Carl Holmes

Recent Work

• Leading a team of fee earners across a number of different offices in securing on behalf of the respondents the discharge of a worldwide freezing injunction and asset preservation/computer imaging. This was in support of Israeli proceedings under the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 s.25, where the court found that there was no real risk of dissipation – Kanev-Lipinski v Lipinski [2016] EWHC 475 (QB).
• Acting on behalf of a multi-national packaging company in securing, at a pre-action stage, a consensual disc imaging order. The order was provided for the forensic examination of electronic devices belonging to a former employee who was in breach of contract and breach of duty. He had retained and misused for his benefit and for the benefit of his new employer (a company that was our clients principal competitor in the UK and Irish market) a very significant quantity of confidential information. This information had the potential to cause very significant and unquantifiable harm to the client’s commercial interests.
• Acting on behalf of a large national house builder in pursuing a seven figure damages claim against a number of professional advisors. This was to recover the costs and expense of undertaking significant structural repairs as a result of the failure of the foundations of a block of twelve flats. Due to limitation, it was necessary to issue protective proceedings and ensure retrospective compliance with the pre-action protocol process, which resulted in a successful negotiated settlement at a four party mediation.
• Successfully representing through to trial the online division of one of Europe’s leading betting and gaming companies. This involved a claim brought by an Italian national seeking to recover over €700,000 in relation to ‘winnings’ on an online game that was subject to a software bug, which misstated the balance of his gambling account . The case, which potentially had profound implications for the online gambling industry, was widely reported in both the national and international media and made the Telegraph’s Top 10 biggest computer failure cases of 2012 – see Venturi v Eurobet UK Ltd [2012] EWHC 2139 (QB).