Home / Europe / United Kingdom / Dispute Resolution

Dispute Resolution

The CMS Dispute Resolution team offers the full range of integrated support, sector and commercial experience and a world-class service to respond quickly to you - a true 360° approach, from long-term planning and deployment of case strategy to emergency response, injunctions and applications and expedited procedures.

We handle all your risk and dispute interactions from regulators to reporters, on issues from data breaches to disputes, in arenas from cyberspace to the c-suite. Whatever your risks, you need to deal with them in ways that build your resilience and protect your reputation. We will be there around the clock and around the world, whenever and wherever you need us.

Our team is experienced in all forms of dispute resolution, including commercial litigation, corporate crime, regulatory and internal investigations; international arbitration, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, judicial review and reputation management.

Members of our team regularly appear as advocates in courts and arbitration.

Litigation

At CMS, we have thought more about Your World. You do not want to litigate. You want to avoid disputes and when they do arise, be with the right team to resolve them.

CMS’s Litigation practice is global. In the UK CMS has one of the largest disputes practices in the City. We work with our clients to navigate the most complex matters and embrace a range of technologies, project management expertise and resource to deliver value for them.

Where your dispute cannot be resolved in any other way, we will deploy our expertise and resources to fight your corner to the end.

We are proud that since our merger on 1 May 2017 we have been recognised as follows:

  • Highest number of cases profiled, The Lawyer Top 20 Cases to Watch, 2019
  • Top 50 Global Litigation Firm, The Lawyer Global Litigation Top 50, 2018
  • Top 3 London Litigation Firm, The Lawyer Global Litigation Top 50, 2018
  • Highest year on year growth in Litigation Lawyers, The Lawyer Global Top 50, 2018
  • Highest number of Disputes clients, The Lawyer FTSE 250 Report 2018
  • Highest number of Disputes clients, The Lawyer FTSE 100 Report 2017
  • Firm of the Year Reputation Management The Legal 500 Awards 2018
  • UK Firm of the Year for Dispute Resolution The Legal 500 Awards 2017

In addition CMS is proud to be a Founding Member of London International Disputes Week demonstrating that we are a firm leading change in, and the promotion of, one of the major global litigation centres.

LIDW 2019 logo

Arbitration

Recognised as one of the world’s leading arbitration practices by Global Arbitration Review (GAR 30), our International Arbitration team is one of the largest of any law firm and spans the globe. It is made up of a diverse range of specialists, and our sector-led approach carries with it a huge depth of experience especially in construction, energy, insurance, technology, media and telecommunications sectors.

Our cross-jurisdictional practice comprises over 100 partners and 400 fee-earners conducting multi-billion dollar commercial and investor-state arbitrations. We operate from all the major venues for international arbitration including London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai as well as across Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, and we represent clients under the rules of the world’s leading arbitral institutions including:

  • ICC 
  • LCIA
  • CIETAC
  • ICSID
  • WIPO
  • SIAC
  • HKIAC

Many of our partners are regularly appointed as arbitrators and we speak and write regularly on matters of interest in the arbitration world. In many cases we will conduct advocacy in arbitrations ourselves.

GAR 2019 logo
ICCA 2020 Edinburgh Logo

    

"All the lawyers I dealt with at CMS had a very commercial approach. They excelled at providing recommendations and suggesting practical solutions when things got tricky."

Chambers 2019

They are outstanding on client care, very thorough and commercially astute.

