Matter Overview
Securing a landmark decision to set aside an arbitral award worth more than $11 billion.

The Government of Nigeria
In 2019, The Federal Republic of Nigeria faced enforcement of a $6.6 billion arbitral award in favour of Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), a BVI-incorporated company, due to a failed gas deal from 2010. Despite suspicions of fraud, Nigeria was nearly three years late in challenging the award, far beyond the 28-day statutory limit.

However, Nigeria's fortunes changed after hiring Mishcon de Reya in October 2019. Within two months, we gathered enough evidence of bribery to apply to set aside the award for fraud. Despite the procedural delay, Sir Ross Cranston ruled in July 2020 that there was a strong prima facie case of fraud, granting Nigeria an unprecedented extension to challenge the award.

• Civil Fraud

  Service

Matter Overview
Secured judgment in favour of fashion designer Thom Browne in High Court trade mark and passing off proceedings against adidas.

The Dispute
Renowned fashion designer Thom Browne launched his eponymous fashion business in New York in around 2000. The designer and his company have recently been involved in a multi-jurisdictional trade mark dispute with the global sportswear brand adidas relating to Thom Browne's use of a four-bar design on various items of clothing. Following disputes in various courts and IP registries around the world, Thom Browne began these proceedings before the High Court of England & Wales, seeking invalidity of a number of adidas' three-stripe registered trade marks, which had been registered as 'position marks' (i.e. as marks intended to be used in particular positions on footwear, clothing, headgear and bags). adidas counterclaimed for trade mark infringement and passing off arising out of the use of the four-bar design on various Thom Browne garments. adidas was unable to point to any confusion arising at the point of sale, and so it argued that there was confusion occurring in a post-sale context.

Judgment – no trade mark infringement, passing off
In its judgment, handed down on 22 November 2024, the High Court (Mrs Justice Joanna Smith) delivered a decisive victory for Thom Browne, dismissing adidas' claims of trade mark infringement and passing off.  The judge also found that a number of the adidas position trade marks asserted against Thom Browne failed to satisfy the statutory requirements for registration of a trade mark, making them invalid.

On infringement, the judge's findings confirmed that the average, reasonably observant consumer would generally perceive the difference between three stripes and four.  Further, even though both the adidas marks and Thom Browne signs had been used over a period of years (including, in some cases, in the same retail outlets, such as Harrods and Selfridges), and had both been subject to constant media and social media attention, adidas was unable to point to any evidence of actual confusion. Instead, it sought to rely upon a small number of comments on social media, but these were rejected by the court.

The High Court's decision follows triumphs for Thom Browne in both the US and Germany, and was a further significant milestone in this global dispute. As the first decision of the English courts on the registrability of position marks, the case has important implications for the scope of trade mark registrations, as well as some other emerging issues such as post-sale confusion. The court's approach also demonstrates an appreciation of the distinct niches brands can occupy in the fashion sector. adidas has appealed the court's finding that certain of its position marks were not valid, but it has not appealed the non-infringement finding.

The case was recognised as one of the most significant trade mark cases in 2024, and Mishcon won UK Trade Mark Litigation Team of the Year at the Managing IP Awards in April 2025, in recognition of our work on this matter and on other trade mark cases.

• Intellectual Property Disputes

  Service

Matter Overview
Securing judgment in favour of the joint administrators of London Capital & Finance plc (LCF) in their claim worth in excess of £200 million

The LCF Scandal
Between 2013 and December 2018, LCF raised a total of £237 million from around 11,600 retail investors by issuing "mini-bonds". In doing so, it presented itself to investors as a commercial lender to borrowers in the UK SME sector.
Following the intervention of the Financial Conduct Authority in December 2018, there was a run on LCF which subsequently went into administration on 30 January 2019.  The deficit to creditors now stands at approximately £380 million.
The collapse of LCF prompted significant action by government, regulators and law enforcement (with whom Mishcon de Reya interacted with over a 5 year period). 

• Civil Fraud

  Service

Matter Overview
Successfully defending O2 against claims made by Phones 4u that it colluded with EE and Vodafone to put Phones 4u out of business.

The administration of Phones 4u
Phones 4u brought claims against EE, Vodafone UK, O2 (and their then shareholders Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone Group and Telefonica) for breach of EU and English competition law, breach of contract and in tort. It alleged that the Defendants colluded in deciding not to renew their distribution contracts with Phones 4u, forcing it into administration. P4u's claim focussed on an inference that the Defendants must have colluded because it would have been commercially irrational for any of them to have unilaterally ceased business operations with P4u.

On administration, Phones 4u valued its business at more than £1 billion. It sought damages for the loss caused by its administration and exemplary damages for the alleged collusive conduct of the Defendants.

• Competition Law

  Service

Matter Overview
Acting in the largest AI fund raise to date by a European company.

Wayve Technologies
Mishcon de Reya recently advised self-driving car technology startup Wayve on its $1.05 billion Series C investment round. This round was spearheaded by SoftBank Group and saw contributions from new investor NVIDIA, as well as continued support from existing investor Microsoft, and it is the largest known investment in an AI company in Europe to date.

Wayve specialises in developing AI models for autonomous driving, creating a "robot brain" that learns from and interacts with real-world environments. Its Embodied AI technology is designed to prioritise safety, delivering natural and secure driving performance. It addresses the challenge of handling rare, unexpected, or edge-case scenarios that are not frequently encountered during training, by generalising learned driving skills to handle unexpected scenarios without prior training. Wayve’s self-supervised learning approach supports efficient, large-scale learning, enabling the AI to adapt smoothly to new vehicles and environments across different locations.

• Emerging Companies and Venture Capital

  Service

Matter Overview
Mishcon de Reya advises management team of Calastone on US$1 billion acquisition by SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc

Case details
Mishcon de Reya has advised the management team at Calastone on the successful completion of its acquisition by SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (“SS&C” or Group: Nasdaq: SSNC), a global leader in investment and financial services software and solutions. The transaction, valued at approximately £766 million (approximately US $1.03 billion), was completed following SS&C's acquisition of Calastone from global investment firm Carlyle.  

• Mergers and Acquisitions

  Service

Matter Overview
In April 2023, Guy Carpenter issued urgent injunctive proceedings in the High Court in the wake of Howden's recruitment of 38 of its European-based employees. The claim involved allegations of unlawful means conspiracy, breach of contract, theft of confidential information and the unlawful solicitation of clients, which Guy Carpenter claimed were carried out by Howden with the intention of destabilising Guy Carpenter's business and position in the market. Guy Carpenter sought injunctive relief, declaration and damages.

The proceedings were run on an expedited basis and involved the review of over 100,000 documents, the preparation of over 40 witness statements and required the liaison with local counsel and experts on a wide range of foreign law issues. The wider case also involved further action regarding Guy Carpenter's unlawful recruitment of Howden employees in Hong Kong and Italy.

Howden Group

Case details
On the first day of trial, the parties reached an out-of-court settlement. The case avoided what was anticipated to be one of the most contentious team move trials in recent UK history. The result was well received by the client and showcases the Employment team's ability to advise seamlessly on complex legal matters involving High Court litigation.

• Team Moves and Restrictive Covenants

  Service

Matter Overview
Real estate sale of significant data centre site.

DC01UK

Case details
Mishcon de Reya has advised DC01UK on the sale of their South Mimms site to Equinix, one of the largest data centre companies and operators. The 85-acre site has a projected total investment value of around £3.9 billion.  

The deal marks a landmark moment for the UK's digital and data infrastructure sector, reinforcing its global competitiveness, and supports the UK Government's ambition to establish the country as a global leader in AI, technology and data capability.