Practice area
Commercial Disputes
This area supports clients facing, or seeking to avoid, disputes over contracts, shareholdings, transactions or assets. It covers shareholder disputes, commercial litigation, arbitration and enforcement. The focus is a proportionate strategy that protects the client's position and, where recovery matters, keeps enforceability in view from the start rather than as an afterthought.
What this area covers
- Shareholder disputes
- Commercial litigation
- Arbitration
- Enforcement
Common client situations
- Facing or anticipating a dispute over a contract, shareholding, transaction or asset.
- Assessing the strength of a position before deciding how to proceed.
- Pursuing or defending commercial litigation or arbitration.
- Enforcing a judgment or award, or resisting enforcement.
- Considering asset preservation while a dispute is resolved.
Types of assistance
- Assessing the legal position and the practical options at an early stage.
- Advising on pre-dispute strategy, negotiation and settlement.
- Coordinating commercial litigation and arbitration.
- Advising on enforcement of judgments, awards and security, and on asset preservation.
- Working with foreign counsel where a dispute crosses borders.
Practical considerations
- Early assessment of evidence and position helps shape a proportionate strategy.
- The choice of forum and governing law affects strategy and enforceability.
- Preservation of assets can be important where recovery is a concern.
- A judgment or award is only as valuable as the ability to enforce it, which is best considered from the outset.
Representative matters in this area
- Securities Financing Disputes Portfolio. Represented a securities institution in a portfolio of margin-trading and securities-financing disputes arising from client defaults following forced liquidation, spanning first-instance, appellate, enforcement and property-preservation proceedings.
- Trust Investment Disputes Portfolio. Represented an institutional client in a portfolio of collective trust plan investment disputes arising from underlying asset defaults, including litigation strategy, evidentiary preparation and negotiated settlements.
- Investment Product Disputes. Represented individual investors in contract and trust disputes against an investment holding company, arising from underlying investment product defaults, across multiple jurisdictions.
Representative matters are anonymized and provided for general information only. Past experience does not guarantee any particular outcome.