iLaw > London, England > Firm Profile
iLaw Offices

Temple Chambers
3-7 Temple Avenue
LONDON
EC4Y 0HP
England
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iLaw > The Legal 500 Rankings
Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market Tier 6
Originally launched as a niche IT/IP City practice, boutique firm iLaw has developed an excellent reputation for handling a wide range of commercial litigation, including disputes with an international flavour. Mark Culbert leads the department, which includes fellow director Tom Clark. Senior consultant Allan Murray is a cryptocurrency/blockchain disputes expert.
Practice head(s):
Mark Culbert; Tom Clark
Other key lawyers:
Allan Murray; Jenny Lau
Testimonials
‘Great depth of knowledge and considered accurate advice.‘
‘iLaw has a creative, enthusiastic, problem-solving attitude to dealing with litigation.‘
‘Great team – big City law firm service, but without the baggage.‘
‘iLaw provides a very knowledgeable small team to deal with complex litigation proceedings.‘
‘They work well together and ensure that the client is kept fully up to speed on developments.‘
‘Mark Culbert is always fantastic – incredibly responsive and his advice is sensible and commercial.‘
‘Mark Culbert has excellent client care standards.‘
‘Tom Clark is the standout partner for complex litigation and asset recovery; and he has excellent connections with similar lawyers in other jurisdictions to ensure asset recovery is dealt with swiftly and effectively.‘
Key clients
Naked Wines
Kwik Fit
Goldsmith Jewellers
Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts
GLH Hotels
Warners’ Distillery
Watches of Switzerland Group
The White Company
T M Lewin
LK Bennett
Fenwick
Itsu
The Hut Group
Robert Dyas Holdings
CleanCo Ventures
Cheesies
Work highlights
- Representing a number of High Street retailers in group litigation action against MasterCard and Visa, in relation to interchange fees.
- Acted for FC Kairat of Almaty in appealing a decision of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chambers (concerning compensation payments to clubs in respect of professional footballers).
- Acting for various investors in pursuing a High Court claim against ITI Capital for losses suffered by options trading investors.
iLaw > Firm Profile
iLaw was established in 2006 as a boutique commercial law firm in the City of London. Its founders had identified a gap in the market for clients who wanted to use a top-quality City firm that wasn’t restricted by the conservatism of more traditional firms.
The firm: iLaw is committed to delivering excellent quality (both technical and service standards) and value. Its clients are typically entrepreneurial businesses and individuals, ranging from past and present stars of TV’s Dragons Den to fast-growing tech companies. iLaw is an innovative firm, with a particular focus on the technology and media sectors, although it serves a much broader client base too. One of the firm’s key areas of innovation is in relation to fees, ensuring that the most appropriate method of charging is tailored to meet the needs of the client and the matter in hand.
iLaw was a founder member of the International Commercial Law Alliance (ICLA), giving it international reach.
Types of work undertaken
Dispute resolution: the disputes team advises on a wide range of matters, from complex international fraud to simple debt claims. It has particular experience in dealing with disputes in the fields of intellectual property and technology, defamation, banking and insolvency. The team acted for nine defendants in one of the largest cases ever to hit the English courts: JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov. At the core of the team’s philosophy is the need to take a sensible approach to disputes, to fight hard when the situation requires, but also to keep its clients’ commercial considerations to the fore.
Corporate/commercial: iLaw advises on all kinds of corporate and commercial deals. On the corporate side this includes mergers and acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, exits and ongoing corporate advice. Commercial transactions include licensing, development, outsourcing, manufacturing, partnering, agency/distribution, terms of business and public procurement. The team’s ethos is to get the deal done as simply as possible, but without compromising the client’s position.
Employment: the firm’s employment team advises on a wide range of domestic and cross-border employment issues, including restructuring, outsourcing and other TUPE issues, redundancy, disputes and contracts, and has successfully acted for a number of former senior bank employees. The firm also specialises in advising employment agencies and businesses.
Commercial property: the firm is able to advise on commercial property transactions, so that it can offer the full range of every day legal requirements to its clients. The team advises on property acquisitions and disposals, landlord and tenant issues, secured lending and development.
Regulatory: iLaw advises on a range of regulatory issues that are likely to affect its clients such as data protection/freedom of information, advertising and marketing regulations, e-commerce rules, competition law and procurement regulations.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Dispute Resolution | Tom Clark | tom.clark@ilaw.co.k | |
Dispute Resolution | Mark Culbert | mark.culbert@ilaw.co.uk | |
Arbitration | Jenny Lau | jenny.lau@ilaw.co.uk | |
Employment | Malcolm Mason | malcolm.mason@ilaw.co.uk | |
Commercial/Technology | Justin Ellis | justin.ellis@ilaw.co.uk | |
Corporate | Justin Ellis | justin.ellis@ilaw.co.uk | |
Intellectual Property | Mark Culbert | mark.culbert@ilaw.co.uk | |
Intellectual Property | Justin Ellis | justin.ellis@ilaw.co.uk | |
Dispute Resolution | Alec Cairney | Alec.Cairney@ilaw.co.uk | |
CIS desk | Dmitry Gololobov | dmitry.gololobov@ilaw.co.uk | |
Commercial property | Jeff White | jeff.white@ilaw.co.uk | |
Insolvency/regulatory | Tom Clark | tom.clark@ilaw.co.uk | |
Staff Figures
Number of directors : 3 Number of other UK fee-earners : 14Languages
French Italian Spanish Russian Bulgarian Cantonese Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin)Memberships
International Trade Mark Association (INTA)- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market