Europe & CIS

Our members have extensive experience acting in various matters which involve European and CIS countries, spanning areas such as aviation, banking and finance, civil fraud, commercial crime, commercial disputes, financial services, insurance and product liability.

Examples of our work in this area include acting for various defendants in the high-profile SKAT litigation, brought by the Danish tax administration, relating to claims it was defrauded out of approximately £1.5 billion by allegedly false tax reclaims. We also have substantial experience representing banks in various swaps disputes with European public bodies, including Dexio Crediop against Comune di Prato (at both first instance and on appeal) in the leading case involving an Italian local authority.

We have extensive aviation experience across Europe with examples of work including representing a major European airline in relation to claims for damages arising out of the termination of long-term leases of Airbus A320 aircraft and acting in a dispute concerning the design and manufacture of jet engines following engine failure on landing at Munich airport.

In addition to our litigation work, we are familiar with the various institutional arbitration regimes, including the International Chamber of Commerce (‘ICC’), the London Court of International Arbitration (‘LCIA’), the UNCITRAL Rules and the City Disputes Panel. Examples of our European arbitration experience includes acting for an employer in relation to the design and construction of luxury hotels and acting for a European private equity fund in an UNCITRAL arbitration in relation to a multi-million-dollar dispute with a fellow investor concerning profit share, accounting treatment of investment costs and the effect of currency fluctuations on their returns.

Outside of contentious work, we have advised in respect of EU member state sovereign bonds, involving an in-depth understanding of international capital markets and EU fiscal policy and potential disputes outcomes.

We also have experience advising on the legal impact on domestic UK law of relevant European Union law, and on the application of the European Convention of Human Rights to commercial law matters. We have also appeared at the European Court of Justice as well as the European Court of Human Rights.

In more recent years, our experience has included advising on matters relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. We are also well placed to advise European commercial clients as to their rights under UK and EU law, particularly in relation to jurisdictional matters.

Some of our members are particularly experienced in Brexit-related issues, including taking an active role in the profession’s response and preparations for Brexit including memberships of special committees of COMBAR, the Bank of England Financial Markets Law Committee and the LCJ’s special Brexit Advisory Committee, as well as giving evidence to the House of Lords’ EU Justice Sub-Committee.

We have particular expertise in dealing with claims involving former Soviet countries (including Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Georgia), having acted in most of the major commercial cases over the last few years, often with satellite litigation in offshore centres such as Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man. A number of our members speak fluent Russian and/or Ukrainian and we are very experienced at handling claims governed by various foreign systems of law.

Our recent experience includes acting for Ukraine in the Supreme Court case of The Law Debenture Trust Corporation Plc v Ukraine, a $3 million Eurobond claim brought against Ukraine on behalf of the Russian Federation, which was the longest Supreme Court hearing of any non-public law case during that year.

For more information on our experience across Europe, or to discuss a specific enquiry, please contact our clerking team.

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