Stephanie Cheung

Stephanie is an experienced commercial litigator, with a particular expertise in public procurement and international arbitration disputes.

Stephanie has substantial experience advising on contentious procurement matters across high-value, complex and strategically important public procurements. Her work includes acting for bidders and suppliers in urgent and sensitive challenges, including procurements in the defence, healthcare, facilities and grounds maintenance and infrastructure-related sectors. She has also advised contracting authorities and their procurement partners on frameworks and call offs, confidentiality issues and challenges, often taking immediate steps to protect their position and reduce litigation and commercial risk.

Stephanie’s arbitration experience encompasses proceedings under a range of institutional and sector-specific rules, including ICC, LCIA, LMAA and CIETAC arbitrations. She has acted for corporates and high net worth individuals in both bringing and defending claims, managing counterclaims, pursuing interim and procedural applications, enforcing arbitral awards in the High Court and coordinating related court proceedings in overseas jurisdictions.

As part of her broader commercial litigation practice, Stephanie regularly secures positive outcomes for clients in breach of contract claims and claims arising out of commercial transactions. Acting for a broad spectrum of clients has given Stephanie a strong understanding of commercial pressures, negotiating dynamics and practical supply chain issues and she is recognised for factoring this into her advice, for example when advising retailers on Groceries Supply Code of Practice issues. 

Public procurement

Stephanie’s work includes assessing grounds of challenge, advising on strategy and remedies, preparing for litigation or judicial review where required, and helping clients navigate the commercial and reputational issues that often arise alongside procurement disputes.

Recent experience includes:

• Acting for a major telecoms company and other bidders in its consortium following disqualification from a procurement almost a year after final submissions. The procurement concerned a prestigious military communications system valued more than £400m and required the creation of a legal and commercial strategy that could be adopted by all in the consortium;

• Acting for a growing grounds maintenance company in respect of two procurements concerning (1) a lucrative grounds maintenance contract valued at c. £25m and (2) a fabric maintenance services contract valued at c. £1m;

• Advising on an NHS body’s decision which had the effect of excluding a client from a major market and preparing judicial review proceedings, as well as advising on various procurement challenges;

• Regularly advising clients including a healthcare facilities management company on steps to be taken following the inadvertent disclosure of confidential information during a procurement.

Arbitration

Stephanie’s work includes commercially and strategically significant multi-million Euro, USD and sterling claims.

Recent experience includes:

• Commencing a multi-million Euro ICC arbitration regarding the creation and supply of an innovative product for use in the food and drinks industry and defending a sizeable counterclaim;

• Acting for a high net worth individual in LCIA arbitration proceedings seeking payment of commission in respect of power supply contracts in Iraq (successfully made an application for disclosure and defended an application for security for costs as part of this instruction). Also separately enforcing another LCIA Award as a judgment in the High Court for the same client. Both multi-million USD mandates;

• Acting for a well-known shared workspace provider in a high value ICC arbitration concerning the operation of high-profile premises in London. The matter was significant to the client because the defaulting member was challenging fundamental aspects of the client’s contractual terms supplied to all its members;

• Acting for a high net worth individual in London Maritime Arbitrators Association proceedings regarding liability for sums payable to authorities in Croatia following the sale of a luxury yacht;

• Acting for a leading UK health and wellbeing company in various proceedings against a former Chinese franchisee including CIETAC arbitration proceedings and local court proceedings in Changzhou, China. Successfully implemented a strategy that protected the client’s IP rights and ability to trade in China.

Commercial Litigation 

Stephanie has built a strong reputation for handling complex business-critical disputes, guiding clients through every stage of the dispute resolution process from devising early strategy through to conducting trials, appeal and ADR processes. Examples of her work include:

• Seeking injunctive relief and commencing multi-million pound court proceedings on behalf of the founder and majority shareholder of the UK’s leading pre-owned car business. The dispute arose from a fight for control following private equity investment and also resulted in a novel unfair prejudice petition.

• Advising one of the largest UK supermarket chains on various mandates including:

• A multi-million pound dispute about the success fee payable following settlement of historic interchange fees litigation;

• A dispute with an IT service provider regarding the provision of critical services;

• Negotiating with suppliers under the terms of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice;

• Successfully obtaining an interim and final injunction (in a 12 week period) which prevented 30 campaigners and persons unknown from blockading and trespassing at premises operated by a waste management client.

• Defending a company recognised in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 and FT1000: Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies against a threatened injunction and claim concerning its innovative business communications software. This instruction was received as a result of success in another matter, having previously secured the client a payment of over £7m following fraudulent conduct by former representatives of the business.

• Defending a well-known building materials company in a Technology and Construction Court claim concerning allegedly defective works on a major road in central Birmingham.

• Defending a claim regarding an alleged unpaid dividend and second claim arising from a long running dispute about the provision of information under an SPA for a large housebuilder client.