Commercial dispute resolution solicitors

We regularly act in a wide variety of disputes involving leading banks and financial institutions, commercial and retail customers as well as third party providers of securities

Our team is renowned for its attention to detail, and our ‘no stone left unturned’ approach to both case preparation and litigation strategy is a cornerstone of our team’s reputation. Our specialist banking litigation lawyers provide practical and commercial advice to clients on a variety of contentious issues.

We support our clients in recovering assets, enforcing their rights and defending claims. Our experience includes pursuing damages for withdrawn facilities, challenging fraudulent transactions and acting in relation to complaints and Judicial Review arising from decisions of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Our renowned specialism in this area has seen us act in some of the most prominent commercial litigation cases in the sector in recent years.

Competition law affects the daily business of companies, traders and public authorities of all sizes and across every sector. With a high-profile being given in the media to competition law breaches due to the issue of heavy fines for infringements, massive damages claims and even prosecution of individuals, compliance with competition law must be high on the risk matrix for every business.

We advise on competition law aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and the acquisition of companies holding publicly awarded contracts. We also advise on the wide range of competition law issues associated with commercial contracts, including agency, distribution, franchising and licensing.

When commercial disputes arise, we represent our clients in competition law cases in the Scottish courts and in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Our experienced commercial litigation solicitors handle the full range of litigation from stand-alone breaches to large-scale cartel infringements.
With close connections to top law firms around the world, we have instant global access to the best competition lawyers and work closely with them to advise on international competition law issues.

Whether you want advice on what information you can exchange with competitors, how to get the best protections built into your contracts, what to do if you get a visit from an enforcement agency or want to raise or defend a case in court or the Competition Appeal Tribunal, we are here to help you achieve the best possible result.

Our construction & engineering disputes team offers a full range of advice and representation at all stages– from dispute avoidance, negotiation and mediation, through to arbitration, adjudication and litigation. Timely specialist advice is key to the successful resolution of disputes in construction and engineering projects. Whether a dispute is looming on the horizon, or has already crystallised, our team will offer strategic advice on the best available remedy and the most efficient and cost-effective means of achieving a positive outcome.

In addition to our commercial disputes work, we work closely with our colleagues in Construction, Infrastructure & Projects to provide clients with support on contract administration and management.

In recognition of the fact that construction and engineering companies are businesses with a need for general legal services, the construction disputes team is supported by the wider dispute resolution team as and when required, as part of our specialist advisory service.

We advise in relation to contract disputes and disputes between shareholders, LLP members and partnerships.  We have an exceptional legal expertise in corporate and post-M&A litigation where we have a track record of success in high-value and complex cases.

We act for a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from start-up business and entrepreneurs through to the country’s biggest corporate and financial institutions.

With one of the largest litigation practices in Scotland, we have the capacity and expertise to handle disputes across a wide range of sectors, including food & drink, technology and energy. Our team is one of the most prominent teams in the Commercial Courts of the Court of Session and Sheriff Courts across Scotland.  We also represent clients in the Tax Tribunal.

Our services range from our commoditised debt recovery team offering fixed-fee services for clients with high-volume needs, to our specialist dispute resolution team offering a bespoke service where the matter requires additional resource.

We have extensive court experience in dealing with actions for payment of debts across a broad range of sectors, including the banking, energy and construction sectors. We regularly pursue and defend actions and appeals in the Sheriff Courts and the Court of Session, and boast one of the most prominent teams in the Commercial Courts.

Our bespoke offering includes advising clients in relation to interim orders, including arrestments and inhibitions. We also have an excellent track record in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

We have Scotland’s leading personal insolvency practice and are the only Scottish law firm ranked by Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession in the UK-wide rankings for personal insolvency. James Lloyd is listed as a band 1 individual in the UK-wide rankings and has arguably advised in more personal insolvency cases than any other solicitor in the UK.

