Mishcon de Reya’s Commercial Litigation team has won both the Litigation Team of the Year and Competition & Regulatory Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2024.
Litigation Team of the Year was awarded to the Mishcon de Reya team that acted for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to set aside an $11 billion arbitration award following a landmark ruling finding the award was procured by fraud.
Shaistah Akhtar led the Mishcon de Reya team acting for Nigeria alongside partner Andrew Short, and supported by Managing Associate Lydia Allaby and Associates Holly Edmond, Himaansu Servansingh, Connor Morrison and Sharvani Jeya Putra.
Competition & Regulatory Team of the Year was awarded to the team that successfully defended Telefonica UK Limited (“O2”) against claims made by the administrators of Phones 4u for breach of UK and EU competition law.
Nicola Bridge led the team alongside partner Tom Roberts, supported by Managing Associate Richard Stopford and Associates Oliver Steeple, Lydia Boateng and Victoria Hirst.
The Commercial Litigation team's two wins, along with three of the firm’s cases being listed in The Lawyers top cases for 2024 and two Mishcon partners, Adam Rose and Shaistah Akhtar, featuring in this year’s The Lawyer Hot 100, showcase Mishcon de Reya’s market-leading capabilities in commercial litigation.
Speaking after the award win, Shaistah Akhtar, partner at Mishcon de Reya, said:
“It is a great honour for the Mishcon de Reya team to be named Litigation Team of the Year by The Lawyer for our success in the Nigeria v P&ID case. This historic judgment, which was the culmination of five years of hard work, was not just a landmark case in its own right, but an extraordinary victory for the people of Nigeria who felt the real-world benefits of defeating a fraudulent $11 billion claim and making a stand against corruption. It was a privilege to lead the team that helped deliver justice.”
Tom Roberts, partner at Mishcon de Reya, commented:
“Having acted on the case for the best part of a decade, this award is tremendous recognition of the hard work of not just the Mishcon de Reya team but our instructing clients at O2, our counsel team at Brick Court and the people working in the business at the time. Phones 4u left no stone unturned in its pursuit of the mobile network operators for, ultimately unfounded, allegations of breach of competition law. The eleven-week liability trial heard evidence from over 40 witnesses and four expert economists. The Defendant legal teams, drawn from right across the City, worked harmoniously to successfully defeat the £1 billion+ claim and this award pays tribute to that effort.”
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The Lawyer: The Hearing: Mishcon, Pallas, Beer KC and Monckton sweep the awards
The Lawyer: Spotlight: How Mishcon overturned an $11bn arbitration award