Key Experience

Commercial Litigation

  • We act for a substantial number of European institutional investors in the Tesco securities litigation in the English Courts.
  • We act for 16 European institutional investors who purchased nearly EUR 275 million of constant proportion debt obligation notes arranged by the London Branch of ABN Amro, and rated AAA by Standard & Poor’s.
  • We represented European bulk shipping entities in London seated LMAA proceedings regarding payment obligations arising from the supply and delivery of bunkers.
  • We provided strategic advice to an AIM-listed company in relation to an arbitration between joint venture partners in respect of the operation of a shale gas project in Eastern Europe.

 

Read more about our Commercial Litigation team here.

 

International Arbitration

Stewarts regularly handles arbitrations connected with the European continent. Our team advises clients from various countries and in relation to Europe.

Our team can operate in English, French, Spanish and Italian and combines international legal expertise with local knowledge. As the UK’s largest disputes-only law firm, we are conflict-free and can act when other law firms cannot. We are able to collaborate with our clients’ current advisors and co-counsel, and with any local law firm best placed to assist. These features, and our capacity to enter into creative fee and risk-sharing arrangements, enable our clients to arbitrate from a position of strength.

We have advised and successfully represented states, companies and individuals on major disputes throughout the region. Our team’s experience spans many sectors and covers international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration, as well as arbitration-related litigation in the English courts.

Our team’s experience includes advising:

  • two Eastern European companies in an UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration, brought under a bilateral investment treaty concerning a mine against a state.
  • two Swiss companies in an annulment proceeding brought by a state in a $300m+ ICSID treaty claim involving expropriation issues related to the energy and petrochemical industries.
  • a state defending proceedings brought by a French investor before the English courts. challenging an award in connection with an UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration.
  • a French contractor in an ICC arbitration governed by Turkish law against a state in connection with a FIDIC Silver Book contract for a railway construction project.
  • a European state in English court proceedings to set aside the enforcement of an SCC-seated investment treaty award.
  • a Swiss investment house in a €70m LCIA arbitration (English law, London seat) against an investor in connection with an investment programme and guaranteed returns.
  • a German manufacturer in a multimillion US$ LCIA arbitration (English law, London seat) against a Romanian company in connection with a Turkish gas pipeline project.
  • a UK-headquartered independent energy company in claims subject to LMAA/LCIA arbitration, in connection with the operation of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit and related infrastructure.
  • a West European state-owned insurer in a Swiss-seated, related to a trade credit claim arising out of the supply of steel to a private corporate entity.
  • a trading company in an ad hoc arbitration against a Swiss counterpart concerning shipments of coal and non-payment issues.
  • a Scottish heavy industrial manufacturer in a US$ millions ICC arbitration, governed by English law and seated in Geneva, brought by its agent in connection with commission said to be due from the sale of wastewater machinery.
  • a fisheries company operating in a breach of contract claim against a Scandinavian company, in an English law-governed ICC arbitration.
  • an aircraft componentry manufacturer in an English law-governed ad hoc arbitration against a UK customer, in connection with the sale and purchase of componentry for use in maintenance and modification of military aircraft.
  • the claimants, acting in subrogation, in relation to a $50m ICC arbitration against one of Europe’s largest industrial companies.
  • the claimant in an ICC arbitration governed by Swiss law against a European company arising from the faulty repair of generators in a hydro power plant.

 

Read more about our International Arbitration team here.

Fraud

  • We are advising an overseas public authority on investigations and recovery action worth hundreds of millions against a number of financial institutions and advisors in a number of European jurisdictions including Switzerland, Luxembourg and Russia. 
  • We are advising a Turkish training provider in relation to £15m allegations of fraud and dishonesty by an overseas public body. Acting for Turkish Govt in High Court proceedings in London in multi-million US$ claim.
  • We are acting for Palladyne (headquartered in Amsterdam) in $1bn claim against the Libyan Investment Authority (action in Cayman Islands) involving potential breaches of EU Sanctions against Libya.

 

Read more about our Fraud team here. 

 

Competition Litigation

  • We currently act for Vattenfall, a Swedish state-owned entity which is a major energy producer and retailer in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Sweden. Vattenfall instructed Stewarts to bring proceedings in England in order to recover all of its European losses caused by an unlawful, multi-year power cables cartel.
  • We represent a group of claimants in actions against MasterCard concerning the unlawful/ excessive charging of interchange fees. The case affects MasterCard’s global model for credit and debit cards and, as such, has attracted immense scrutiny around the world by competition regulators.

 

Read more about our Competition Litigation team here.

 

Aviation

  • We were instructed by the families of the Pegasus Airlines flight 2193 accident (Turkey).
  • We were instructed by the family of Fabian Reichenbach for their compensation claim arising out of his death in the Air Sarina Pilatus PC-12 accident in France.
  • We represented the family of Ahmed Shah, killed during a training flight in Portugal.
  • We represent families of passengers killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in their ongoing claims against the Russian Federation, arising from their involvement and supply of the BUK missile launcher used to shoot down flight MH17. This involved litigation and advice from Stewarts in the US, the Hague and the European Court of Human Rights.
  • We represented the family of a passenger killed in an IFLY Agusta A109C helicopter crash in Greece.