Chambers

Choose area

marble pillars
Judicial Review
When a public body or official has made a decision that impacts on an industry, sector or project, sometimes the last available resort is to challenge
Court spire
Advocacy
As someone looking for advocacy advice, it is essential you get seamless legal representation, efficiency, accessibility and speed.CMS has extensive a
two gentleman shaking hands
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Avoiding costly disputes is often the favoured route for businesses when challenges arise. Alternative dispute resolution – which includes media
Lady Justice
Appeals
For a range of reasons, your litigation process may not have proceeded as you expected or had the desired outcome. It can be sensible, therefore, for
aeroplane wing in the sky
Aviation Disputes
CMS’s aviation team has broad experience of advising clients across the aviation industry on large-scale commercial litigation and arbitration,
Lighthouse
Class Actions
Class actions in Europe are on the rise, with a number of countries already adopting a US-style ‘opt-out’ model. CMS’ leading d
airport people
Commercial Disputes
In today's global marketplace, despite best business practices, litigation and disputes are often unavoidable. As a large publicly listed company or a
scaffolding
Construction & Engineering Disputes
At CMS, we strive to spend more time looking outward at your world than inward at ours. As a leading and trusted adviser to the construction and engin
Contentious Insolvency
Our contentious insolvency team advises debtors, creditors and office holders on the full range of issues that arise from formal insolvency applicatio
Risk and Investigations Venus Fly Trap Brochure 925x290
Corporate Crime, Compliance and Forensics
In an enforcement environment that is constantly evolving, our team assists clients with all aspects of corporate crime, compliance and forensics. Thi
Corporate Disputes
Our dispute resolution team has extensive experience advising clients on their most complex, high-stakes M&A, shareholder and other stakeholder-re
Man on telephone standing outside an office balcony
Dir­ect­or/Share­hold­er Disputes
Disagreements between or against stakeholders in a commercial organisation are often unavoidable. When they do arise, it can bring about a whole host
Employment Disputes
The CMS UK Employment team works seamlessly across our UK offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Sheffield, Manchester as well as London, Reading an
oil rig sunset
Energy Disputes
International energy companies operate in a complex and challenging environment. Investments in the energy sector are often high-value, high-risk tran
walled garden
Environmental and Climate Change Disputes
The CMS Environmental and Climate Change Disputes Team advises clients on a variety of disputes arising from the changing regulatory landscape.Our mar
city skyline at sunset
Family Offices and Ul­tra-High-Net-Worth Individuals
The CMS Disputes Team represents ultra-high-net-worth individuals, single and multi-family offices in high stakes litigation and arbitration.  Mu
Finance Disputes
Our Finance Disputes team at CMS consists of litigation and international arbitration specialists within our 20-Partner market leading Financial Servi
London Skyline
Financial Regulatory Disputes
Comprising three partners supported by around a further 20 lawyers, we are a long-established team specialising in contentious regulatory matters, hel
Fraud and Asset Recovery
Fraud has become an increasingly common element of large commercial disputes. The CMS Disputes team supports clients in complex international fraud an
Game controller in front of sports on TV
Gaming & Esports
Games and interactive entertainment are the dominant entertainment medium globally. There are over 3 billion gamers across the world and this number i
striped sunbeds on an infinity pool
Hotels and Leisure Disputes
Our industry specialist hotels disputes lawyers are here to help you navigate, manage and avoid disputes.We offer: International expertise with a
rolls of red fire hoses
Insurance & Reinsurance Disputes
Whether you are an insurer, broker, reinsurer or insured party, your world is changing rapidly as tougher capital and risk requirements impact your bu
International Arbitration
International businesses are increasingly turning to arbitration as a confidential, flexible and effective means of resolving their complex cross-bord
scientist working with petri dishes
Life Sciences Disputes
Our Life Sciences disputes and investigations specialists advise clients across the breadth of the sector, including pharmaceutical, medical device an
stock market board
Private Equity and Hedge Fund Disputes
The CMS disputes team acts for a wide variety of businesses and individuals across multiple investment structures and asset classes both domestically
law building
Public International Law
The Public International Law Group has more than 30 years’ experience advising sovereign States and their emanations, international organisation
copper and blue twisted lines
Public Law, Procurement and Regulatory
Faced with increasingly complex and frequently changing regulatory and legal frameworks, businesses turn to CMS to bring unparalleled experience in pu
building construction and cranes
Real Estate & Planning Disputes
Whether you are a developer, landlord, contractor or occupier, when a real estate project or transaction becomes contentious, you need legal advice fr
stacked pile of opened magazines
Reputation & Defamation
Reputation is one of the most valuable assets a person or organisation can have. When this is under threat, it is important to defend it quickly and f
Risk and Investigations Venus Fly Trap Brochure 925x290
Risk & Investigations
Our specialist teams advise on compliance, investigations and claims, from the development and improvement of compliance controls and systems, includi
sports fan celebrating win with confetti falling
Sports Disputes
The CMS Sports Disputes Team advises clients from across the sports sector on a diverse range of disputes from contractual issues, to IP, to regulator
blue green fibre optic light trails
Technology Disputes
CMS’s Technology Disputes Team advises clients on all types of disputes arising from the use and misuse of technology, across all industry secto
Law-Now: Dispute Resolution
Visit Law-Now for legal know-how and commentary
Expert Guide to International Arbitration
08/09/2022
Technology Transformation - Consumer Products & Retail
Digitalisation has transformed how consumer products are manufactured, distributed and sold. The push to maintain a competitive advantage, drives increased investment in new technologies. This investment may reduce operational cost and ease the retention of legacy systems, but what challenges arise and how do businesses approach the changing risk profile?This report is a deep dive into data first produced for the re­port Tech­no­logy Transformation: Managing Risks in a Changing Landscape. In the original report we surveyed over 500 corporate counsel and risk managers from multiple industries across the world. Here, we look in detail at the 75 respondents surveyed in the consumer and retail sector, and their perspectives on the risks associated with busi­ness-crit­ic­al technologies, including emerging technologies. Our survey shows that businesses across the sector, whether retailers or manufacturers, have the same concerns but the influences on the adoption of technology, the resulting risks, and the approaches taken to mitigate or resolve those risks vary depending on whether or not the business involves a direct sales relationship with the consumer. Download the consumer and retail sector report now to read about: Drivers of technology adoption in the consumer and retail sectorNew risks emerging and traditional barriers to risk man­age­ment­Cur­rent technology risks in the consumer and retail sectorFuture risks and measures to deal with themPreferred approaches to technology dispute resolution for the consumer and retail sector

