Kate Pollock, Head of Competition Litigation, and John Cahill, Managing Partner, feature in The Lawyer’s annual list of the profession’s brightest stars, the Hot 100.
The Lawyer says about those included in this year’s list:
“Members of The Lawyer Hot 100 have just two things in common. The first is excellence. Every year, our Hot 100 covers an incredibly diverse mix of legal professionals… The second is relevance. In The Hot 100, talented young guns rub shoulders with eminent lawyers who have years of success behind them. What links those seasoned veterans with those at the start of their careers is that they are all of the present moment. The work they are doing is important NOW.”
John Cahill, Managing Partner, is listed in this year’s guide. He took over as managing partner of the firm in 2000 and was the architect of the firm’s litigation-only strategy. His entry states:
“Back in 2000, Stewarts was a small London general commercial and litigation firm that had been spun off by Clarke Willmott. John Cahill was there at the start, and was involved in the far-sighted and inspired decision that it should concentrate solely on litigation. And the rest is history.
“From its roots in claimant catastrophic personal injury, Stewarts has become one of the biggest players in claimant litigation and looks poised to reap the benefits of the funding-assisted claimant wave.
“Through all that time, Cahill has been a steady hand, guiding the firm through its stratospheric growth and into successful new areas ranging from family to commercial to competition.
“2020 saw Cahill make an important declaration: rather than cut salaries or hours for its staff, Cahill insisted that the senior end should take the hit. Pandemic aside, Cahill has been attending to important issues, such as developing a robust succession plan for the firm’s leadership, and refining the funding model to ensure swift and frictionless access to after the event (ATE) insurance.”
Kate Pollock, Head of Competition Litigation, is the lawyer who led the successful Supreme Court appeal against MasterCard for a group of retail clients. She is included in this year’s guide, and her profile says:
“Representing ASDA, Argos and Morrisons in a migraine-inducing legal battle against Mastercard may seem daunting for some, but Stewarts partner Kate Pollock took it in her stride.
“In what was her first competition case after moving to the disputes boutique in 2011, Pollock’s persistence led to a landmark Supreme Court victory on behalf of her corporate clients in June, triumphing over Jones Day, Linklaters and Milbank in the high-profile interchange fees litigation. The case itself has often been in the shadow of its Mastercard relation, Merricks; however, this remains the only competition damages claim to reach the Supreme Court.
“An extra sweetener lay in the fact that the eventual ruling followed Mr Justice Popplewell’s dismissal of the claim in 2017, which was successfully appealed by Pollock’s band of claimants. The matter is now back in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Quite the win for the firm’s head of competition.”
The full guide can be accessed here.
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