No win, no fee arrangement and financial backing from Lord Sugar helped secure ‘David versus Goliath’ victory
Hackney Empire Theatre in east London has won a legal battle against Aviva lasting almost a decade. The venue took the insurer to court under a no win, no fee arrangement and with funding from Lord Alan Sugar.
Extensive refurbishment works were carried out on the theatre between 2001 and 2003, before the building contractor went bust, leaving more than £1m worth of work left to be done.
In 2004, the theatre asked the building contractor’s commercial bondsman, Aviva, to pay up on its £1.1m bond, but the insurer refused, citing various technical defences.
Financial backing
The theatre was only able to challenge the insurer through funding from Lord Sugar, and its legal team, from CMS Cameron McKenna, acting on a no win, no fee conditional fee arrangement.
The court found in favour of Hackney Empire in the first instance, in July 2011, and then again, when Aviva appealed the decision in December 2012. The Supreme Court then refused Aviva permission to appeal on 28 March 2013.
As a result, Aviva could no longer deny it was liable for the full £1.1m value of the bond, plus interest, and the theatre’s legal costs.
CMS Cameron McKenna partner Rupert Choat said: “This was a David versus Goliath battle, but we had a giant of our own fighting with us in the shape of Lord Sugar.
“Aviva lost at every stage and the theatre has obtained its maximum possible recovery. But the claim was within a whisker’s breadth of not being pursued. It only happened because of the no win, no fee arrangement.”
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