One Essex Court is delighted that 24 members of chambers are involved across 8 of the cases featured in The Lawyer’s recently published Top 20 Cases of 2025.
A summary of those cases are, as follows:
Barry Maloney & Ors v ICG
Listed for eight days from 13 January, this trial will see venture capital fund Falcon Capital’s CEO Barry Maloney and other investors in cloud-based HR software provider Workhuman take their claim against FTSE-listed PE firm Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) to the Commercial Court. ICG provided the financing for Maloney’s investment in Workhuman, and was granted direct and indirect equity in the business as a result of that lending. It is alleged that ICG attempted to leverage its position to change the terms of the financing, which the claimants say caused a breakdown in relations and a pulling of Workhuman’s proposed float on the London Stock Exchange. Nehali Shah is part of the counsel team representing Barry Maloney, instructed by Pallas Partners. Lord Wolfson KC and Joyce Arnold represent ICG, instructed by Milbank.
Merricks/Mastercard
Sonia Tolaney KC and Matthew Cook KC will represent Mastercard, instructed by Freshfields, in this 1-2 day settlement hearing to be heard before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in early 2025, which is likely to be of great interest within the class actions community. Walter Merricks and Mastercard reached an in-principle settlement mid-way through the interchange fee umbrella proceedings trial; Merricks’ claim was the first to be certified under the UK’s collective action regime and has the largest class, being brought on behalf of 46 million UK consumers. Litigation funder Innsworth is contesting the settlement amount, which is the largest settlement figure ever to be considered by the CAT. The law firms representing Merricks and Mastercard will provide a joint collective settlement approval application for the CAT to consider, arguing that the settlement is reasonable and in the best interests of the class. Proposals regarding how the settlement sum is distributed will also be discussed.
The Public Institution For Social Security v Al Rajaan and others
This multi-party £1.2bn fraud claim is scheduled to run for 12 months from March in the Commercial Court. The claim is brought by The Public Institution For Social Security (PIFSS), a public authority that runs the Kuwaiti social security system and pension scheme, against the estate of its former director general, the late Fahad Al Rajaan, along with 20+ defendants from multiple jurisdictions regarding historic alleged corruption. It is claimed that Al Rajaan would enter into agreements with different investment banks, whereby they would provide investment services to PIFSS and Al Rajaan would receive commissions on those agreements. The estate of Al Rajaan maintains that the commissions were legitimate, while the claimants allege they were bribes and procured with the assistance of other defendants. Douglas Paine and Robert Harris form part of the counsel team representing the 22nd to 25th and the 33rd defendants, Union Bancaire Privée and related entities and individuals, instructed by Dechert. Camilla Bingham KC and Harry Stratton form part of the counsel team representing the 30th defendant, EFG Bank AG, instructed by A&O Shearman.
NMC Health (in administration) v Ernst & Young
Listed for 12 weeks in the Commercial Court in April/May, Ernst & Young (EY) will fight a $2.7bn claim brought against it by former FTSE 100 healthcare group, NMC Health, in what will be the largest auditor negligence claim in the UK’s history. NMC Health, the largest provider of healthcare services and hospitals in the UAE, collapsed in 2020; its administrators Alvarez & Marsal allege that EY, NMC’s auditor, was negligent in conducting its auditing duties between the financial years of 2012 and 2018. Laurence Rabinowitz KC and Alexander Polley KC will form part of the counsel team representing Ernst & Young, instructed by RPC.
Credit Suisse Virtuoso SICAV-SIF and another v SoftBank and others
Sonia Tolaney KC, Nehali Shah and Andrew McLeod will represent the claimants, Credit Suisse Virtuoso SICAV-SIF and another, instructed by Freshfields, when this $440m claim reaches the Commercial Court in June. Listed for 16-18 days, the claim was issued on behalf of Swiss lender Credit Suisse against Japan’s Softbank Group, and arises out of the March 2021 collapse of finance specialist firm Greensill Capital. The collapse saw over 1,000 professional investors across Europe and Asia lose control of $10bn, as the money became trapped in Credit Suisse’s Greensill-backed supply-chain finance funds. Having already recouped $7.4bn of the $10bn, Credit Suisse is now pursuing an extra $440m, which Credit Suisse claims is owed to its customers by Katerra, a Californian construction company funded by Greensill. Credit Suisse alleges Katerra received the money via supply chain funds.
