Simon Gilson

Simon Gilson’s practice spans a broad spectrum of commercial work including in the areas of banking and finance, civil fraud, energy and natural resources and professional liability. He primarily acts as senior junior counsel in legal teams conducting complex, high-value litigation in the English courts and offshore common-law jurisdictions and international arbitration under various institutional rules or ad hoc. As sole counsel, he advises individuals and companies in relation to a wide range of commercial and company disputes and he regularly appears as an advocate in his own right.

Simon's recent work includes:

• Sarah Spice and ors v (1) Link Fund Solutions Limited (2) Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Ltd: Acting in a group action brought by ca. 6,000 investors in the Woodford Equity Income Fund, an investment fund, managed by Neil Woodford, whose collapse in 2019 spawned an ongoing FCA investigation, Treasury Select Committee hearings and major press interest (led by Alain Choo Choy KC). The investors bring claims for (variously) breach of contract, negligence and breach of statutory duty against the Fund’s Authorised Corporate Director and Hargreaves Lansdown, the FTSE100 private investment platform through which the claimants invested in the Fund.

• (1) Gulf Investment Corporation (2) General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority v Port Link Ltd & Ors: Acted for two Gulf investment funds in a US$100bn multi-jurisdictional civil fraud action arising out of the activities of a Cayman private equity fund (led by Paul Stanley KC).
  
  
• A v B: Acting for a private equity group in an LCIA arbitration in a professional negligence claim against an international law firm (led by Rhodri Davies KC).
  
  
• Various Claimants v. Nissan Motor Co Limited & Ors: Acting for the Nissan Group in a threatened major group action (36,000 + claimants) arising out of alleged breaches of emissions regulations in Nissan vehicles (led by Daniel Toledano KC and Anneli Howard KC).
  
  
• Acted in a CAS arbitration (widely covered in the Swiss, German and Austrian press) concerning a contested election for the Presidency of the Fédération Internationale de Ski et Snowboard raising issues of Swiss constitutional law (led by Lord Grabiner KC).
  
  
• OMERS Administration Corporation and others v Tesco Plc: Acted for 58 institutional investors in these high-profile c.US$480m claims against Tesco arising out of its historic profit overstatements (led by Neil Kitchener QC). The claims settled shortly before a 13-week Financial List trial in mid-2020. These were the first claims under s.90A FSMA 2000 for fraudulent financial reporting by a public company and featured in The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2020. The Claimants prevailed in a number of substantial interlocutory disputes which are reported at [2019] EWHC 2858 (Ch) and [2019] EWHC 3312 (Ch).   
  
  
• Primeo Fund v HSBC (FSD 30/2013): Primeo Fund v HSBC (FSD 30/2013): Successfully defended two HSBC Group companies (led by Richard Gillis KC) in a three-month trial of c.$2bn professional negligence claims in the Cayman Islands arising out of the Madoff securities fraud ([2017] (2) CILR 334). Primeo’s appeal was dismissed by the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal following a ten-day hearing in late 2018. A two-part Privy Council appeal was argued in 2021 and final judgment is pending.
  
  
• Xie Zhikun and others v XiO GP Limited and others: Advised and acted in arbitral and court proceedings with in a billion-dollar multi-jurisdictional private equity dispute (with Lord Grabiner KC).
  
  
• Stichting Vestia v Nomura: Acted for a Dutch housing association in a €200m swaps claim against Nomura bank (settled in Q4 2022) (led by Benjamin Strong KC).
  
  
• Acted in a two-week LCIA arbitration raising issues of illegality, regarding ownership and control of a foreign bank.
  
  
• Acted and appeared (unled) in strike-out/summary judgment hearings in a c.£2m renewable electricity dispute.
  
  
• Acted for Deutsche Bank AG (with Sonia Tolaney KC) in circa €500m litigation arising out of the collapse of Kaupthing bank
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• Acted for News Group Newspapers Ltd (led by Antony White KC and Anthony Hudson KC) in the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation, arising out of allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World.

Simon is proficient in French and Spanish.