Odey Asset Management. Odey yesterday […]

Music

Spotlight: Facing the music with Wiggin

In this week’s Spotlight, we take a look at Wiggin’s music team to discover the disputes behind our favourite hits. The market: The music industry has been one of the hardest hit by emerging technologies and mediums such as shortform video and artificial intelligence (AI). Streaming now dominates how music is consumed, and while it’s […]

Claim spotter: Axiom Ince saga continues with fresh SRA matter

SRA files new claim over Axiom Ince collapse The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has filed a new matter with the courts. Listed on the public filing system against the former boss of collapsed firm Axiom Ince, Pragnesh Modhwadia, the suit is listed as a Part 8 miscellaneous matter, which usually seeks the court’s decision on […]

Serious Fraud Office

In court this week: Glencore litigation gears up for first hearing

Mammoth Glencore securities litigation goes for first CMC Hundreds of claimants participate in five separate matters, with representation from Stewarts, Pallas Partners, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, BCLP and Fox Williams. The Glencore group action is a mammoth case, due to go before the Business and Property Courts for a three-day CMC beginning tomorrow (21 […]

Court goes against HSF as negligence spat heats up

A long-running negligence claim launched by an ex-KPMG Singapore partner against Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has taken a new turn after inconsistencies were alleged against a key witness of the firm. The claimant in the proceedings is KPMG’s ex-head of restructuring, Graham Martin, who instructed HSF in 2017 to challenge a worldwide freezing order brought […]

Shaking hands

Spotlight: This team wants to advise your firm

This week on Spotlight, we laser in on the legal regulatory team (also known as legal professional discipline) at Kingsley Napley. The market: The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) has widened its interests considerably in recent years. The MeToo movement has since evolved into concern about culture at law firms, anti-money laundering (AML) has become much more prominent […]