Kommunale Wasserwerke Leipzig GmbH (KWL) also succeeds with Noerr’s help before the London Court of Appeal

Under the lead of the international law firm Noerr the public water authority, Kommunale Wasserwerke Leipzig (KWL), has also been successful in its dispute with UBS before the London Court of Appeal.

In a landmark decision, the London Court of Appeal has today, following one of the longest appeal proceedings ever conducted there, dismissed UBS’s appeal against the judgment handed down by the High Court of Justice on 4 November 2014. The High Court of Justice had previously found for KWL, LBBW and Depfa after a 14-week trial.

This appeal judgment once again confirms that UBS cannot make any payment claims against KWL.

The case concerned a total of four complex derivative finance transactions known as “collateralised debt obligations“ (CDOs). The CDOs were sold to KWL by UBS in 2006 and 2007. In the wake of the global financial crisis, defaults in the portfolios began to occur in 2008. As a result, KWL was confronted with payment claims of around EUR 350 million.

Noerr advised KWL in this complex dispute as lead counsel before the German and English courts from the very outset. The team specialising in cross-border disputes led by Munich-based Litigation Partner Christine Volohonsky and Associated Partner Lucy Holden was in charge of the overall litigation in Germany and England and advised KWL comprehensively on strategic issues.

Dr Anke Meier, co-head of Litigation, Arbitration & ADR:

“This repeated success is the result of the strong positioning of our cross-border litigation team. We developed the litigation strategy and implemented it in Germany and England. Our client particularly benefited from our expertise and experience, especially at the interface of civil and common law.”

Advisors to KWL: Noerr LLP

Christine Volohonsky and Lucy Holden (joint lead), Detlev Strässer (all Litigation, Munich)

England:

Barrister: Tim Lord QC, Simon Salzedo QC, Stephen Midwinter QC, Craig Morrison (Brick Court Chambers)

Solicitor: Addleshaw Goddard LLP: Michael Barnett, Louisa Caswell