Commercial litigation: premium

Latham & Watkins

Client Satisfaction

Latham & Watkins is regularly called on to represent corporations and financial institutions in bet-the-company disputes. The ‘nimble, efficient and highly effective’ team has noted a recent increase in litigation related to data privacy, data breaches and cybersecurity. Three partners head the practice: Martin Davies advises a stellar list of global corporations; Ian Felstead boasts particular expertise in media and technology disputes; and Oliver Middleton’s commercial litigation practice spans financial, corporate and shareholder disputes. Duncan Graves is experienced in boardroom disputes, while Alice Zhou’s clientele ranges from financial institutions to high-net-worth individuals. Hayley Pizzey was made Counsel in January 2021, while Oliver Browne left the firm in March 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘A nimble, efficient and highly effective team of litigators. They are extremely talented individual lawyers but also able seamlessly to incorporate input from Latham's unmatched global resources in a way which gives them a real edge in complex, international litigation.’
‘Duncan Graves - an excellent lawyer and supremely reliable in managing the most complex of disputes: from high-level strategy down to the fine detail.’
‘Martin Davies - excellent lawyer, strategist and litigator. Oliver Middleton - as above, technical banking expertise.’
‘Martin Davies is a star.’
'Their private client commercial practice is fantastic. They identify their client's interest and pursue it robustly. It commmands loyalty and respect from the client. ’
‘Martin Davies - a funny, astute litigation partners. He's clever with excellent judgment and a pleasure to work with. Alice Zhou - star litigation associated. Very smart and sharp with it. Calm and approachable too.’
‘Martin Davies is a very experienced operator in commercial litigation yet relaxed and easy going. He is savvy and good at managing his team. Helen Perks is great at the day-to-day matters of being realistic about clients - handling them, handling counsel, and delivering her product to deadlines.’
‘Martin Davies is a brilliant lawyer who is confident and measured in his advice. He is firm without being aggressive and calculated in his dealings with the other side - he does not need to assert the brilliance of his advice as a lesser lawyer might. Stephanie Forrest ably stood-in for Martin when he was unavailable and provided eminently sensible advice.’

Key clients

UniCredit Bank Gmbh
Renesas Electronics Corporation, Renesas Electronics Europe GmbH, Renesas Electronics Europe Limited
Servis-Terminal (in liquidation)
Sinovac Biotech
Meta
The Public Institution For Social Security v Ms Muna Al-Rajaan Al-Wazzan (in her capacity as representative of the estate of Mr Fahad Maziad Rajaan Al-Rajaan (deceased)) and Others
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (parent of NEX Group Limited)
Saudi National Bank (formerly Samba Financial Group)
Howat, Garth

Work highlights

Representing Unicredit in prevailing before the Court of Appeal to obtain an anti-suit injunction against Ruschemalliance, preventing Ruschemalliance from pursuing litigation in Russia in breach of an ICC arbitration clause with seat in Paris.
Representing Meta in relation to a number of multijurisdictional regulatory investigations and inquiries regarding alleged data breaches and compliance with data protection laws generally, and related litigation.
Representing Sinovac Biotech in its defence against dissident shareholders.