Mishcon de Reya wins landmark bonus case

James Libson and Daniel Naftalin, partners at Mishcon de Reya, successfully led a team representing four City bankers in their legal battle against Dresdner Kleinwort, now owned by Commerzbank.

The four former employees of Dresdner Kleinwort brought the guaranteed bonus and severance pay claims against the bank earlier this year, claiming that it had breached their contracts and withheld payment of these sums after it was acquired by Commerzbank in January 2009.

In a Summary Judgment application in the High Court , Dresdner Kleinwort was ordered to honour the contracts and pay the claimants significant damages, which included interest and legal costs.

James Libson, Partner, Mishcon de Reya said:

"This set of cases was less about city bonuses than it was about the obligation of businesses to honour their contracts. The Bank made a series of binding contractual commitments to its employees, which it subsequently refused to honour. The Court rightly decided that it was unreasonable to have a full trial where there was no defence."