News & Events
News & Events
In syndicated lending it is common for lenders to delegate functions to an Agent and equally common for companies within a group to authorise the parent to act on their behalf. That has ramifications for the directors of the delegating companies – and for the directors of the delegate. This article, written by Helen Pugh, considers the issues which may arise. A common feature of syndicated loans is the role of Agent and the delegation bycompanies of functions in connection with the syndicated loans. In most cases, delegation will be a lawful and commercially pragmatic act. But there are pitfalls for the unsuspecting director who remains personally responsible for discharging his director’s duties to the company. Delegation should be thoroughly…
News 12 May, 2022
We are delighted to welcome Edward Morgan QC to our business team. Ed joins us with a well-established practice focused on employment law, commercial law, disciplinary and regulatory work. He is also an accredited Mediator and Arbitrator. Ed studied in Northern England (LLB and LLM) and Belgium (JCL, PhD and JCD). He was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1989 and the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2000. He was appointed silk in 2021. His judicial appointments include fee-paid Employment Judge and Assistant Coroner. Ed’s expertise is widely recognised; he regularly writes case reviews for LexisNexis and professional book reviews for specialist journals, including the Ecclesiastical Law Journal and the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and…
News 27 Apr, 2022
Stephen Doherty and Chloë Bell recently joined the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ London Branch Committee for an interesting panel discussion on how to resolve cryptocurrency disputes. Watch the full discussion here. This event featured a group of expert panellists who debated the best way to resolve cryptocurrency disputes. Ben Giaretta, Chair of the London branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators hosted the evening, opening and closing the event. Chloë Bell (Outer Temple Chambers) and Charlotte Hill (Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP) discussed the benefits of litigation, whilst Stephen Doherty (Outer Temple Chambers) and Jaak Poldma (White & Case) discussed the benefits of arbitration. The branch was honoured to have Lord Mance, former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United…
Webinars & Recordings 20 Apr, 2022
The case of Brownlie II highlighted a number of jurisdiction questions. Joshua Cainer acted as a Junior on the case and takes a look at the implications of the decision on commercial law. Joshua Cainer considers some of the outstanding questions about jurisdiction in commercial cases relying on claims in tort following the Supreme Court’s decision in FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Lady Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45, [2021] 3 WLR 1011 (‘Brownlie II’). Whilst that case concerned a claim for personal injury, it is likely to have effects on cases involving questions of private international law in a far broader range of practice areas, particularly commercial law. This is a case brought by Lady Christine Brownlie, both in her…
Legal Blogs 8 Apr, 2022
Lloyd’s of London has today issued a Public Censure, the first of its kind, against Atrium Underwriting Limited relating to non-financial misconduct by employees and failures by Atrium in the way in which it responded to allegations of misconduct. In regulatory Market Bulletin Y5252, Lloyd’s set out its policy in relation to conduct involving harassment, bullying, discrimination, and consumption of alcohol or drugs at work. The Bulletin makes clear that in addition to the actions of individuals, of “equal importance is the culture of the firm for whom the individual works and whether it supports or tolerates a culture of unacceptable personal behaviour towards others.” The proceedings against Atrium were brought as a result of serious failures by the firm including failures…
News 16 Mar, 2022
Helen Pugh acted for the successful applicants, Crimson Flower Productions Ltd and others, who were seeking the maximum extension of 2 years to an existing extended civil restraint order in Re: Glass Slipper. The respondents were various companies within the ‘Glass Slipper group’ and their sole director who had persistently sought to re-litigate a dispute they had with Crimson Flower Productions Ltd arising out of the production of a Film in ‘Swan Lake’ by the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. That dispute had been decided definitively in favour of Crimson Flower, one of the applicants, a number of years ago in IPEC proceedings. Trower J’s order extending the ECRO demonstrates the flexibility and breadth of the ECRO jurisdiction. Noting there was…
