A litigation team at Druces LLP advised racing driver, Giedo van der Garde, on a landmark case for Formula 1. At issue was Mr van der Garde’s assertion that he had a valid and enforceable contract to drive for Formula 1 team Sauber in 2015. Toby Starr and Rachel Brown handled international arbitration proceedings under the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration, successfully obtaining an award for Mr van der Garde.
As part of its efforts for Mr van der Garde, Druces instructed a high profile international legal team including Ian Mill QC of Blackstone Chambers in the UK, Landolt & Koch in Switzerland and King & Wood Mallesons in Australia.
Enforcement proceedings in the Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia commenced with just over a week to go before the Australian Grand Prix, earlier this month, and were successfully prosecuted on an urgent basis through first instance and appellate levels of the Australian court within a week. This included a live streamed judgment of Justice Croft in Victoria in which Mr van der Garde’s application to enforce a permanent injunction against Sauber was upheld, protecting his valid and binding contracts to drive for the racing team during the Formula 1 2015 season.
Commenting on the case, