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Further Information

Unfortunately, commercial life brings with it the potential for disputes to arise.  The world of technology carries myriad scope for disputes and litigation.  Our specialist litigators are therefore deeply familiar with such disputes and advise on a diverse range of disputes arising from commercial life, and the world of technology particularly, such as trade mark and patent infringement cases, domain name disputes and IP licence cases.  Our lawyers regularly advise on issues dealt with by intellectual property office registries and have proven expertise in advising on disputes in the High Court (notably the Chancery and Technology and Construction Divisions), County Courts, University Courts and other tribunals.

A major part of our contentious work is to advise and represent clients in regulatory and disciplinary proceedings.  This brings together our extensive knowledge of corporate law, strategy and governance with our litigators’ expertise in disputes and their resolution.

We strongly believe that our clients benefit from our sector knowledge, notably in technology and corporate finance, and from our lawyers' commercial judgment. Our lawyers advise our UK-based and international clients on cross border disputes and we are accustomed to working with overseas counsel as part of a broad case management strategy.

As lawyers, we always strive to equip our clients with the best possible legal agreements and our litigation lawyers have extensive input into our drafting processes.  This strengthens our clients’ commercial position by maximising their prospects of success in the event that a dispute arises.

Our clients often turn to us to assist them in managing and mitigating risk in their businesses, frequently as part of their overall corporate strategy. Our expertise in dispute resolution and contract and commercial law generally enables us to help manage risk for clients in fields such as anti-money laundering, product liability, licensing, corporate governance and guarantees. In fact, we find that our experience in, and knowledge of, the law enables us to enhance the way in which our clients do business and by controlling risk and maximising their upside.

To learn more about particular areas of our Dispute Resolution practise, simply select a topic:

• Corporate & Personal Insolvency
• Derivative Claims
• Intellectual Property Disputes
• Involving IP Rights
• IT Disputes
• Mediation, Arbitration & ADR
• Partnership Disputes
• Shareholder Disputes
  
  

Corporate & Personal Insolvency

We are able to advise companies and individuals on a wide range of insolvency related matters. Our lawyers understand the issues facing both debtors and creditors and are able to offer commercial, pragmatic advice in situations where often time is of the essence.

As well as the traditional routes of liquidation and administration, we are also able to advise in more complex cases involving schemes of arrangement, CVAs and company dissolution.  

White & Black has established relationships with a number of licensed insolvency practitioners and we work closely with these experts to ensure that our clients achieve the most creative and appropriate solutions.

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Derivative Claims

We advise on the use of derivative claims under the Companies Act 2006. Such claims can be brought against a company director or a third party for negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust. The relevant parts of the Companies Act 2006 came into force on 1 October 2007 and adopt the recommendation of the Law Commission that there should be a "new derivative procedure with more modern, flexible and accessible criteria for determining whether a shareholder can pursue an action."

The Companies Act 2006 Act sets out a wide range of circumstances in which a derivative action may be brought by a shareholder (which is certainly broader than under the previous common law). In particular, a claim may now be brought even if a director has not benefited personally from his / her breach of duty and it is not necessary to show that a director(s) controls a majority of the company's shares. The process involves 2 stages:

• Stage 1 - the shareholder must demonstrate, by evidence, a ‘prima facie’ case to the Court in order to bring a derivative claim (which is considered by the Court without evidence from the defendant); and
• Stage 2 - the court may require evidence to be provided by the company (prior to the start of the substantive action).

The Companies Act 2006 has also placed directors’ duties on a new, statutory footing. These include duties to promote the success of the company, to avoid conflicts of interest and not to accept benefits from third parties. A material breach of these duties is actionable by shareholders.Back to top

Intellectual Property Disputes

We appreciate the paramount importance of intellectual property rights (and their protection) to many of our clients. At White & Black we understand how critical these rights are and how much time and money is invested in registering, maintaining and protecting them. In our experience, disputes surrounding the ownership of intellectual property rights often arise in the world of technology.  For this reason, we involve our litigators in the drafting and negotiation of IP related contracts and, similarly, bring the knowledge of our non-contentious, technology lawyers to bear on disputes.Back to top

Involving IP Rights

We work very closely with UK and European patent and trademark attorneys, offering our clients a fully integrated team for intellectual property disputes.