News 15 Mar, 2022
Andrew Spink QC, Helen Pugh and Chloë Bell have been successful in major bitcoin fraud case Ellis v Digit Europe Ltd. In Ellis v Digit Europe Limited the claimant alleged he had been the victim of a multi-million pound, complex fraud perpetrated by a web of persons unknown and sham companies purporting to offer bitcoin investment and management services. In December and January the claimant obtained worldwide freezing orders against alleged recipients of bitcoin identified following a tracing exercise on the blockchain which led to deposit addresses on the Kraken exchange.A fully contested return date due to be heard on Thursday 3 March by Mr Justice Jacobs raised wide ranging issues including a challenge to the now familiar view that…
News 9 Mar, 2022
Stephen Doherty and Chloë Bell have been invited to join the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ London Branch Committee at its latest event on 17th February; “Cryptocurrency disputes – Litigation v Arbitration”. The event will feature a group of expert panellists who will debate the best way to resolve cryptocurrency disputes. The Event Moderator: Lord Mance Panel: Stephen Doherty, Chloë Bell, Tope Adeyemi, Charlotte Hill and Jaak Poldma The branch is honoured to have Lord Mance, former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, moderating the event. Tickets are free but limited, and will be allocated on a first come basis, therefore those who wish to attend are encouraged to register quickly. The debate will be centred around a…
Events 14 Feb, 2022
Lydia Seymour recently acted for the successful Respondent in CRAFT v Pope & Others [2022] EWCA Civ 22, which considered the extent to which a company could subsequently challenge the decisions of sole Directors and Members to award themselves company property. CRAFT brought claims for breach of directors’ duties and breach of fiduciary duty against its former directors/members who had awarded themselves company property in circumstances in which the company’s constitution prevented distribution of its assets. The Defendants had asserted that they could not be in breach of any duty to the company because the interests of the company should be equated to the interests of the sole members/directors, and further that the company could not bring any claim in…
News 9 Feb, 2022
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to welcome Henry Reid to our commercial law team. Henry Reid’s practice covers a wide array of commercial, chancery and financial services matters with an emphasis on commercial litigation, contentious and non-contentious financial services, regulatory investigations and banking law. A former pupil of Outer Temple, Henry returns to us after building a career in both legal services and financial services. He recently spent five years at Signature Litigation LLP, a specialist law firm handling major and complex litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations. During his time there, Henry worked on a number of significant matters, most notably on disputes in the Commercial Court concerning civil fraud, banking and finance and professional negligence as well as advising…
News 11 Jan, 2022
Andrew Spink QC will join a panel discussion on recent developments and future trends in the regulation of cryptoassets. The webinar will be held on Thursday 7th October from 5.45pm to 7pm and is open to all FSLA members.The panel event will chaired by Charlotte Hill, head of Taylor Wessing’s UK Financial Services Regulatory group and will feature the following speakers: Andrew Spink QC, Outer Temple ChambersKatie Fry-Paul, Associate at Taylor Wessing LLPRichard Fox, Head of Markets Policy at the Financial Conduct AuthorityJannah Patchay, Director and Founder of Markets Evolution. The 1 hour webinar will focus on the latest developments, future trends and areas of concern in the fast evolving and increasingly important field of crypto-regulation. The webinar will be of interest…
Events 7 Oct, 2021
Judgment was handed down last week in the case of Dwyer (UK) Franchising Ltd v Fredbar Ltd & Bartlett [2021] EWHC 1218 (Ch). David E. Grant acted for the Defendants in this expedited trial on liability and injunctive relief between a franchisor and ex-franchisee. Judgment was handed down in this franchise dispute on 11 May 2021. The First Defendant was a franchisee of the “Drain Doctor” brand licensed by the Claimant, Dwyer (UK Franchising) Ltd, which claimed to be the UK’s largest full-service network of emergency plumbing and drainage operations and part of the world’s largest home service franchise. The case raised issues of misrepresentation, undue influence, repudiatory breach, affirmation and the reasonableness of the post-termination restrictive covenants. The Defendants…
News 18 May, 2021
