The “disproportionately aggressive and unnecessary” behaviour of Clyde & Co in a dispute with one of its senior lawyers in Dubai “verges on bullying”, the High Court has ruled.
Mr Justice Michael Green rejected the global law firm’s application for an anti-suit injunction (ASI) to stop corporate lawyer Abhimanyu Jalan – who is the equivalent of a senior equity partner – from bringing proceedings in the Dubai Labour Court over his bonus.
Clyde argued that the proceedings were in breach of an English arbitration agreement contained in his contract of employment, but the judge found that the Dubai court had jurisdiction.
“I think the tone and content of the correspondence from or on behalf of Clyde is unreasonably pressurising and verges on bullying,” he said.
“I understand that Clyde considers this to be an important point of principle and it does not want a precedent set for partners/members employed in foreign jurisdictions.
“But it has chosen to structure the relationship in this way and it can hardly complain if Mr Jalan was only seeking to litigate his claim in his place of employment in accordance with local law.
“To treat a long-standing employee, with a senior role in the organisation, in this way does not reflect well on Clyde.
“There is no reason to think that it would not get a fair and just outcome from the Dubai proceedings in relation to what seems to me to be a relatively modest claim by Mr Jalan.”
Mr Jalan’s monetary claim is only around 300,000, while...
Some social media users across several states were briefly fooled into thinking “aimless driving” had been outlawed—with fake government letters threatening $1,000 fines, prompting governors to pub...