Hugh Hitchcock

Hugh Hitchcock

Senior Partner

Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team

Talk to Our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team

Hugh Hitchcock is a Senior Partner within our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team, as well as a shareholder, and a member of our Senior Leadership Team. He has over 30 years of dealing with all manner of commercial disputes and is nationaly recognised for his experince, resilience and strategic knowledge.

Hugh heads up the Acuity Litigation and Dispute Resolution department, comprising Commercial Litigation, Property Litigation, Construction Litigation and International Arbitration. He is also the lead partner in our Swansea office.

Hugh’s practice includes disputes that encompass every facet of commercial and corporate life, both at the pre-emptive stage and once litigation progresses. His principal achievemnets have been acting for smaller buisnesses and individuals  against large corporations. 

He works both nationally and internationally with clients on a full range of commercial litigation cases, and is renowned for his vast experience in high-value contractual claims against large national firms. His notable wins have included High Court litigation for Loches Capital Limited against Goldman Sachs International, and taking on multi-billion-pound steel giant Corus (now Tata Steel) on behalf of Port Talbot-based family firm Qual-Chem in an IP dispute. He also handles complex recovery claims and minority shareholder claims.

Before joining Acuity, Hugh gained a wealth of experience as a partner/director at a boutique law firm, and in the media litigation department at Frere Cholmeley Bischoff, where he acted for an array of notable clients including Elton John, Sting, and The Beatles’ record company. He is well known for his media, privacy and defamation work, which has seen him achieve notable successes against several national newspapers.

Hugh was named as one of The Lawyer’s Hot 100 of 2024 and has been consistently recognised by The Legal 500 as a “Leading Partner” in his field.

 

Expertise
  • Commercial contract disputes
  • Director and shareholder disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Contentious insolvency and antecedent transaction claims
  • Defamation, privacy and reputation management
  • All types of injunction proceedings
  • Intellectual property disputes

Work Highlights

Advising Red and Yellow Limited and R&Y NL Limited on a claim arising from a joint venture agreement in relation to the development of quality extra care accommodation.
Acting for Tingo Group, Inc in its UK action against a US short seller.
Acting for Tingo International Holdings, Inc. in respect of a claim by Outlier Ventures LLP purporting the breach of a Deed of Adherence, the terms of which required Tingo to invest £7.5 million into Outlier.
Acting for the owners of APCymru Ltd, an established business providing education, training, learning and consultancy services as part of the education of young people, in their dispute with Learning Curve Group Limited, an international training and education specialist.
Acting for Helix Securities LLP (“Helix”) in a claim against FinTech payment platform, Revolut.
Advising a high-profile alcohol brand in bringing a passing off claim against a competitor, up to and including Court proceedings, which featured an application for an injunction in the High Court. The case resulted in settlement at the stage of disclosure.
Acting for Loches Capital Limited in a substantial pre-action disclosure application against Goldman Sachs International.
Acting for HR Investor Group, a group of 26 individuals and companies, in a claim against 12 defendants, including two current and former solicitors. Claims include unlawfully establishing and operating unregulated collective investment schemes, misrepresentation, and deceit.
Acting for a shareholder seeking damages, declarations and orders concerning breaches of a Shareholders Agreement relating to an independent hospital.
Acting for Malben Limited pursuant to section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 for unfair prejudice in respect of its shareholding in a joint venture company.
Acting for private equity funds and individual corporate shareholders on boardroom disputes, hostile takeovers and defending and commencing Section 994 claims.
Advising and successfully pursuing a global steel company on a complex patent infringement claim all the way from letter of claim through to the Court of Appeal.
Advising several celebrities including a major internationally renowned recording artist, on issues of defamation and malicious falsehood against the Sun and Daily Mirror.
Advising an international investment fund on its claims in a minority shareholder dispute arising from a billion-dollar high-profile merger.
Advising a national haulier and logistics group on a multi-million cartel and unfair competition claim.
Advising a number of UK funds, charities and property development businesses in relation to the mis-selling of multimillion-pound hedging products.
Advising on a multimillion-dollar dispute with an international mining company over various overseas contracts.
Advising a number of local authorities in relation to procurement related claims in excess of £20 million.
Acting for an international supplier in a complex contractual claim against a global retailer.
Acting for a claimant in ongoing litigation involving alleged brake defects in Ferrari supercars. The case, which has attracted national media attention, centres on catastrophic brake failure incidents later reflected in a Ferrari recall.

Accolades

Hugh was named as one of The Lawyer’s Hot 100 of 2024
Hugh is listed as Leading Partners in the Legal 500 for their work in Commercial Litigation

Legal 500

Hugh is ranked Band 2 by Chambers and Partners

Chambers and Partners

Hugh was named by Business Today as one of its “Top Influential Litigation Lawyers Shaping Wales’ Legal Landscape in 2023”

Business Today

The Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team is ranked Tier 1 in the Legal 500

Legal 500

The Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team is ranked Band 2 by Chambers and Partners

Chambers and Partners

Testimonials

Hugh has impressive client management skills and a really good commercial understanding of what the parties want and where they want to get to.

Hugh is really commercial and very impressive.

Hugh Hitchcock in particular is a stand out litigation specialist and always prepared to provide expert counsel to his clients.

Hugh Hitchcock has an excellent understanding of the commercial realities underlying the various cases and understands the respective parties’ pressure points. A great communicator, he manages clients exceptionally well.

Hugh Hitchcock is very much about strategy and client management. He is someone you want in your corner if you’re fighting a difficult case and when the stakes are at their highest.

Hugh is able to navigate through all legal and human situations and adapt accordingly with great accuracy. This has proven to be a very efficient approach.

Hugh Hitchcock as the lead partner on litigation has always given the very best legal advice and gives close personal attention to his clients whether big or small with an uncanny ability to focus on achieving the client’s commercial objectives.

The superb Hugh Hitchcock is charming, always polite and a pleasure to interact with.

He’s very commercial and clients absolutely love him. It’s a pleasure to work with him. He knows about any and all industries you can think of and advises clients from a wide array of sectors.