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And the loser is…

09 May 2014 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7605 / Categories: Features
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 Dominic Regan celebrates a list of legal losers

 

News of the 2014 Halsbury Legal Awards got me thinking. For every winner, anywhere, there is always in the shadows a string of losers. We should celebrate them.

This already happens in the film industry where each year the raspberry (or Razzie) awards are handed out. Adam Sandler set a new record for Jack and Jill. He portrayed twins and was simultaneously nominated for both worst male and female leads.

The law reports are full of unfortunate losers. Mr Lilley recently sued for a cool billion pounds damages but did not quite hit his target, being told that quantum was actually £83 (Lilley v DMG Events Ltd [2014] EWHC 610 (IPEC), [2014] All ER (D) 123 (Mar)).

Big names in big trouble

A resilient claimant, Mrs Ferguson, took on the might of British Gas. The company had bombarded her with threatening letters generated by their claims software. The poor woman launched an action for harassment under the 1997 Act. The novel defence advanced

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Pillsbury—Steven James

Pillsbury—Steven James

Firm boosts London IP capability with high-profile technology sector hire

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Private client specialist joins as partner in Taunton office

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

Finance and restructuring offering strengthened by partner hire in London

NEWS
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB) continues to stir controversy across civil litigation, according to NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School—AKA ‘The insider’
SRA v Goodwin is a rare disciplinary decision where a solicitor found to have acted dishonestly avoided being struck off, says Clare Hughes-Williams of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) imposed a 12-month suspension instead, citing medical evidence and the absence of harm to clients
In their latest Family Law Brief for NLJ, Ellie Hampson-Jones and Carla Ditz of Stewarts review three key family law rulings, including the latest instalment in the long-running saga of Potanin v Potanina
The Asian International Arbitration Centre’s sweeping reforms through its AIAC Suite of Rules 2026, unveiled at Asia ADR Week, are under examination in this week's NLJ by John (Ching Jack) Choi of Gresham Legal
In this week's issue of NLJ, Yasseen Gailani and Alexander Martin of Quinn Emanuel report on the High Court’s decision in Skatteforvaltningen (SKAT) v Solo Capital Partners LLP & Ors [2025], where Denmark’s tax authority failed to recover £1.4bn in disputed dividend tax refunds
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