Case library
Reported English decisions across disclosure, employment, trade secrets, fraud, regulatory and inquiry work, set out by matter type, the evidence sources in play, the outcome and what an exercise of that shape usually costs.
Reported decisions we are asked about most often, with the evidence sources that decided them and what an exercise of that shape usually costs. Cost figures are indicative and exclude VAT. For crypto specific authorities, see the crypto case library.
- 2022 · Extended disclosure, failed search process
Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainment (UK) Ltd
[2022] EWHC 2024 (Pat)A disclosure exercise produced around 800,000 documents, then a technical failure in the search and collection process came to light after the defendant had certified disclosure.
The trial date was vacated and the defendant was ordered to pay the wasted costs on the indemnity basis. The case is cited whenever a party cannot evidence how its search was run.
- Evidence sources
- Custodian mailboxes, Shared drives, Search term reports
- Indicative cost
- Extended disclosure at this volume typically costs £60,000 upwards, and a repeat exercise doubles it.
- 2020 · Disclosure models and the list of issues
McParland & Partners Ltd v Whitehead
[2020] EWHC 298 (Ch)The parties fell out over the issues for disclosure and which model applied to each of them, generating substantial argument before any documents were exchanged.
The Chancellor set out how issues for disclosure should be framed and warned against treating the exercise as a battleground. The leading guidance on model selection under the disclosure pilot, now PD 57AD.
- Evidence sources
- Email, Contractual documents
- Indicative cost
- Getting the disclosure review document right costs £2,000 to £5,000, far less than arguing it later.
- 2021 · Employment tribunal, message and social media evidence
Forstater v Center for Global Development Europe
[2021] UKEAT 0105_20_1006A consultant's contract was not renewed after colleagues complained about her posts. The evidence was largely short form messages and internal complaints threads.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal held the belief was protected, and the case turned on the precise wording and context of individual messages, which is why message threads must be collected whole rather than screenshotted.
- Evidence sources
- Tweets, Internal email, Slack messages
- Indicative cost
- A three custodian tribunal collection and review runs about £6,000 to £14,000.
- 2021 · Disclosure of electronic project records
Trant Engineering Ltd v Mott MacDonald Ltd
[2021] EWHC 2506 (TCC)A construction dispute where the parties argued over the extent of searches across project email and design management systems.
The court preferred a proportionate, issue-led search over a sweep of everything, reinforcing that scope is argued with volumes and costs rather than assertion.
- Evidence sources
- Project email, Design records, Shared systems
- Indicative cost
- An issue-led search across four custodians usually costs £15,000 to £30,000.
- 2018 · Payment fraud, tracing and third party disclosure
CMOC Sales & Marketing Ltd v Persons Unknown
[2018] EWHC 2230 (Comm)A company was defrauded of tens of millions through spoofed payment instructions, with the funds dispersed through many accounts in several jurisdictions.
Worldwide freezing relief and disclosure orders against banks, with service by email permitted. The first English trial in which judgment was given against persons unknown following a cyber-enabled fraud.
- Evidence sources
- Banking records, Email headers, Company records
- Indicative cost
- A tracing and evidence exercise of this shape runs from £25,000 into six figures.
- 2020 · Insider data theft, vicarious liability
Various Claimants v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc
[2020] UKSC 12An aggrieved internal auditor copied payroll data for around 100,000 staff and published it. The forensic record of what he accessed and copied was central to the claim.
The Supreme Court held the employer was not vicariously liable, because the employee was pursuing a personal vendetta. Access and exfiltration logs decided what actually happened.
- Evidence sources
- Payroll data, Internal audit logs, Employee devices
- Indicative cost
- Exfiltration analysis across a handful of systems costs £2,500 to £8,000.
- 2014 · Departing employees, database misuse
Warm Zones v Thurley
[2014] EWHC 988 (QB)Former employees were alleged to have taken customer data to a competitor. Device and access evidence was gathered to support an injunction.
Injunctive relief and delivery up granted, with the forensic record of copying central to the springboard argument. Still the shape of most departing team applications.
- Evidence sources
- Company database exports, Email, USB device history
- Indicative cost
- Imaging and an exhibited report across three leavers costs £8,000 to £18,000.
- 2018 · Regulatory information notice, privilege
Competition and Markets Authority v Concordia International
[2018] EWHC 3448 (Ch)A company resisted parts of a CMA investigatory notice on privilege grounds, requiring the court to consider the boundary between the regulator's powers and legal professional privilege.
The court upheld the regulator's approach to the disputed material, confirming that privilege must be claimed precisely and logged, not asserted broadly.
- Evidence sources
- Email, Corporate records, Legal advice
- Indicative cost
- A separate privilege workflow and log adds £2,000 to £6,000 to a notice response.
- 2018 onwards · Public inquiry, disclosure and restriction orders
R (on the application of Mazur) v the Undercover Policing Inquiry
administrative decisions, 2018 onwardsInquiry disclosure spanning decades of material held in legacy systems and paper, with extensive applications about restriction and anonymity.
The disclosure process has repeatedly turned on evidenced explanations of what could be recovered from legacy systems and what could not, and on redaction at scale.
- Evidence sources
- Legacy police records, Paper archives, Historic email
- Indicative cost
- Legacy restoration and phased review runs from £30,000 into six figures.
- 2019 · Crypto assets, proprietary injunction
AA v Persons Unknown
[2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm)An insurer paid a Bitcoin ransom after a ransomware attack. Tracing followed the coins to an address held at a UK-linked exchange.
The court held cryptocurrency is property capable of being the subject of a proprietary injunction. The starting point for every later English crypto claim.
- Evidence sources
- On-chain transactions, Exchange records, Insurer payment records
- Indicative cost
- A contained tracing matter to an interim application costs £12,000 to £30,000.
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