Commercial Litigation & Arbitration

Our barristers provide advocacy and advisory services in all aspects of civil fraud claims including:

• Freezing injunctions, search orders and other interlocutory relief
• Asset tracing and enforcement
• Committal for contempt of court
• Jurisdiction challenges and conflict of laws

The editor of, and many of the contributors to, the leading textbook, Grant & Mumford on 'Civil Fraud: Law, Practice and Procedure' are barristers at Maitland, and our expertise in this field is reflected by our top ranking for civil fraud in the major directories.

Our breadth of expertise ensures that we can deal with all issues that arise in fraud cases, including for example the use of trust structures to hide or protect assets or the use of insolvency proceedings to investigate and pursue fraud claims.

Maitland has expertise across the banking and financial services disputes sectors, in particular as to:

• Private equity disputes
• Disputes arising out of the supply or purchase of investment services, financial instruments and investment schemes
• Regulatory and enforcement disputes

We act for banks, financial institutions and other investors, both in England and offshore, and frequently on matters with a jurisdictional element. vRecent examples include claims as to the proper valuation of swaps on close-out; the alleged mis-selling of swaps; failed CDOs; the recovery of loans from companies held within a trust structure; claims against overseas Government issuers; and hedge fund claw-back claims.

We undertake a wide range of contractual disputes, at all levels of the Courts in England and overseas, including:

• Disputes relating to contractual interpretation
• Claims in misrepresentation 
• Frustration and force majeure
• Breach of warranty claims
• Disputes arising out of share purchase agreements

We regularly act on all manner of joint venture and partnership disputes, across a variety of legal structures such as contractual, corporate, LLP and trust joint ventures, both on- and off-shore, with subject matters ranging from real estate development to complex financial investments.  Such claims include:

• Disputes as to the formation, terms, operation and termination of joint venture agreements
• Disputes as to the formation, terms, operation and dissolution of partnerships, including LLPs and other limited partnerships
• Disputes relating to the duties, obligations and liabilities of partners
• The winding-up of partnerships, including actions for accounts and inquiries
• Unfair prejudice petitions

A number of our members have experience in being expert determiners in all our main areas of expertise, both as sole determiners or as part of a panel.

Our members have wide experience of acting as advocates and arbitrators in arbitrations conducted under all of the major institutional rules (including the ICC, LCIA, ICDR, SCC, SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, and ICSID rules, as well as other major arbitral rules such as UNCITRAL) and with various different seats.

We also act in court litigation ancillary to arbitration, such as disputes about the validity of arbitration agreements, claims for pre-arbitration injunctive relief, and challenges to and the enforcement of arbitral awards.

We have experience of arbitrations involving parties from a wide range of industry sectors, including energy, mining, oil & gas, banking & financial services, LLP disputes, trusts and shareholders, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, commodities, international investment, and projects and construction.

Several of our barristers and associate members regularly sit as arbitrators, including Sir Nicholas Patten (formerly a judge of the English Court of Appeal), Sir William Blackburne (formerly a judge of the English High Court), Simon Nesbitt KC (formerly co-head of international arbitration at Hogan Lovells), and Paul Klaas (formerly chair of Dorsey & Whitney’s international disputes practice).

Examples of our work in the field of international arbitration include:

• P (a co inc in country A) v D (a co inc in country B) & ors (2019): successful challenge to arbitration award under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on the grounds that the tribunal had acted unfairly in reaching a decision without the losing party’s main witness being cross-examined on that issue and by basing their decision on a case which had not been argued.
• An LCIA arbitration seated in London between two Nigerian companies involving claims for payment under a Sale & Purchase Agreement and related Guarantees for two deep offshore oil mining leases in Nigeria, and counterclaims relating to management of the relevant oilfields
• An LCIA arbitration seated in Dubai under the Rules of the Dubai International Financial Centre concerning investment banking fees and margin calls on derivatives
• An ICSID arbitration seated in Washington, D.C, concerning copper mining investments
• Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. v OJSC Rosneft Oil Company: part of the long running Yukos affair, claims to enforce arbitral awards worth nearly half a billion dollars which had been set aside by the Russian courts
• An ICC arbitration seated in Bucharest between German and Austrian construction companies on the one hand, and a Romanian state agency on the other, regarding claims arising under an agreement for the rehabilitation of highway bridges
• A Swiss Rules arbitration seated in Zurich between a German chemical manufacturer and a US chemical manufacturer involving a trade secrets/licensing dispute concerning chemical coatings for containers
• IPCO (Nigeria) Ltd v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation: an application to enforce in England a Nigerian arbitral award worth over $150m
• An LCIA arbitration seated in London between a Dutch company and a Tanzanian company involving claims for breach of an exclusivity agreement governed by Dutch and English law and concerning the acquisition of a Tanzanian company
• An ICC arbitration seated in Paris between a French electronics manufacturer and a US airline involving a dispute over the manufacture of aircraft simulators
• JSC Zestafoni G Nikoladze Ferralloy Plant v Ronly Holdings Ltd: an arbitration claim in the Commercial Court challenging an Award relating to contracts for supply and manufacture of ferroalloys at a plant in Georgia under ss. 67 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996
• An ICDR arbitration seated in New York between a Japanese food processing company and British, US and German food processing companies concerning corporate control issues between formerly related corporations
• An ad hoc arbitration seated in London under the UNCITRAL Rules between the local subsidiaries of two major oil companies, relating to back-in rights arising under a joint operating agreement for the exploitation of an oilfield in the South China Sea
• An ICDR arbitration seated in New York between a North American distributor and an Australian winery owner involving a dispute concerning North American distribution rights of fine wines
• An LCIA arbitration seated in London between an Australian coal mining company and an Indian steel manufacturer involving an $80 million contract claim.

In addition to our extensive experience as advisers and advocates within mediations, many of us are accredited by CEDR or ADR Group and accept appointments as mediators.  We are able to supply not just the usual mediator skills of facilitation but also the specialist knowledge and experience which enables them to comprehend the legal and commercial issues arising in the dispute and to engage in appropriate and active reality testing with the parties.