21 December 2015

Clients operating abroad can rely on bto to advise and arrange for representation should they become embroiled in litigation outwith Scotland. We provide a seamless foreign litigation service through our international network Mackrell International (MI).

Hungry

One of our clients who has suppliers in Hungary found themselves facing a commercial summons claiming €800,000 from one of its suppliers there. We met with our clients to consider the issues in the Summons (which was in Hungarian accompanied by a certified English translation) and immediately instructed our MI partners in Budapest to take all necessary steps to protect the clients’ position locally. They then engaged with the opponents’ solicitors through the Court process. The issues in the case involved frequent telephone conference calls with ourselves and the clients - we sent the clients to Hungary to meet our partners and to attend the Court proceedings, satisfied that they were receiving excellent representation from our Hungarian partners with whom we worked closely throughout the case in the preparation of the defence including the taking of witness statements and the presentation of productions. The case was heard in the first instance in the local Court when the decision went against our clients. We appealed to the regional Appeal Court where the original decision was overturned. Our opponents then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Hungary where there was a finding of only €100,000 Euros against the original claim in excess of 800,000 Euros.

Belgium

A BTO client received a Summons from a former commercial agent who had raised a claim in the Commercial Court of Brussels. The commercial agent had been dismissed for reasons of gross misconduct. He did not accept this dismissal and issued proceedings also for a six figure sum in the court in Brussels. We engaged our MI partners in Belgium to represent our clients’ interests. We worked with them on preliminary jurisdiction points which were successfully advanced forcing the claimant and his solicitors on to the back foot. In light of the strong defence which we prepared for our clients in conjunction with our partners in Brussels, the claimant’s agent was forced to accept a negotiated settlement considerably less than the sums for which he had initiated the proceedings.

“We were very impressed with the service that we received from bto through Grant and BTO’s partner firm abroad. Our senior management team were able to rest assured that our interests in this foreign dispute were being ably looked after. We were extremely satisfied with the outcome.”

Poland

One of our commercial clients received a Summons raised against them at Lodz Regional Court in Poland for payment invoices in respect of supplies to them, as part of their business in the manufacture of cakes for supermarkets. The total amount of the claim was 300,000 Polish Zloty (£50,000). We immediately engaged our MI partners in Warsaw to enter into negotiations locally with a view to a resolution of the claim before the first calling. That negotiation involved consideration of a counterclaim at our clients’ instance. We then instructed the Polish firm to lodge a formal Defence and Counterclaim. Our role involved frequent interaction between our clients in Scotland and our Polish partners. Our clients attended the proceedings in Lodz. The judgment of the Court has recently been received and our clients were successful. The supplies were found to be defective. Our clients’ counterclaim was dismissed although by agreement between ourselves, our Polish partners and the clients, this had been lodged, in the most part, for tactical considerations and did not impact upon the clients’ satisfaction with the decision of the court. We are still in the appeal period in this case. Watch this space...

For further information about litigation representation abroad, please contact Grant Hunter ghu@bto.co.uk T: 0141 221 8012