Litigation
Defending against threats, managing the risks
The world’s biggest businesses trust us to defend them against serious commercial and reputational threats. Why? Because we have advised on some of the most politically sensitive, high-profile litigations, arbitrations and investigations in recent history.
Our team of leading attorneys strives to bring efficient and innovative solutions to our clients’ most pressing legal challenges.
As a critical component of the world’s premier international litigation practice, our US litigators routinely handle complex multijurisdictional and cross-border matters and are alert to the specific concerns and collateral consequences of disputes in non-US regions as well as with global regulators.
Our world-renowned, global Freshfields platform complements our knowledge of the US litigation system, and our nearly 800 litigators work with the entire Freshfields network. We have US-qualified litigators in the major economic centers that matter to your business, including London, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Client successes
Successfully defending Raoul Weil, former CEO of UBS’s Wealth Management Division, in a US federal jury trial in which he was acquitted.
Representing Crystallex during investment treaty arbitration proceedings against Venezuela.
Freshfields secured a $1.39bn award on behalf of Canadian gold mining company Crystallex International Corporation – one of the largest awards in ICSID’s history. The Tribunal awarded Crystallex damages of $1.202bn plus pre- and post-award interest due to Venezuela’s unfair and inequitable treatment and unlawful expropriation of Crystallex’s investment in the Las Cristinas mining project.
Successfully advising Deutsche Bank AG in its strongly contested four month trial against Sebastian Holdings.
We not only defeating entirely Sebastian’s US$8 billion counterclaim but also obtaining a judgment debt and costs award of over US$300 million ([2013] EWHC 3463 (Comm)).
These proceedings have since resulted in leading judgments on the English court’s jurisdiction to attach conditions to an appeal ([2014] EWCA Civ 1100) and in making one of the largest ever non-party costs orders ([2016] EWCA Civ 23).
The Bank was then granted a CPR Part 71 Order, entitling it to cross-examine Mr Vik about Sebastian’s means of paying the judgment debt. The Bank intends to apply for a suspended committal order against Mr Vik for giving untruthful evidence and failing to provide full disclosure of documents and information in that context. In March 2017, the High Court handed down an important new judgment ([2017] EWHC 459 (Comm)), finding that the “special circumstances” existed to grant DBAG permission to serve its application for committal by alternative means.
We have also been assisting the Bank in enforcing the judgment debt against specific assets of Sebastian both in this jurisdiction and abroad, including:
- in Norway, in proceedings aimed at enforcing against all of the shares in a Norwegian company, which Mr Vik had first caused to be transferred from Sebastian to himself, and then to his father. The Oslo Enforcement, Bankruptcy and Probate Court handed down judgment in December 2016 dismissing Mr Vik’s father’s complaint, upholding an execution lien in the Bank’s favour over the shares and awarding the Bank all of its costs claimed; and
- in England and Wales, by means of the Bank’s successful application, in February 2017, for the appointment of receivers by way of equitable execution over interests in certain private equity partnerships which Mr Vik had caused to be transferred from Sebastian to closely connected entities. This receivership appointment was recognised by the Guernsey Court in March 2017.
Helping Sotheby’s fend off £11m ‘Caravaggio’ negligence suit.
In January 2015, the High Court decided that Sotheby’s, representing by Freshfields, had won its battle against Lancelot William Thwaytes, the former owner of an alleged ‘Caravaggio’ painting, ‘The Cardsharps’.
Acting for Econet Wireless in a dispute over its stake in Nigerian telco VNL. Favourable outcomes have been reached at every stage.
Representing one of the world’s largest banks in investigations by multiple enforcement authorities into an alleged scheme to manipulate the setting of the LIBOR and other leading benchmark interest rates in 14 countries.
Litigation
- Administrative and public law
- Antitrust litigation
- Banking and financial services
- Business and human rights
- Commercial litigation
- Construction and engineering (DR)
- Data regulation and cyber
- Environment
- Global investigations
- Intellectual property
- International arbitration
- Product liability
- Public international law
- Regulatory/enforcement
- Restructuring and insolvency
- Securities and shareholder litigation
- White collar defense and corporate crime
Our team
Eric B. Bruce US Head of disputes, litigation and arbitration, and global investigations
Washington, DC, New York
Noiana Marigo Global Co-Head of International Arbitration & Co-Head of Latin America Practice
New York
Lee Rovinescu Partner
New York
Aaron Marcu Senior Counsel
New York
Timothy Harkness Partner
New York
Caroline Richard Partner
Washington, DC
Nabeel Yousef Partner
Washington, DC
Nigel Blackaby KC Partner, Co-Head of Latin America Practice
Washington, DC
Andrew Ewalt Partner
Washington, DC
Eric Mahr Joint Head – Global Antitrust Litigation Group
Washington, DC
James Kennedy Partner
London
Matthias Koch Partner
Düsseldorf
Norbert Nolte Partner
Düsseldorf
William Robinson Partner
London, Hong Kong