Our experience encompasses High Court proceedings including interim injunctions and Norwich Pharmacal orders, proceedings in the UK Intellectual Property Office, defending the registration of trademarks and claims relating to the infringement of copyright and design rights.Back to top

IT Disputes

We can advise on the resolution of IT related disputes such as:

• IT contractual disputes;
• software ownership and licensing disputes;
• internet and domain name disputes (in accordance with the ICANN policies and Nominet dispute resolution procedure);
• termination of contractual (eg support and maintenance) agreements; and
• defamation – for example, in relation to so called "gripe sites" but also in more general claims arising from liability for digital content. We also have experience of such disputes in a cross-border context.Back to top

Mediation, Arbitration & ADR

In modern litigation, extrajudicial processes such as mediation, arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), play an important role. They have enjoyed increasing usage as a result of the perceived advantages of case flexibility, cost control and speed. At White & Black we see these techniques as an integral part of the dispute resolution procedure, alongside conventional civil and regulatory litigation and old fashioned negotiating and bargaining.

You can see a video of our head of Dispute Resolution, Henry Mendus discussing the advantages of mediation by clicking here.

We strongly believe that our clients benefit from our sector knowledge, notably in technology and corporate finance, and from our lawyers' commercial judgment. Lawyers at White & Black are familiar with these methods of dispute resolution and regularly advise on them in practice.

We are able to advise on:

• mediation and in particular the CEDR model documents and procedures;
• the resolution of Sporting Disputes through Sport Resolutions and others; and
• dispute resolution in general civil and regulatory proceedings.

Our litigators are trained negotiators and even accredited mediators and are therefore able to offer an invaluable insight into the mediation process. Our lawyers can react quickly to a rapidly changing negotiation and appreciate the conflicting positions of each party. We believe that these are the skills to facilitate the resolution of a dispute cost effectively and efficiently.

In all cases, we work with our clients to formulate a suitable case management strategy having regard to their overall financial and commercial objectives.Back to top

Partnership Disputes

Partnerships and LLPs are almost always tightly-knit businesses (emotionally as well as financially) and, if problems arise, they can be magnified by the very personal nature of the business relationship. If something goes wrong, it’s vital that it is resolved speedily and decisively if it’s not to become a drain on the business and its resources, but it’s rarely sensible for those involved in the dispute to try to sort out the problem themselves. In the context of a business founded on a strong personal relationship between the partners, it’s important to have a lawyer who not only understands the detailed mechanics of partnership law but who can also handle the negotiations delicately.

The lawyers at White & Black have advised across the full range of partnerships and LLPs, including architects, surveyors, medical practitioners, publishers and even other solicitors. We try to resolve disputes by negotiation and we have a reputation for finding practical solutions which, wherever possible, minimise the damage and disruption to the partnership’s business.Back to top

Shareholder Disputes

Disputes can arise at shareholder level for a number of reasons but the effective resolution of such disputes always requires an extensive knowledge of corporate law and in particular the law relating to company meetings and procedure. Board meetings and general meetings often have to be convened, resolutions proposed and tactics deployed to take advantage of the law around voting (e.g. the use of proxies), alternate directors, class rights and so forth. This is where our specialist knowledge of company law becomes so valuable to our clients.

Such disputes arise in a variety of situations, including:

• conflict of interest and related party transactions;
• non-payment of dividends;
• the provision of information to shareholders;
• exclusion from meetings;
• non-compliance with investment agreements, shareholders agreements and collaboration
• agreements; and
• directors’ misfeasance and breach of duty.

At White & Black, we are able to advise on so-called “unfair prejudice” actions. These are claims that a company’s affairs have been managed in a way that is unfairly prejudicial to shareholders. In such situations, the Court has extensive powers (under s. 994 Companies Act 2006) to make various orders including an order for the mandatory purchase of a shareholder’s shares. These actions are often highly complex and time consuming and we always look to explore negotiated alternatives with our clients. We also advise our clients on the potential to seek an order under the Insolvency Act 1986 to have a company wound-up on the ground that this is “just and equitable”.

We also advise partners of LLP, LPs (under the 1907 Act) and unregistered partnerships on their rights in relation to disputes with co-partners.Back to top