Disputes and Crisis Management

By the Editorial Team · Friday, September 25, 2026

McDermott Will & Schulte secured a key English High Court judgment enforcing arbitration orders against a Russian company involved in a sanctions-related dispute, with the ruling upheld by the Court of Appeal. This case underscores the UK courts’ increasing readiness to support arbitration enforcement across borders, signaling potential new legal avenues for resolving international commercial conflicts.

In recent developments within the UK and international legal sectors, several law firms have achieved notable successes in high-profile disputes and crisis management cases throughout 2025 and early 2026.

McDermott Will & Schulte emerged as a leading firm after securing a significant English High Court judgment in November 2025 that enforced peremptory orders issued by London-based arbitrators. These final orders followed non-compliance by a Russian fertilizer producer involved in arbitration with Tecnimont and MT Russia, subsidiaries of the Italian engineering company Maire. The dispute stemmed from contracts suspended due to international sanctions against Russia. Despite an agreement to arbitrate disputes in London, the Russian business initiated proceedings in Russia, prompting the English court to require their withdrawal. Although compliance has yet to be achieved, the High Court ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in January 2026, illustrating the courts’ willingness to exert coercive power in support of arbitration, even against foreign legal actions. This case has been noted as a potential pathway for effective legal relief under UK arbitration laws.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton represented Amazon in a UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) case regarding alleged price-fixing alongside Apple involving Apple and Beats-branded products over seven years. The CAT dismissed the £494 million class action in January 2025 after ruling that Christine Riefa, a consumer law specialist from Reading University, was ineligible to serve as class representative. The firm had actively challenged her suitability throughout hearings in 2024. Subsequently, a renewed class action worth £900 million was filed in December 2025.

Hogan Lovells Cadwalader played a pivotal role in a lengthy eight-year legal battle for Ukraine’s PrivatBank against former owners Igor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov. In November 2025, the UK High Court awarded the bank $3.3 billion in damages and costs following allegations of embezzlement. To establish jurisdiction, the bank targeted companies domiciled in England and the British Virgin Islands owned by the defendants, resulting in a landmark Court of Appeal ruling on cross-border jurisdiction.

Several firms received recognition for their involvement in other significant cases. Hausfeld & Co assisted Rachael Kent, the class representative for 36 million UK consumers and businesses, in establishing claims against Apple for imposing excessive commissions on app developers. The Competition Appeal Tribunal’s October 2025 ruling potentially opens the door to £1.5 billion in damages, although Apple is reportedly considering an appeal.

Macfarlanes successfully advised the music royalties distributor, the Performing Right Society, in opposing a collective proceedings application brought by musicians led by Blur drummer David Rowntree. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed the case in August 2025, which challenged certain royalties distribution formulas.

Slaughter and May represented Close Brothers in a Supreme Court appeal regarding car-purchase financing. The court determined that car dealerships do not owe customers a fiduciary duty when arranging financing with banks, which softened the effect of a prior Court of Appeal decision. Despite this ruling, Close Brothers and other banks have chosen not to oppose a £9 billion redress scheme announced by the Financial Conduct Authority earlier in 2026.

Additional noteworthy achievements include Sayenko Kharenko assisting Ukrainian state-owned banks in reclaiming the Gulliver shopping and business center in Kyiv over unpaid debts; Uría Menéndez Abogados securing a European Court of Human Rights ruling affirming procedural rights for an insolvency administrator under Spanish law; PLMJ gaining access for Flixbus to Lisbon’s Sete Rios station by framing the dispute as a discrimination case; and Aequo representing Agroprosperis Group in multiple tax disputes with Ukrainian authorities, resulting in favorable Supreme Court rulings.

These cases collectively reflect the evolving landscape of international and UK dispute resolution, emphasizing cross-border jurisdictional challenges, arbitration enforcement, and emerging consumer and competition law issues.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.