The High Court has held that a claim by a creditor under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 does not fall within the jurisdictional gateway permitting service out of the jurisdiction at common law for claims "under an enactment… Read more

The Supreme Court has held that the correct test for dishonesty in criminal proceedings is whether or not the defendant's conduct is dishonest by the objective standards of ordinary reasonable and honest people: Ivey v Genting Casinos (UK) Ltd t/a… Read more

In an important decision for the law of defamation, the Court of Appeal has clarified the meaning and effect of the requirement to show “serious harm” under the Defamation Act 2013: Lachaux v Independent Print & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ… Read more

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) ruling in Barbulescu v Romania (61496/08) is a timely reminder of the limits of employers' ability to monitor their employees' private activity on work IT systems. Although the decision… Read more

As a result of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation ("REIR"), which applies to insolvency proceedings commenced since 26 June this year, insolvency practitioners in EU Member States have been given more freedom to commence insolvency-related claims in jurisdictions other than… Read more

A recent Court of Appeal decision has clarified that financial institutions do not owe duties of care in tort in connection with their conduct of the past business review of interest rate hedging product sales announced by the FCA (then FSA)… Read more

The Global Pound Conference (GPC) series concluded on 6 July, with the final conference held at the Guildhall in London. This landmark project (of which Herbert Smith Freehills is the lead sponsor)  has seen more than 3,000 corporate and disputes professionals come… Read more

In a recent judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the extent to which an English law governed contract can be subject to the transaction avoidance provisions of the insolvency law of other another member state… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills recently held its annual disputes client conference exploring some key legal and compliance risks facing major corporates. The event was attended by close to 100 clients. After opening remarks by Mark Shillito, head of dispute resolution for… Read more

The Court of Appeal has recently ordered an English law firm which acted for trusts governed by Bahamian law to comply with a subject access request made by certain trust beneficiaries under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998: Dawson-Damer… Read more

On 10 March 2017, the High Court held that two tweets written by Katie Hopkins (a well-known columnist for The Sun with 570,000 Twitter followers at the time) caused real and substantial distress to Jack Monroe (a food blogger and… Read more

Our Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes team has today published its Annual Review of 2016, which provides an overview and analysis of the key cases and developments affecting those engaged in or with contentious matters in the insurance and reinsurance market. If… Read more

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that an insurer could not rely on a condition precedent relating to notification to avoid liability under a public and product liability policy: Zurich Insurance PLC v Maccaferri Limited [2016] EWCA Civ 1302. At first instance,… Read more

In a landmark constitutional law ruling, the Supreme Court today held (by a majority of 8 to 3) that the UK Government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union without an Act of Parliament authorising it… Read more

A recent Court of Appeal decision provides a useful reminder of the limited scope of the exceptions to the rule in Foss v Harbottle in common law derivative actions, which continue to apply to limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as they are… Read more

2016 has been an eventful year on any measure. While it may not be remembered principally for developments relating to commercial litigation, there has been a lot of activity on this front as well. In this post we look back… Read more

The High Court has refused permission for two members of a company to continue a derivative action despite there being (at least) a prima facie case against one of the company's directors. The court conducted a risk/benefit analysis and concluded… Read more

In a landmark constitutional law ruling, the High Court yesterday ruled that the UK Government cannot trigger Article 50 without the approval of Parliament: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin). The ruling… Read more

In the light of the global growth of litigation in the financial sector following the financial crisis, Herbert Smith Freehills has sponsored 'Getting The Deal Through' for the launch of the first edition of the guide to Financial Services Litigation… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has published an updated second edition of our Guide to Dispute Resolution in Africa, a publication summarising the key dispute resolution procedures and trends in each of Africa's 54 diverse jurisdictions. Since its publication in 2013, the first edition of the Guide has… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills is delighted to invite clients to the London launch event of the second edition of our Guide to Dispute Resolution in Africa. ... Read more

The Supreme Court has held that a principal was entitled to recover payments collected by its agent on its behalf following the agent's insolvency: Bailey and another (Respondents) v Angove's PTY Limited (Appellant) [2016] UKSC 47. The Supreme Court dismissed… Read more

The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 will come into force on 1 August 2016, replacing the current legislation (which dates from 1930) and providing for a less complex procedure for a third party claimant to claim directly against… Read more

In Versloot Dredging BV and another v HDI Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG and Others [2016] UKSC 45, the Supreme Court held that policyholders who advance otherwise valid insurance claims by lies which are irrelevant to their rights to recover do… Read more

The Supreme Court has established a new approach to the question of whether a defendant will be able to rely on the defence of illegality: Patel (Respondent) v Mirza (Appellant) [2016] UKSC 42.  Under this new approach, the defence will… Read more

This recent Herbert Smith Freehills conference, which was attended by over 90 clients, explored some key legal and compliance risks facing major corporates. After opening remarks by head of dispute resolution for London and New York Mark Shillito, there were… Read more

Litigation risk is a mounting problem for businesses pursuing cross-border M&A, with almost three-quarters of companies questioned for Herbert Smith Freehills’ new cross-border M&A report Beyond Borders warning that risk is set to increase. Carried out in association with FT… Read more

Competition law private enforcement has been on the rise in the UK in recent years, with a significant increase in the number of antitrust claims being brought and the introduction of legislative measures at UK and EU level to encourage… Read more

Our Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes team has today published their Annual Review of 2015, which provides an overview and analysis of the key cases and developments affecting those engaged in or with contentious matters in the insurance and reinsurance market. … Read more

Our employment team has recently published the first edition of a Global Guide to Whistleblowing, providing a quick reference guide to the law and culture around employees 'blowing the whistle' in 40 key jurisdictions covering in EMEA, the Americas and… Read more