The record,
such as we may state it

The drawing left Vienna in 1938 and surfaced at a Basel fair in 2019. We advised on title, on the Washington Principles, and on a settlement that left the work on public display in Switzerland.

Art and cultural property · Undisclosed · Lead: Tobias Lindgren

The Authority alleged a failure to take reasonable steps under SMCR in relation to a trade surveillance system. We are contesting the case at the Upper Tribunal after warning notice.

Regulatory and investigations · Undisclosed · Lead: Miriam Sassoon

Blade delamination across two Baltic sites raised questions of design defect and of the limits in a supply agreement drafted in 2019. The tribunal was constituted in March 2026.

International arbitration · £25–100m · Lead: Rosalind Achebe

The trustees retired in 2016 without taking a chain of indemnities. The claim concerns the distribution of a private company shareholding at a valuation nobody now defends.

Private wealth and trusts · £25–100m · Lead: Beatrice Fairley

The dispute turns on whether a series of repurchase agreements was, as the bank contends, a single secured facility. Trial is listed for the Michaelmas term 2027.

Commercial disputes · £100m+ · Lead: Clara Whitfield

A ten-year time charter was repudiated three years into its term after a sanctions designation affected the charterer’s parent. The award was published in February 2026.

International arbitration · £100m+ · Lead: Anand Mehta

Two of five beneficiaries allege that the trustee’s investment policy favoured the settlor’s second family. The claim was stayed in November 2025 for mediation.

Private wealth and trusts · £25–100m · Lead: Julian Vane

A housebuilder sued over a documentary alleging systemic failures in fire-stopping. We succeeded on meaning at a preliminary issue trial and the claim was discontinued.

Reputation and media · Under £5m · Lead: Henry Okonkwo

Some 2,400 underlying claims were presented as a single event. The court accepted our construction of the hours clause in a judgment handed down in July 2025.

Commercial disputes · £100m+ · Lead: Eleanor Harcourt KC

The employer claimed liquidated damages for a nineteen-month delay; we ran concurrent delay and a prevention argument. The tribunal reduced the claim by 71 per cent.

International arbitration · £25–100m · Lead: Rosalind Achebe

Forty-one works were consigned to two houses on different terms; one auctioneer had taken a third party guarantee it had not disclosed. We renegotiated the agreements before the catalogue closed.

Art and cultural property · £5–25m · Lead: Sam Kowalczyk

The order swept up material over which legal advice privilege was claimed by a third party. The Court of Appeal narrowed the order and gave guidance on the scope of section 2 notices.

Regulatory and investigations · Undisclosed · Lead: Inès Moreau

A family printing group of three generations divided over a proposed sale to a private equity buyer. The petition settled on a share purchase at a court-directed valuation.

Commercial disputes · £25–100m · Lead: Eleanor Harcourt KC

The claimant sought damages for shortfall deliveries across four contract years. The tribunal held that force majeure was properly declared for two of them.

International arbitration · £100m+ · Lead: Anand Mehta

The buyer alleged that the work was a workshop copy and sought rescission six years after sale. The claim failed on limitation and on the evidence of two conservators.

Art and cultural property · £5–25m · Lead: Tobias Lindgren

The protector’s power of removal had never been exercised and its scope was disputed. We advised on the mechanics and on the blessing application that followed.

Private wealth and trusts · £100m+ · Lead: Julian Vane

A whistleblower alleged that transaction monitoring alerts had been closed without review. The review covered 14 months of alerts and was disclosed to the regulator in part.

Regulatory and investigations · Undisclosed · Lead: Miriam Sassoon

The insured sought to treat 63 mis-selling complaints as one claim. The court agreed with our reading of ‘related acts or omissions’ and the exposure fell within a single limit.

Commercial disputes · £25–100m · Lead: Clara Whitfield

Warrants had been issued against stock that could not be located at two warehouses. The tribunal found the warehouse operator liable in conversion.

International arbitration · £5–25m · Lead: Anand Mehta

An employee’s diagnosis had been passed to a trade publication by a former colleague. The order was made at a hearing convened within six hours of instruction.