 

Read more about our Aviation team here.

 

International Injury

  • We secured High Court approval of £13.35m in damages for a child who sustained a spinal cord injury in Poland.
  • We represented Terry Madden, who sustained career ending injuries whilst directing an action scene in Austria for the James Bond (007) movie Spectre.
  • We acted for an American neurosurgeon who sustained life changing injuries on a snowmobiling trip in the article circle in Finland, arranged by McLaren.
  • We represented a person who has sustained life changing orthopaedic injuries, an amputation and brain injury while on a construction site in Jersey.
  • We acted for a claimant who sustained a very severe traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident at work in Germany.
  • We represented a claimant who sustained an above-knee amputation as a result of a road traffic accident in Northern Ireland, which resulted in what is thought to be the highest ever settlement for an amputee in the jurisdiction.

 

Read more about our International Injury team here.

 

Divorce and Family

  • We have particular expertise in cases with an international element since many of our clients have connections to multiple jurisdictions. In international cases, family situations often develop that require immediate and urgent action; knowledge, experience and the ability to act swiftly can often be critical to the outcome of a case. Our large and vastly experienced team, of whom six partners are fellows of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, is ideally placed to deal with the most complex of cases, whether these involve the resolution of financial claims on divorce, the international relocation of children, applications to the English Court for financial settlement following divorce proceedings overseas, or jurisdiction disputes. We offer a fast turnaround and a supportive approach to our clients, irrespective of where they are based. We have an extensive global network, and work closely with our affiliates across the globe with speed and efficiency, with the aim of achieving the best possible outcome for our clients.
  • We have been acting for HRH Louis, Prince of Luxembourg, in English divorce and financial remedy proceedings.  The press interest in the case resulted in our client making a successful application for a reporting restrictions order.  The judgment is now a leading authority on privacy issues in Family Law cases, read full judgment here. The financial remedy proceedings have now also been concluded and the judgment published.  The case included issues of nuptial settlements and the beneficial ownership of the matrimonial home.
  • We act for the wife in a high value (£500m+) financial remedy case involving a plethora of important legal issues (foreign matrimonial property regimes, trust interests, company valuations, “special contribution” and Italian law). Our client was awarded at first instance one of the highest recorded English divorce settlements. The case will now be heard in the Court of Appeal in June 2019 and is likely to become the leading case on special contribution. This is also an important case on the right to anonymity in family cases at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, our client having made successful applications at both levels for reporting restrictions orders, read in full here and here.
  • We acted for the successful party in a leading case as to the appropriate forum for divorce proceedings, involving a Swiss husband (our client), who is the heir to his father’s fortune, and an English wife.  The case was decided by Mr Justice Moor in May 2017 but the decision was only published in July 2018. The case had an interesting factual matrix whereby the parties to a 20 year marriage had lived in Switzerland for the last decade but the wife issued divorce proceedings in London relying on England being her domicile of origin. Our client was able to issue proceedings in Switzerland reliant on his nationality.  Moor J’s judgment set out 11 principal reasons why Switzerland was the more appropriate forum, notwithstanding the fact that the wife would almost certainly receive permission from the Swiss court to relocate to England with her Swiss son. The case is a useful reminder of the options available (depending on the competing jurisdiction) under English domestic law to defend against forum shopping: Husband’s successful application shows that forum shopping can be resisted.
  • We are increasingly involved in cases with a Russian element. By way of example, we acted for the husband in the case of Zimina v Zimin in which the Court of Appeal allowed our client’s appeal against an order made by a Family Division judge that he should pay his wife a lump sum even though a Russian court had previously made a consent order following Russian divorce proceedings. The case was widely reported in the mainstream and legal press: Lump sum orders under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (Zimina v Zimin).
  • On the non-contentious side, we regularly act for parties entering into marital agreements to protect their assets in the event of relationship breakdown. For global families either based in or with connections to the UK, it will often be sensible to put in place pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements in different countries. We have the requisite expertise to advise on how to implement these agreements, taking into consideration the impact of any country-specific laws and where necessary co-ordinating with lawyers in other jurisdictions with whom we have long-standing and strategic partnerships. Our aim is to protect our clients’ property and interests wherever they are located and ensure that future litigation can be avoided. This is a particularly developing area as a result of European legislation and the impact of Brexit. The lawyers in our team are at the forefront of developments in this field, and are therefore ideally placed to advise.

 

Read more about our Divorce and Family team here.

 

If you require assistance, please contact us or request a call from one of our lawyers.

Meet the Europe team

Our team has great experience dealing with disputes in Europe. 

We are highly ranked in the UK by Chambers and The Legal 500.

Julian Chamberlayne, Partner, Head of International Injury, Stewarts

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