United Kingdom - Scotland • Dispute resolution
3

Commercial litigation

Addleshaw Goddard

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Counting regional and international corporations among its key roster of clients, the ‘highly knowledgeable team’ at Addleshaw Goddard is routinely instructed to assist with contractual disputes, shareholder litigation and procurement challenges alongside insolvency proceedings. Following the departure of Joan Devine in April 2022, the team bolstered its numbers with the arrival of Claire Thornber (previously at Weightmans LLP), who specialises in commercial property and insolvency litigation, and Douglas Blyth (particular expertise in insolvency disputes) from Dentons; both are solicitor advocates. Other key contacts in the group include practice leader Simon Catto, Alan Sinclair, who handles contentious insolvency mandates, and legal director Edward Gratwick.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Highly knowledgeable team.’

  • ‘Claire Thornber is highly skilled in her field and demonstrates this through her work. She is great at playing devil's advocate and is very pragmatic.’

  • ‘Alan Sinclair has a thorough and commercial approach. Alan and Claire Thornber are both proactive and demonstrate excellent knowledge.’

  • ‘An outstanding team, who has leading technical knowledge and the skills to use this effectively. Through rigorous upfront analysis, they tend to be one step ahead.’

  • ‘Douglas Blyth: A combination of excellent technical knowledge and a polite confident manner is a winning formula. Douglas is a fantastic commercial litigator, and I am very grateful for the results that he has achieved.’

  • ‘Kirsten Thomson is a very astute commercial litigator. She has very strong technical knowledge and personal skills. I would definitely want Kirsten on my side of the negotiating table.’

  • ‘The team at AG works closely with clients to understand their needs and objectives for particular matters. They respond quickly when there are pressing deadlines and always deliver first time without having to arduously go back and forth with more details and questions.’

  • ‘Simon Catto is a technically gifted lawyer, who you have absolute confidence in to provide accurate advice and strategy on legal matters. Simon consistently strives to keep you up to date on matters and to keep you one step ahead.’

Key clients

  • EXIM Kabel Kereskedelmi KFT
  • ASDA Stores Limited
  • Scottish Gas Networks Limited
  • Briggs Marine Contractors Limited
  • Andrew Marr International Limited
  • Circularity Scotland Limited
  • Southbank Asset Finance Limited
  • Highland and Islands Airport Limited
  • Games Consultancy Limited
  • Muller UK and Ireland Limited

Work highlights

  • Providing Scottish Gas Networks Limited with ongoing commercial litigation assistance, from its business as usual to more complex legal disputes involving its network.
  • Acting for Circularity Scotland Limited as the scheme administrators for a deposit return scheme proposed for single use drinks containers on a judicial review; a retailer sought the judicial review of the client's decision to implement a return handling fee.
  • Representing Briggs Marine Contractors Limited, a long-standing client of the practice, in a contractual dispute raised in the Court of Session.

Lawyers

Leading partners
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Simon Catto
Addleshaw Goddard
Simon is head of the dispute resolution team in Scotland and a solicitor advocate. He regularly handles complex and high value cases in both Sheriff Court and the Court of Session with a particular focus on commercial, contractual, insolvency and sports related disputes. Simon specialises in the full range of commercial, contractual and insolvency disputes. His clients range from insolvency practitioners, banks and public limited companies to small privately owned companies and partnerships. Clients also include UK football clubs and professional sportsmen in the fields of football and athletics. Simon is the appointed solicitor member of the board of the Scottish Court Service. He is also a member of the firm’s Scottish and UK managing boards.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Simon Catto

Other key lawyers

Claire Thornber, Douglas Blyth, Alan Sinclair, Edward Gratwick, Kirsten Thomson

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