Feed

13/03/2024
Court of Appeal rules that defence of illegality in civil claim is not...
In Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd and others [2024] EWCA Civ 138, the Court of Appeal recently held, by a majority of 2 to 1, that where a person has committed a crime, but has been found...
07/03/2024
University’s Duties towards Disabled Student - The University of Bristol...
This judgment concerns the tragic case of a second-year physics student at the University of Bristol (the “Uni­ver­sity”) who ended her own life in April 2018. She had been diagnosed with depression...
01/03/2024
Pre-conditions to arbitration and the FIDIC 2nd Edition
Amendments to the FIDIC 2nd Edition contracts published in November 2022 have narrowed the definition of “Dispute” to more closely align it with the pre-conditions to DAAB and arbitration proceedings...
01/03/2024
Digital Assets
Does your business have or is it ready for digitalisation and digital assets? Digital assets are transforming the world of business. Not just technologies in the news, like AI and crypto currencies, but a whole world of technological advances, from digital twins and extended reality to smart contracts and token­isa­tion. For tech businesses and those already using such technology to develop and market new products, much of this is core activity and relatively well understood – although legal and regulatory uncertainties remain, and potential pitfalls still exist for the unwary. But other business leaders, often less familiar with the territory, have to manage an increasingly complex assortment of issues that never troubled their predecessors, ranging from protecting their brand in the metaverse to deciding whether they should tokenise their shares or accept payments in crypto currencies. This section of Bandwidth looks at issues around the development and regulation of a wide variety of digital assets, and discusses how businesses can embrace them to innovate and evolve.
29/02/2024
UK FCA proposals to publicly announce investigations could be detrimental...
With every new director of enforcement and market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there is a step change in the way the regulator approaches enforcement cases.Under the FCA's former...
28/02/2024
The Scottish Court gives important guidance on management of Scottish class...
The Scottish Court of Session has recently issued a decision that provides important guidance on the management of Scottish class actions. In particular, the court made it clear that it will not un­ques­tion­ingly...
23/02/2024
Scottish wildcat group’s challenge to windfarm permission unsuccessful
Wildcat Haven, a community interest company, sought to challenge the decision of the Scottish Ministers to grant permission for construction of a new wind farm at Clashindarroch Forest in Aberdeenshire...
22/02/2024
Establishing liability under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers)...
The Scottish Court of Session has, for the first time, considered what is required to establish a ‘liability’ for the purposes of the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “2010...
20/02/2024
Court of Appeal confirms position on damages for breach of public procurement...
The much anticipated judgment in the Braceurself appeal has been handed down by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal (led by LJ Coulson) has reaffirmed the position established by the High Court that...
20/02/2024
MEES - why are local authorities failing to enforce?
The UK government has a continued drive and commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Yet as highlighted in the first of this series of publications, “MEES – are the regulations working?” the risk of MEES enforcement is low. Against a hotly discussed political backdrop, why is it that local authorities are continually failing to enforce the MEES regulations? Left alone, the existing approach serves to undermine the UK’s net zero strategy.
19/02/2024
Financial Services Webinars On Demand
Use the below link to view recordings of CMS financial services we­binars avail­able on de­mand. We­binars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal ex­perts. me­di­um 
14/02/2024
Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in England and Wales
1. Is there an exequatur procedure? Under the Recast Brussels Regulation (Council Regulation (EU) 1215/2012) ("Recast Regulation"), EU judgments obtained in proceedings commenced on or after 10 January...