Jinxin Inc v Aser Media, Media Partners and Silva, Marco Auletta, Riccardo Silva Holding, Riccardo Silva and Andrea Radrizzani
When this 16-week trial hits the Commercial Court in early June, Nathaniel Bird will form part of the counsel team representing the claimant, instructed by Herbert Smith Freehills; whilst Simon Colton KC, Daniel Benedyk and Constantine Fraser will represent the defendants, Aser Media PTE, Marco Auletta, Riccardo Silva Holding, Riccardo Silva and Andrea Radrizzani, instructed by Enyo Law. Jinxin Inc purchased a 65% stake in Media Partners & Silva (MPS). The business, which became insolvent not long after its acquisition in 2016, specialised in sports media rights, with the rights in certain countries to show major football tournaments. Jinxin argues that MPS procured its broadcast rights by corrupt payments and anti-competitive deals with other potential bidders, and alleges that the nature of the business was misrepresented and that its projected earnings were inflated. MPS was founded by Riccardo Silva, the owner of Miami FC and minority shareholder of AC Milan, and Andrea Radrizzani, who previously owned Leeds United. Both are listed as defendants in the case alongside the corporate entities through which they and the third founder Carlo Pozzali held their shares, and the former CEO Marco Auletta.
EuroChem North-West 2 v Société Générale, ING Bank and Tecnimont
Neil Kitchener KC and Camilla Bingham KC will lead the counsel team representing ING Bank, instructed by Clifford Chance, in this four-week Commercial Court trial starting 9 June. The dispute arises out of a deal reached between EuroChem and Italian construction company Tecnimont to build a fertiliser plant in Russia. Société Générale and ING had extended credit facilities to Tecnimont for many years, and Tecnimont procured performance bonds in favour of EuroChem in support of the project. The construction contract fell apart in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions placed on the country in 2022. EuroChem requests payment of the bonds, worth more than $200m, for what it perceives as Tecnimont’s failure to perform its end of the bargain. The two banks have refused to pay the bonds on the basis that EuroChem is ultimately owned or controlled by Andrey Melnichenko or his wife Aleksandra. Andrey has been sanctioned by the US, UK and EU. Aleksandra has also been designated by the EU. This case, which has already had at least 10 interlocutory hearings before the Commercial Court, will consider whether the banks should pay the bonds.
The Pan-NOx Emissions Group Litigation
This group litigation, arising out of “Dieselgate”, comprises over 1.2m claimants and the total alleged damages are £6bn+. The claimants allege that diesel vehicles sold in the UK by 19 separate car manufacturers contained “prohibited defeat devices” (PDDs), which reduce the effectiveness of emission control systems. In this 10-week technical trial in October, the High Court will determine legal and factual issues relating to the alleged existence of the PDDs in vehicles belonging to five manufacturers designated as the lead defendants. The trial will be followed by three weeks of closing submissions in Spring 2026, and an eight-week quantum trial expected to start in October 2026. Stephen Auld KC, Michael d’Arcy and Simon Gilson form part of the counsel team representing the Nissan defendants, instructed by Hogan Lovells. In the wider NOx emissions litigation, Laurence Rabinowitz KC and Andrew Lodder act for the VW defendants, instructed by Freshfields; Douglas Paine is part of the counsel team representing the Volvo defendants, instructed by DLA Piper; Neil Kitchener KC and Sophie Weber represent the Toyota defendants, instructed by Herbert Smith Freehills; and Eleanor Campbell and Joshua Crow act for the Hyundai-Kia defendants, instructed by Quinn Emanuel.
The full list of featured cases can be seen here.