We are delighted to bring you the first edition of the Disputes Community Quarterly Magazine dedicated to the “NEXT GENERATION IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION”.

Just like the Community’s next generation component, this issue is very special to us. By marking the first significant milestone in our development, this bumper publication offers a platform to the  diverse range of current and future leaders in commercial litigation, arbitration and investigations. 

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On Friday, 14th of May 2021, ThoughtLeaders4 Disputes Community co-hosted the “Sanctions and Disputes“ virtual session with our Community Partner and fellow LIDW21 Corporate Member Radcliffe Chambers.

The event has generated a great deal of interest with 160+ practitioners from 23 countries tuning in.

Here is a copy of the presentation on current issues in the world of economic sanctions with particular emphasis on the effect of sanctions on legal rights and proceedings to enforce them.  

In the first initial coin offering 'ICO' fraud case before the Commercial Court, Ion Science Limited & Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown & Ors, the court granted permission to serve disclosure orders on two cryptocurrency exchanges through which the claimants' stolen bitcoin had been traced, granted a world-wide freezing order against persons unknown, and gave ground-breaking guidance on the lex situs of crypto-assets...

On 5 February 2021, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, held that section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“the 1987 Act”) does not confer a unilateral power on the Serious Fraud Office (“the SFO”) to demand documents from overseas entities under the threat of criminal sanction, and the request for evidence should have been handled through international mutual legal assistance channels. The Supreme Court confirmed that in applying the rules of statutory interpretation, the UK Parliament could not have intended for the SFO to use Section 2(3) notices extraterritorially and a test based on "sufficient connection" had no basis in the 1987 Act...

The court has struck out fraudulent misrepresentation claims brought by Leeds City Council and others against Barclays in connection with the ‘LIBOR rigging affair of 2012’.

In Leeds City Council and others v Barclays Bank plc and another [2021] EWHC 363 (Comm), the court held that the lack of awareness (in the sense of ‘active appreciation’) of any representation regarding LIBOR was fatal to the claim. In a decision likely to be of significant comfort to banks, the court concluded that ‘to say that the key people assumed that LIBOR would be set in a straightforward and proper manner’ is simply not enough. The court also briefly considered (although the claims had already been found to have no prospect of success) Barclays’ alternative ground for strike out on affirmation. It held that the disputed questions of fact regarding the councils’ knowledge of their rights would have had to be resolved at trial. The case on affirmation would not have been suitable for summary determination...

This bulletin is of interest to those clients currently considering the commencement of English High Court proceedings, or who have recently had such proceedings served on them. In this context the UK’s EU withdrawal agreement gives rise to some significant uncertainty, including both opportunities and threats, during what should be an interim jurisdictional regime pending the EU’s decision whether to allow the UK to accede to the Lugano Convention...

In disputes, information is often the key to success. However, if the key is used in the wrong door, then that very same information can lead to problems for the litigant and its lawyers. This has been reflected by an increasing number of cases addressing the restrictions on how information and documentation can be used, and how these restrictions can be navigated. This article explores a number of recent scenarios that have arisen in this regard...

In the early part of 2020, Covid-19 entered all of our personal and professional lives and substantially changed the world (hopefully temporarily) in almost every respect. In the business world, it caused significant and almost unprecedented disruption to the way that businesses operate and to their turnover and profitability. At that time, some businesses were in the position where they had either recently completed the purchase of another business (whether by share or asset purchase) or were shortly due to complete such a purchase. Those share or asset purchases may have been based on assumptions, forecasts and/or valuations over which there may now be a question mark...

ThoughtLeaders4 is delighted to announce that Anita Arthur has joined as Director for our new DISPUTES community that will be launching shortly.

Anita brings huge experience within the industry and a strong track record of launching and growing market leading events over the last 15 years within disputes, sanctions, anti-corruption, fraud & asset recovery and private equity, among others.