Designing Company Litigation Procedures
International company with over 50,000 employees. MDisputes closely collaborated with the company’s lead in-house lawyers to create new procedures to report disputes and measure costs and outcomes across businesses, in order to align dispute management with company’s new organizational model. MDisputes also developed and provided customized trainings to the legal teams in each of the company’s business units.
Supporting in-house legal teams with international dispute expertise
- Project dispute management. Following move of client’s in-house litigation lawyer to new position in company, provided a secondee to act as internal counsel with day-to-day oversight and management of equipment and engineering disputes in excess of $200M, reporting directly to business manager & Vice President of Legal.
- M&A claims in Middle East bankruptcy. In relation to a divestiture of a significant international construction business, assisted a major multinational corporation based in Europe to prepare claims for bankruptcy, and retain and supervise external counsel in a multi-billion bankruptcy proceeding in the Middle East. MDisputes also supported the client to identify key risks that the bankruptcy presented to ongoing business and to develop mitigation plans.
- Construction dispute in UAE. Assisted German company in evaluating the suitability of a potential claim of $20M for an adjudication before a Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) in the UAE, and negotiated alternative fee agreements with technical consultants to minimize the upfront costs while pursuing settlement options.
- Arbitration over IT system. Assisted the CEO and in-house counsel of a manufacturer of oilfield equipment to assess the contractual and technical validity of a claim against a leading German company for overcharges and defects relating to a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system, and assisted in retaining counsel and negotiating a fee agreement to pursue the claim before the Court of Arbitration of the Milan Chamber of Commerce (CAM).
Providing support for single cases
Settlement of LNG Terminal Construction Dispute. Avoided ICC arbitration by assisting Italian construction company (EPC) to reach a favorable settlement over construction and ownership of Italy’s first small-scale LNG terminal, and sale of ownership interest. The dispute involved claims over the terminal’s construction as well as a dispute under a shareholders agreement for joint ownership of the facility. Acting as internal counsel for the EPC company, MDisputes:
- identified the contractual & technical basis for company’s claims,
- assisted client with project correspondence,
- identified counsel for ICC arbitration,
- negotiated & prepared outside counsel & expert budgets, and
- attended settlement negotiations with opposing internal and external counsel.
Coordination of international film production dispute. Assisted US film producer and company subsidiaries to pursue litigation in Europe for recovery of film assets, financial damages, and recovery of government subsidies.
Settlement of $12M adverse ICC arbitration award. Assisted the client to identify grounds for challenge and retain counsel in France under an alternative fee agreement. Following initiation of set-aside proceedings in Paris, the client was able to settle with a substantial reduction in the amount awarded.
Pursuing international collections
MDisputes can help assess whether contractual rights to payment can be enforced without substantial costs of collection. For example, for a European sports media & marketing company, MDisputes identified external counsel in the USA and negotiated a success-fee arrangement with counsel to enforce a right to payment of $200,000 against a defaulting customer.
Presenting claims for third party funding
Where funding is necessary or useful for a client to pursue a claim in arbitration, MDisputes has been able to assess whether funding may be available, and assist its clients in preparing a claim for presentation to third party funders. Examples:
- For substantial ICC arbitration relating to the construction of energy facility in North Africa, MDisputes obtained proposals from two third party funders to finance entirety of arbitration and insurance against the award of adverse costs.
- For potential $20 million ICC arbitration over energy facility in Italy, MDisputes obtained expression of interest from third party funder. Claim settled before arbitration.