Disputes Digest 2025
Welcome to the fourth annual Disputes Digest, in which we collate our 2025 global HFW Litigation and International Arbitration publications.
This edition includes updates from across our Disputes jurisdictions, including England and Wales, BVI, AsiaPac, and the Middle East.
As one of the world’s largest and most active Disputes practices, litigation is in our DNA at HFW. We have specialist Disputes lawyers in offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and AsiaPac, and have continued to ramp up growth across our Disputes network in 2025 with a series of senior hires. Disputes work is at the very core of our firm, accounting for over 70 percent of our total business. We are recognised by our clients and the legal directories as a leading disputes practice, with prominent rankings in The Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, among others. The Times noted the firm’s involvement in complex, high-value disputes, and referenced independent data that shows “HFW has a higher win rate in the English Commercial Court than any other leading litigation firm”.
Similarly, in relation to International Arbitration, we are major users of all of the main international Institutions. Our Disputes lawyers, and firmwide reputation for depth and breadth in IA, are recognised by all of the key IA directories, including GAR 100.
The firm is also one of the founding members and signatories of both the Greener Litigation Pledge, and Greener Arbitration Campaign – legal industry initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of dispute resolution. We are also signatories of the Equal Representation in Arbitration, and work to ensure fairer representation of women in arbitration.
We hope you enjoy reading this Digest, please contact the authors, or your usual HFW contact, if you wish to discuss any of the articles.
The Privy Council has clarified the meaning of “Person Aggrieved” under the BVI Insolvency Act…
In the very recent case of Kulkarni v. Gwent Holdings Ltd, the Court of Appeal had to consider whether or not a repudiatory breach of contract was…
ECSC Court of Appeal hands down landmark judgment clarifying the duties owed by directors to creditors of insolvent BVI companies…
Has the English court signalled the end of the Shareholder Rule, and enabled companies to refuse disclosure on the grounds of privilege?
Enforcing an English judgment abroad can often be challenging, especially when it involves trust assets located in jurisdictions that do not …
This Client Guide provides an insight into the how best to navigate the English civil procedure system to obtain the best outcome for your matter.
This Client Guide sets out what Mediation is and when, how, and why to use it.
This Client Guide outlines the key points when considering summary dismissal of a claim by summary judgment or strike out.
This Client Guide outlines the key aspects of privilege in English law, including legal advice privilege and litigation privilege.
The recent Privy Council decision in Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago v Waterworks Ltd [2025] UKPC 9 relates to a Contractor’s…
In March 2025, the English High Court in Segulah Medical Acceleration AB anors v Tripathi anor ruled that a British Virgin Islands injunction…
In a landmark judgment handed down in July 2025 , the Privy Council departed from the exception to legal advice privilege applying as between a…
The Court of Appeal has provided important guidance on the test for the redaction of confidential information in public judgments. The judgment…
Après des années d’incertitudes, la situation des entreprises françaises désireuses d’exécuter ou de faire reconnaître une décision de justice au…
In February 2025, Justice Croft in the Victorian Supreme Court handed down a judgment on staying court proceedings in favour of arbitration under…
In Republic of India v CCDM Holdings, LLC [2025] FCAFC 2, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that India was entitled to exercise…
On 8 October 2020, Elecnor Australia Pty Ltd a subsidiary of the Spanish power infrastructure builder Elecnor SA, entered into a Joint Venture Deed…
On 31 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Queensland delivered its judgment in the matter of Clarke Energy (Australia) Pty Ltd v Power Generation…
The recent Western Australian Supreme Court decision in Fremantle Port Authority v Martin [2025] WASC 301 serves as a timely reminder of the fine…
On 29 August 2025, the Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision in Blasket Renewable Investments LLC v Kingdom of Spain [2025] FCA 1028…
Cross-border construction activity has grown in recent years, with numerous complex construction projects initiated in developing countries…
Some of the earliest investment treaty arbitrations were initiated against APAC states in the 1980s, however since then the percentage of…
On 14 February 2025, the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice jointly published guidelines listing seven measures designed to…
Long-awaited revisions to China’s Arbitration Law have been published, which include modernisation of China’s arbitration regime and the explicit…
Long-awaited revisions to China’s Arbitration Law have been published, which include modernisation of China’s arbitration regime and the explicit…
The Courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre have once again demonstrated their pro-arbitration stance, and confirmed that they will…
Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the UAE is becoming increasingly straightforward. This article discusses recent…
Since the Federal Arbitration Law (Law No. 6 of 2018) was passed in the UAE in 2018, there has been a consistent trend in 2025 of the UAE Courts…
“New law to turbocharge [England’s] position as the world-leader in arbitration” – that is how the UK government has described the new English…
Class arbitration under consumer contracts remains a contentious and evolving area. While traditional class actions offer cost-effective resolution…
In the recent case of Mare Nova Incorporated v Zhangjiagang Jiushun Ship Engineering Co Ltd [2025] EWHC 223 (Comm), Mare Nova Incorporated as the…
In what is, as far as we are aware, the first and only reported case of its kind, the Court has today allowed an appeal against an arbitration…
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators recently published its guidance on the Use of AI in arbitration (2025). The Guidelines provide a framework…
In CC/Devas Mauritius Ltd v The Republic of India, the applicant applied to the English Commercial Court for enforcement of an award obtained…
Recent High Court decisions and statutory reforms in the United Kingdom have given detailed guidance on an arbitrators’ duties of disclosure and…
The new English Arbitration Act 2025 officially came into force on the 1 August 2025. In this article we look beyond the headline, analyse the…
In this article, we consider whether London arbitration awards can be open to challenge…
In a keenly awaited judgment, the English Commercial Court has ruled on appeal that ICSID and ECT arbitration awards are not assignable in the case…
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has issued its final award in the long running dispute between international…
In three nearly identical decisions issued on 25 February 2025, the Paris Judicial Court issued an important ruling that frozen assets cannot be…
Is French arbitration law on the brink of reform? Amid the global wave of arbitration reform across Europe and beyond, France initiated in late…
A noteworthy decision in which the court dismissed an application to annul a partial arbitral award rendered under the auspices of the London Court…
The European Union’s sanctions against Russia have triggered a legal confrontation at the core of investor-state dispute settlement. It raises…
On 20 January 2025, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre published its much-anticipated Practice Note on Compatibility of Arbitration…
On 14 February 2025, the Supreme People’s Court of China published a judicial interpretation, catchily titled “Reply of the SPC on the…
In a significant decision for international arbitration practitioners, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance, in the recent decision of P1 and P2…
In Jason Yu Song v People’s Republic of China, investor-state arbitration proceedings took place in Geneva between a UK citizen and an alleged…
For any arbitral institution, the registrar plays a critical role in ensuring a fair, economic and expeditious arbitral process. In DMZ v DNA…
EDITORS
INSIGHTS
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