Reputation and media · Under £5m · Lead: Henry Okonkwo

Contamination at a Rotterdam depot had been disclosed in a data room index but not in the documents themselves. The claim settled at mediation for a sum we may not state.

Commercial disputes · £25–100m · Lead: Eleanor Harcourt KC

The hoard was found by a detectorist in Suffolk and was subject to a treasure inquest before any licence question arose. A matching offer was raised in eleven weeks.

Art and cultural property · £5–25m · Lead: Tobias Lindgren

The article reproduced photographs taken inside a private hospital car park. The claim settled with a statement in open court and the destruction of the images.

Reputation and media · Under £5m · Lead: Henry Okonkwo

The borrower argued that a waiver by conduct had varied the covenant package. The tribunal found there had been no waiver and awarded the principal in full.

International arbitration · £25–100m · Lead: Rosalind Achebe

Appointments made in 2011 triggered an exit charge nobody had anticipated. The court set them aside on Pitt v Holt principles at an unopposed hearing.

Private wealth and trusts · £5–25m · Lead: Beatrice Fairley

The Authority alleged improper disclosure of inside information in a series of messages. The reference was withdrawn after we produced the full message thread in context.

Regulatory and investigations · Undisclosed · Lead: Inès Moreau

Receivables purchased under the programme were alleged never to have existed. The claim was compromised on the second day of a six-week trial.

Commercial disputes · £100m+ · Lead: Clara Whitfield

The trustee sought directions before defending a claim brought by a former spouse of the settlor. Directions were given and the costs regime settled in advance.

Private wealth and trusts · £5–25m · Lead: Julian Vane

A concession granted in 2014 was revoked without compensation after a change of administration. We advised on the treaty route and on the corporate restructuring that preceded it.

International arbitration · £100m+ · Lead: Anand Mehta

The bronze had been stolen from a Tuscan church in 1979 and passed through four hands. The claim resolved with a division of the sale proceeds and the return of the work.

Art and cultural property · £5–25m · Lead: Sam Kowalczyk

Price movement preceded three placings in eighteen months. The review found no unlawful disclosure and led to a rebuilt wall-crossing procedure.

Regulatory and investigations · Undisclosed · Lead: Miriam Sassoon

Enforcement was resisted on the ground that the tribunal had decided a question not put to it. The court enforced in part and remitted the remainder.

International arbitration · £25–100m · Lead: Rosalind Achebe

A children’s services file was sent to the wrong address and read by a neighbour. The authority admitted the breach and compensation was agreed without proceedings.

Reputation and media · Under £5m · Lead: Henry Okonkwo

At first instance the indemnity was read as capped by a general liability clause. The Court of Appeal disagreed and restored the full measure of recovery.

Commercial disputes · £25–100m · Lead: Eleanor Harcourt KC

Thirty-one shareholders across three branches had no agreed exit mechanism. We drafted a constitution, a valuation formula and a standing family council.

Private wealth and trusts · £100m+ · Lead: Beatrice Fairley

Payments through an intermediary in two overseas markets were self-reported in 2019. The agreement was approved by the court in 2021 with a financial penalty and a compliance monitor.

Regulatory and investigations · £25–100m · Lead: Miriam Sassoon

The system was accepted, used for eleven months and then rejected. The court held that the right to reject had been lost and awarded the unpaid milestones.

Commercial disputes · £5–25m · Lead: Clara Whitfield

Laytime ran through a port closure at the start of the pandemic. The tribunal apportioned the delay and dismissed the detention claim.

International arbitration · Under £5m · Lead: Anand Mehta

A discretionary beneficiary alleged that requests over four years were never put to the trustees. The minutes showed otherwise and the claim was dismissed.

Private wealth and trusts · £5–25m · Lead: Julian Vane

Twenty-two objects travelled to three jurisdictions, one without immunity from seizure legislation. The loan proceeded under an amended schedule and a state indemnity.

Art and cultural property · Undisclosed · Lead: Tobias Lindgren

The appellant argued that the regime was a penalty because it applied on termination. The appeal was dismissed and the judgment is now regularly cited.

Commercial disputes · £25–100m · Lead: Eleanor Harcourt KC