RPC is for one client, ‘an excellent choice for heavyweight and complex commercial litigation’ acting on work related to shareholders, joint ventures, complex financial instruments, warranty breaches, insolvency, and professional negligence. The team frequently acts on matters stretching across multiple jurisdictions, and benefit from the established non-contentious practices of the firm. ’Veteran litigator’ Geraldine Elliott leads the team alongside Tom Hibbert who has ‘real insight and strategic flair’. Charlotte Henschen is ’an outstanding litigator’ and specializes in joint venture, financial markets, and civil fraud related disputes.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘RPC is an excellent choice for heavyweight and complex commercial litigation. They have considerable expertise and experience across the team. They are able to handle the largest and most complex matters in an efficient manner.’
- ‘Geraldine Elliot is a veteran litigator with considerable experience of a wide range of commercial disputes. She excels at client handling and taking the big strategic decisions.’
- 'Davina Given is an experienced partner for art-related commercial disputes. She has excellent knowledge of the industry and sound judgment.'
- ‘Geraldine Andrews and Simon Hart are highly experienced and work well with clients and counsel. Matt Evans is energetic and thorough, super to work with.’
- ‘Charlotte Henschen is an outstanding litigator. She is clever, pragmatic, calm under pressure and with excellent judgment; the full package!’
- ‘Tom Hibbert is an extraordinarily impressive lawyer, with real insight and strategic flair. He is exactly who you would want in a negotiation. He has huge experience of banking litigation from both sides, stretching back over 30 years.'
- ‘I am particularly impressed by Simon Hart and Alan Williams. Simon Hart is very down to earth and easy to work with - he really knows banking litigation and has a fantastic instinct for case strategy. Alan Williams is always across the detail and phenomenally clever.'
- 'Of the younger partners, Dan Hemming stands out as a future star in the market. Alan Williams and Dan Wyatt also should be mentioned.’
Key clients
- The AA
- Triumph Group Inc
- Steinhoff International Holdings
- Federal Government of Nigeria
- Ingenious Media
- Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited
- Bonhams
Work highlights
- Acting for German and Austrian companies within the furniture retailer Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in their claim against Formal Holdings Limited.
- Acted for the AA in a successful strike out of a claim for £60m that reached the Court of Appeal in November 2022. The claimants alleged fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation and/or for breach of contract, in relation to a failed joint venture.
- Represented the Bonhams Group in an £80 million claim which alleged conspiracy, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties against 7 defendants, including the Bonhams entities and current and former directors. The claim related to the sale of a collection of vintage cars.
Lawyers
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Hall of fameRPC
Tom Hibbert is Global Head of RPC's Commercial Disputes practice and a senior partner in the Financial Disputes team. He specialises in investment banking disputes, particularly in the capital markets and arising from structured finance, derivatives and fund management, fraud related disputes and insolvency/restructuring. Tom acts primarily for institutional investors (continental/foreign banks and financial institutions, hedge funds, pension funds and investment vehicles for, for example, high-net-worth individuals) often in dispute with the largest investment banks.Significant cases: JPMorgan Chase v Springwell Navigation Corporation, acting for the investor in a $500m claim involving allegations of mis-selling, negligent advice and misrepresentation relating to emerging markets securities; acting for CF Partners in its breach of confidence claim against Barclays Bank and Tricorona arising from Barclays’ purchase of Tricorona; advising one of the largest financial institutions in Germany in claims arising from the ratings downgrade of a Swap Counterparty and contractual interpretation in relation to a synthetic CDO; advising one of Europe’s largest insurers in relation to claims for rectification of documentation for a synthetic CDO; acting for Bank St Petersburg in its successful proceedings against Vitaly Arkhangelsky; acting for the Federal Republic of Nigeria in actions against JP Morgan, Shell and ENI arising from the corrupt allocation of the OPL 245 oil block.
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Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Geraldine Elliott, Tom Hibbert