News
Signature Litigation has been ranked in The Legal 500 UK 2019 for ‘Fraud: Civil’, ‘Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail’, ‘Commercial Litigation’, ‘International Arbitration’, ‘Insurance and Reinsurance Litigation’, and ‘Professional Negligence’.
Please see below a list of the full rankings and commentary about the firm as published in The Legal 500 UK 2019 Guide:
LONDON: CRIME, FRAUD AND LICENSING
Fraud: Civil (Tier 3)
Signature Litigation LLP is ‘a specialist commercial litigation boutique with a strong presence in civil fraud’, it has ‘an excellent caseload and real experience in the field’. The firm is adept at investigating, initiating and defending high-profile, multiparty and multi-jurisdictional civil fraud claims. It represents the Ivanishvili family in a claim against various entities in the Credit Suisse Group relating to fraudulent handling and investment of family assets in a case worth between $500m and $800m. The firm continues to act in a very high-profile case for Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) against the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) claim that certain categories of documents, currently withheld by ENRC are not subject to legal professional privilege. ‘Extremely creative and lateral lawyer’ Graham Huntley and ‘extremely experienced operator’ Julian Connerty head the team alongside the recent lateral hire Simon Bushell, who is ‘an excellent litigator, constantly striving for ways to improve a case or undermine his opponents’. Josh Wong joined as partner.
Partner Simon Bushell is ranked as a Leading Individual in this category.
LONDON: DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail (Tier 3)
Signature Litigation LLP ‘does a good job of predicting the potential moves of opponents and taking countermeasures in advance‘. The practice advises on all aspects of large-scale banking litigation. Highlights included acting for one of the three lead groups of RBS shareholders, which brought unprecedented claims under the Financial Services and Markets Act’s section 90, against RBS with respect to its failed 2008 rights issue; the work involved the first major test of the section 90 liability, supported by a huge evidential and forensic review of RBS’ businesses, particularly in relation to liquidity, capital and credit market exposure. The team also acted for Desiman, a property company, against Bank of Scotland, HBOS Treasury Services and Lloyds Bank for mis-selling LIBOR- referenced interest rate swaps; breach of implied representations; and wrongful appointment of administrative receivers. Graham Huntley is the founding partner and Abdulali Jiwaji ‘has an ability to analyse difficult issues and provide concise and clear advice‘. Other highly rated litigators are Simon Bushell, Julian Connerty, Daniel Spendlove and Natalia Chumak, along with Adam Rooney, Hermès Marangos, Ioannis Alexopoulos and Josh Wong, while Rory Spillman is a notable senior associate.
Partner Graham Huntley is ranked as a Leading Individual and Senior Associate Rory Spillman is ranked as a Next Generation Lawyer in this category.
Commercial Litigation (Tier 3)
‘A first-class firm with a positive, collaborative culture of integrity‘, Signature Litigation LLP is a highly specialised dispute resolution firm, with a strong focus on large, complex and often cross-border cases. The practice advised the ECU Group in a pre-action disclosure application against HSBC UK, HSBC Private Bank and HSBC USA for trading data involving a series of foreign exchange trades in excess of £400m. Graham Huntley is the recommended founding partner; Abdulali Jiwaji ‘has excellent interpersonal skills, is very good with clients and a pleasure to work with‘; and Daniel Spendlove is ‘very smart, client focused and details-oriented‘. Other key contacts include Simon Bushell, Ioannis Alexopoulos, Natalia Chumak, Hermès Marangos, Adam Rooney, Julian Connerty and Josh Wong.
Partners Graham Huntley and Simon Bushell are both ranked as Leading Individuals and Partner Daniel Spendlove is ranked as a Next Generation Lawyer in this category.
International Arbitration (Tier 5)
Signature Litigation LLP ‘has a strong and experienced arbitration team‘. The practice has substantial experience acting for clients in high-value, complex international arbitrations; and is particularly noted for disputes work involving Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The key contacts are Natalia Chumak, Ioannis Alexopoulos, Adam Rooney and Josh Wong. Counsel Neil Newing, who joined from Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP, and senior associate Nick Storrs are also highly regarded.
Senior Associate Nick Storrs is recognised as a Next Generation Lawyer in this category.
LONDON: INSURANCE
Insurance and Reinsurance Litigation (Tier 6)
Signature Litigation LLP’s team focuses on complex international insurance disputes, making it ‘an excellent, trustworthy firm for heavyweight litigation’. The highly specialised dispute resolution boutique has a strong focus on large, complex and often cross-border cases, particularly in Latin America. In this regard, practice head Hermès Marangos is the go-to expert, as one of the pioneers on complex matters for the insurance and reinsurance industry in Latin America. ‘Intelligent, with an excellent knowledge of the field’, he offers the ability to ‘think outside the box and get inside the Latin American psyche’. The breadth of experience in the practice covers a wide range of sectors, including losses arising out of natural disasters and claims under D&O policies, but especially multi-jurisdictional disputes and large-scale infrastructure projects. Julian Connerty recently advised Gable Insurance on a potential claim against underwriting agency Morgan Law.
Partner Hermès Marangos is ranked as a Leading Individual in this category.
Professional Negligence (Tier 5)
Dispute resolution boutique Signature Litigation LLP handles large, high-profile professional negligence claims, often with a cross-border element, for claimants and defendants. It represented Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation in a claim against its former solicitors’ firm, Dechert LLP. Daniel Spendlove and Graham Huntley head the team, and Abdulali Jiwaji is also a key name.
Signature Litigation’s full profile can be found here.
