The client/Defendant to the claim is a Central European company specialising in the production of aluminium profiles. 

A dispute arose between the parties arising out of the contract for the supply of aluminium billets, in respect of which the Claimant sought payment which the client was resisting, on the basis that the contract mechanism for determining price had not been followed and that the billets delivered were not of satisfactory quality, which caused it loss.

Karen Dobson, Partner at Sherrards, managed to negotiate an early settlement of the dispute, following the commencement of arbitration proceedings.

The settlement was very favourable to the client and resulted in it avoiding significant legal costs which would have been incurred in a fully-contested arbitration.

This has been an ongoing debate in this area for many years, and one that the firm is familiar with, having interacted with Indian law firms and business interests passing back and forth between the UK and India for some time. 

Paul Marmor, our Head of International Services and the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, was asked for his views on the changes to India’s legal service, which are set out in this article published by the International Bar Association, which sets the scene with input from a number of commentators including Paul, as to what may happen over the next few years: click here to read the article. 

For more information on our work relating to Indian concerns, please reach out to Paul and the International team on the details below.

As technology continues to rapidly advance, the law must play catch up. Greg and Max participated in this panel discussion to offer their perspective on how digital assets such as cryptocurrencies have been received within the legal and regulatory framework of the English jurisdiction.

Greg Pooler, a Legal Director within Sherrards’ commercial disputes team, advises clients in relation to disputes involving digital assets as part of his commercial fraud and asset recovery practice.  Greg provided a comprehensive overview of the legal position under English law as to the treatment and classification of digital assets.

Greg observed that: “Like many of the other jurisdictions represented on the panel, there is currently no coherent legal architecture specific to digital assets in the English jurisdiction.”  Unless digital assets exhibited the characteristics of financial products that fell within the perimeter of pre-existing financial services regulation (and in practice few digital assets do so), the sector was largely unregulated and investors in digital assets were afforded very limited protection.  Notwithstanding these deficiencies from the legislative perspective, the common law has made significant strides in accommodating digital assets within the conceptual framework of English property law, albeit the decisions to date struggle to reconcile the characteristics of certain digital assets with the traditional categories of property that the law currently recognises.

Max Marmor, a member of the Commercial Property team where we see a cross over in this area in terms of real estate investment, reflected on several key cases that have been decided by the English High Court in recent years.  These cases have grappled with questions concerning the classification and treatment of digital assets and the legal remedies that are available to litigants seeking to assert their rights over, or entitlement to, such assets. According to Max: “The English High Court has shown itself to be pragmatic and responsive to the evolving crypto industry. Recent decisions suggest England can be the appropriate jurisdiction for claims that often lack centralisation.”

One case Max was keen to highlight to the conference audience in Mauritius and those tuning in online was the seminal decision of the High Court in AA v Persons Unknown [1] in which the Court for the first time recognised that Bitcoin should be classified as property,  entitling the applicant in that case to freezing injunction relief. Greg emphasised the significance of this decision and referred the panel to a recent 500-page Law Commission report on virtual assets containing the radical suggestion that English law should recognise a third category of property called “digital objects”. This would capture the nuanced and idiosyncratic nature of certain types of digital assets that the current property law framework is ill-equipped to deal with.

Benita Elisa, founder of Wakanda 4.0,  which organised the Cryptoverse Summit and who moderated the event added: “Hearing from this international panel really helped set the scene for our event we believe that Metaverse platforms have the potential to transform how, when and where companies interact with their customers, as extended reality platforms enable businesses to deliver new experiences and provide information in new ways.

Greg and Max were joined on the panel by other members of the Alliott Global Alliance (alliottglobal.com) led by Ashveen Gopee from Lex Frontier,  Mauritius; Diego Nunes from Estudio Nunes & Associados, Argentina; Audra White from Platt Cheema Richmond, USA;  Anthony Marrin from H.Y.Leung, Hong Kong;  Kenneth Muhangi from KTA Advocates, Uganda  and Songul Top from STA Legal, France. Each offered unique insights and expertise on their countries’ varying approaches to the crypto industry. 

The recording of the Cryptoverse Summit and the Alliott Global Alliance panel with Sherrards can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdKXP0FvhC0&t=11877s&ab_channel=WakandaNews

Greg speaks 2:52.10 and Max is at 3:14.30.

[1] AA v Persons Unknown who demanded Bitcoin on 10th and 11th October 2019 and others [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm)

 

 

 

Sherrards’ Real Estate Litigation and Residential teams worked together to help our client to get vacant possession.

Vacant possession means the property must be empty on the day you complete your purchase or sale of it. 

The £5million property in Kensington had been sold subject to contract, however, there was a tenant in the property who was refusing to leave which was jeopardising the sale.

Proceedings were issued in the High Court.

Michael Lewis and his team worked hand in hand with our Residential Real Estate department in order to provide vacant possession and a successful outcome for our client and the sale of their property.

The deceased was accused of professional negligence and being part of a conspiracy to defraud in relation to the sale and purchase of a multi-million-pound yacht.

The Sherrards Dispute Resolution and Fraud department successfully challenged the claim, which was rightfully dismissed.

There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the deceased, whose reputation was and remains protected.

The team defended this multi-million-pound fraud matter.

To find out more, please contact Paul Marmor. 

The team issued High Court proceedings with an injunction hearing which was successful.

Barney Laurence and his team were able to secure default judgment avoiding significant expenditure for ongoing legal proceedings for our client which they would have stood little to no prospects of recovering from the former employee.

The Court found that materials produced in the course of discovery (following an order in the States), could be used in an arbitration being held in London against Dreymoor Fertilisers Overseas PTE Ltd. Discovery had been obtained in order to assist the claimants in pursuing proceedings in multiple jurisdictions.

The judgment paved the way to allow the discovery to be put into evidence.

Click here for the full Judgment. 

One of the founders and principal shareholders sought to declare unilateral independence and break away from the company. They were in breach of all covenants, restraint of trade and the shareholder agreement, to set up a rival organisation and attempt to take over a number of the company’s overseas offices, staff and clients.

This led to High Court proceedings supported by injunctive relief on a global scale. The team were successful and the case was settled in our clients favour and their client base was protected.

To find out about more similar case, please contact Paul Marmor. 

The matter proceeded to a final hearing and after some 18 months of litigation a Judgment was given in our client’s favour, resulting in them recovering not only the recruitment fee but also statutory compensation and contractual interest.

The team also resolved an important ‘passing off’ issue for the same client following a competitor setting up a recruitment company with a very similar name.  The competitor was forced to change its name, website and materials within a week of our involvement. 

The client was referred to the Recruitment team by their Recruitment Directors Lunch Club (RDLC) networking group. The successful outcome of this matter has been widely publicised via the RDLC network, resulting in further instructions and recognition from the group.

To find out about more successful cases, please contact Barney Laurence. 

The Sherrards Dispute Resolution department led by Paul Marmor were retained by an international hotel group that was facing a very aggressive claim by a British clearing bank, which was looking to enforce its guarantees and security over the hotel group and its assets in the UK.

We were able to successfully resist the claim and, indeed, to assist the hotel group in procuring refinancing on much more favourable terms.