JONATHAN LAFFERTY is a solicitor advocate in Sidley’s London office. His practice focuses on complex, high-value litigation and arbitration and other dispute resolution, often with a cross-border or international element.
Jonathan acts for clients in a wide range of industries, including private equity houses, global financial investors, automotive manufacturers, oil and gas majors, industrial manufacturers, auction houses, pharmaceutical clients, and technology and entertainment companies.
His experience extends across a broad range of commercial disputes, including share sale and shareholder agreements (especially warranty disputes and where fraud is alleged, enforcement of security, company directors’ duties and shareholder rights, pharmaceutical and technology licences, international sale and purchase agreements, and contentious sanctions issues. He has acted in multi-jurisdictional disputes involving breach of contract, allegations of oral contracts, and professional negligence, and his work has included the leading English authorities on the formation of oral contracts and also on the duties of an auction house to a consignor.
Jonathan has a particular focus on collective redress litigation. He has acted for defendants to some of the UK’s leading consumer action claims including cases involving product liability and securities litigation. Jonathan has also supported those clients in coordinating the defense of parallel proceedings in other jurisdictions, including in Scotland, Ireland and Europe.
Jonathan has extensive experience of contentious insolvency proceedings, including both corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy proceedings. Jonathan has also acted for clients seeking to enforce their intellectual property rights in respect of trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyright. He advises on contentious employment and benefits issues, including managing the enforcement of confidentiality and non-compete covenants.
In addition to his contentious work, Jonathan regularly provides transactional support. He has particular experience in conflicts of laws and jurisdiction. Jonathan also advises litigation funders on the structuring of their investments and mitigating the risk of adverse costs awards against them.
Prior to joining Sidley, Jonathan trained at a Magic Circle firm, qualifying as an associate in the firm’s Dispute Resolution department in 2015.