International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has represented Deutsche Bank AG (DB) in its successful defence, before the English High Court, of a claim made by Sebastian Holdings Inc. (SHI). SHI is wholly owned and controlled by Norwegian billionaire, Alexander Vik.
In a 800 page judgment handed down today, Mr Justice Cooke not only dismissed the entirety of SHI’s $8 billion claim, but also ordered that SHI pay DB over $240 million and costs in respect of sums due to DB.
Following a bitterly contested four month trial, the judge roundly and repeatedly condemned the actions of SHI in the judgment. In particular, Mr Vik was strongly criticised for giving false evidence and SHI was found to have fabricated documents and agreements in support of its claim.
Tom Snelling, one of Freshfields’ London litigation partners representing DB, said: ‘We are exceptionally proud to have represented DB, one of the firm’s most important clients, in one of the most significant pieces of post-credit crunch litigation to hit the courts in 2013. It has been an extremely complicated case, with concurrent proceedings here and in New York following DB successfully resisting SHI’s attempt to move the proceedings from England’.
‘A long series of case management conferences was necessary to ensure that the trial took place on time. The trial itself involved complex evidence from approximately 20 factual and 16 expert witnesses from the US, Switzerland, Asia and the UK, together with a gargantuan number of documents’, he continued.
Christopher Robinson, another partner representing DB, added ‘this was a real team effort by all concerned, including DB in-house team, our Counsel (led by David Foxton QC) and our associates, who worked extremely hard in difficult circumstances’.
The Freshfields team advising on the case was led by dispute resolution partners Andrew Hart, Tom Snelling and Christopher Robinson.