We also have extensive experience in corporate insolvency and Gordon Hollerin is one of the leading practitioners in the Scottish restructuring market. The Legal 500 2022 ranks Gordon in its “Hall of Fame” as one of the elite lawyers in Scotland in the Insolvency and Corporate Recovery field.

As well as acting for liquidators and trustees, we are one of the very few firms in the Scottish market with genuine expertise in acting for clients in defending claims brought by liquidators and trustees in sequestration.

The firm handles all manner of intellectual property disputes, both locally and internationally.

We are the only firm in Scotland that has significant patent litigation experience, including both successfully dealing with infringement and counterclaim proceedings for clients in the Scottish courts, managing foreign litigation, and addressing registry challenges.

As we have a substantial trademarks and designs registration and management practice and we regularly act before local and foreign intellectual property registries, in connection with commercial disputes at that level. Our experience includes addressing such proceedings as part of, and in conjunction with, wider court action.

On a sectoral level, the firm has particular experience in relation to the sport, food and drink, retail, manufacturing, construction, life sciences and energy sectors. It is recognised for its detailed knowledge in music, broadcasting, media and entertainment.

The firm also provides holistic anti-counterfeiting support to clients, combining bespoke detailed monitoring assistance, with cost efficient platform based volume takedown services and customs relationship management liaison, on a worldwide level. Our anti-counterfeiting services address on average in excess of £30million in counterfeit product value in any year, and are relied upon by some of Scotland’s most well-known brands.

Our legal team is recognised for its expertise in the Legal 500, Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession, the World Trade Mark Review, and in Managing IP, and includes specialists accredited and certified by the Law Society of Scotland and the World Intellectual Property Organization, in intellectual property, international trade mark work and cyber security.

We advise a wide range of clients, from government and national agencies to landowners and companies in public inquiries and judicial reviews relating to complex planning and environmental disputes.

We have particular expertise in advising public sector clients on their decision making on planning environmental issues. We have acted in some of the most important environmental law cases in the Court of Session in recent years.

Lead partner Jennifer Jack is the only Scottish lawyer ranked by Chambers UK in the UK-wide category “Environment: Climate Change” where she is commended for her experience in this area.

We regularly advise clients in relation to a full range of property disputes including real estate issues such as dilapidations, irritancy clauses and lease disputes, as well as boundary disputes,  breach of missives, crofting disputes and statutory appeals.

Our commercial dispute resolution team acts for developers, investors and a wide range of landlord and tenants, from retail clients and well-known institutions to entrepreneurs and individuals.

Our team has breadth of experience and expertise in this area, and has represented the firm’s clients across all levels of civil court in Scotland, including the Sheriff Courts, Court of Session, Scottish Land Court and Lands Tribunal for Scotland. We also have experience in ADR measures, including arbitration and mediation, in relation to real estate matters.

We regularly advise clients from the public and private sectors in relation to statutory appeals and judicial reviews of decisions of public authorities. We also provide regular advice to our public sector client base about how best to minimise the risk of judicial review at the decision-making stage. Lead partner Jennifer Jack is ranked as a Band 1 Leading Individual in Chambers UK where she is described as “extremely calm, considered and experienced”, ”very bright” and “good at dealing with the clients in a supportive way”.

We understand the importance of your reputation.  We help private individuals, companies and organisations protect their reputation, from advising on the PR aspects of contentious issues to raising or defending claims of defamation. We have an experienced team that understand the importance of protecting our clients’ reputation, security and privacy. We have helped clients to secure the removal of online content, advised on the “right to be forgotten” and also assisted on crises management and harassment matters.

We also advise on a wide range of media-related issues and disputes. We have particular experience of advising on broadcasting agreements and protecting rights under these, as well as advising clients on compliance with codes for broadcast advertising and publication.

We have the leading sports law practice in the country. While the greatest volume of our contentious work is in relation to rugby and football, our involvement with the Glasgow 2018 European Championships and 2014 Commonwealth Games and other major sporting events has led to us advising in disputes relating to netball, snooker, fencing, ju jitsu and many more.