DLA Piper has a well-established commercial litigation practice in the region, with the team covering a full range of commercial disputes across various sectors, including banking, construction, engineering, industrials, transport, life sciences, TMT, and sport. Practice head Richard Norman has extensive experience in litigation, mediation, and international arbitration, with particular expertise in the IT and telecommunications space. Mick Lawlor is experienced in international disputes, while James Watson acts on technology disputes. Barney Connell primarily advises financial services, rail, and technology clients. Other key contacts in the group include senior associates Daniel Jones and Sam Gokarn-Millington.
Commercial litigation: Sheffield, South Yorkshire in Yorkshire And The Humber
DLA Piper
Practice head(s):
Richard Norman
Other key lawyers:
Mick Lawlor; James Watson; Barney Connell; Daniel Jones; Sam Gokarn-Millington
Testimonials
‘Richard Norman and his team offer a close and attentive service. Their approach is always thoughtful and collaborative. Extremely user-friendly. The team is well-resourced and makes effective use of delegation, so that value is delivered at all levels.’
‘Richard Norman provides wise, commercial counsel. His knowledge is sound, but just as important, he is always prepared to say when he doesn’t know the answer, which gives one a great deal of confidence.’
‘Daniel Jones and Sam Gokarn-Millington are both excellent associates, who provide a first-class service under Richard Norman’s leadership.’
‘DLA Piper put together a solid team with the right level of competence for our order and requirement. The DLA team demonstrates a good level of competence and the ability to make the best team to fit the customer and the case at hand.’
Key clients
Adobe
Atos
Arconic
Arqiva
Boots plc
CBRE
Coal Authority
Crowdstrike Inc
Gamma Telecom
Neos Networks
NTT Data
Proact IT
Reckitt Benckiser
Robert Bosch UK Holdings Limited
Tata Communications
Tata Steel
Telenor
Verizon
Viasat
Brendon International Limited
University of Salford
Work highlights
- Acting for Brendon International on a dispute relating to the payments made in respect of water and sewage services and the ownership of drainage routes.
- Acting for Tata Steel in defending a group action brought by circa 200+ claimants in the TCC in respect of alleged nuisance affecting one of Europe’s biggest industrial sites.
- Acting for the University of Salford in pursuing High Court proceedings against United Utilities and Water Plus in respect of significant overcharging, which includes novel points of law affecting utility supplies.
Freeths LLP
The commercial dispute resolution team at Freeths LLP has a broad range of expertise, including acting on shareholder, technology, manufacturing and engineering, partnership and trust, and professional negligence disputes. Practice head James Berry has a broad practice that covers a variety of commercial disputes, including interim injunction applications and enforcement and insolvency-related issues. Also noted are Gary Duffy and Ciaran Dearden, both of whom handle shareholder and partnership disputes.
Practice head(s):
James Berry
Other key lawyers:
Gary Duffy; Ciaran Dearden
Testimonials
‘Freeths is overall amazing. They provide an excellent service and have different departments that can help with different issues. I would highly recommend them to anyone.’
‘They provide a personal and professional approach with easy to reach partners who treat you as a client.’
‘We would say that Freeths have a diverse breadth of team members, with those individuals having the social and professional ability to communicate with us without feeling that they somewhat sit above us and with the more traditional legal approach. We would particularly mention James Berry, Ciaran Dearden and Gary Duffy.’
‘Dynamic, professional and commercial advice.’
‘Gary Duffy gives sound, tailored, logical and dynamic advice on a wide range of litigation issues encountered in the running of a business.’
‘Ciaran Dearden is a very strong, competent lawyer and easy to work with.’
‘Gary Duffy offers a service beyond his price point, is very hands-on and takes a sensible and commercial view of matters.’
Key clients
Advanced Alloys Limited
Begbies Traynor LLP
Queenscourt Limited
Canning Conveyor Co. Limited
Spencer Technologies Inc
Clear Line Maintenance Ltd
Ant Marketing Limited
Planet X Ltd
MGS Technical Plastics Limited
Aldi Stores Limited
Work highlights
- Acting for a national insolvency practitioner in respect of litigation involving a large construction company.
- Acting for the shareholder of international hotel brands valued at circa €65m in a cross-border shareholder and director dispute which involves issues of diversion of business opportunities, misfeasance, misappropriation, fraud and tax evasion.
- Acting for a supplier to the bulking handling industry with a circa £600,000 professional negligence claim against a firm of structural engineers in relation to the catastrophic failure of a ship-to-shore conveyor at a major shipping port used by major companies.
Lupton Fawcett
Lupton Fawcett’s dispute resolution team is led by Simon Lockley, who has demonstrable experience in handling shareholder, corporate, partnership and contractual disputes, as well as civil fraud and professional negligence claims. Beyond that, the team handles breach of warranty claims, restrictive covenant and confidentiality disputes, and corporate fraud matters.
Practice head(s):
Simon Lockley
Other key lawyers:
Kirsty Coggin
Testimonials
‘Simon Lockley and Kirsty Coggin are excellent. They take a commercial approach to their cases, work very well with counsel and go the extra mile to secure the vest outcome for their clients.’
Wake Smith Solicitors Limited
The commercial litigation group at Wake Smith Solicitors Limited is adept at handling a broad spectrum of litigious matters. The team is led by Elizabeth Shaw, who specialises in property-related commercial litigation. Director Michael Doherty has a broad practice, with a particular focus on contractual and chancery-related disputes.
Practice head(s):
Elizabeth Shaw
Other key lawyers:
Michael Doherty
Testimonials
‘Mike Doherty has good business acumen.’
‘Available at all times, with very good commercial judgment.’
‘Mike Doherty makes good use of counsel, and always has his client’s commercial needs at the forefront of his mind.’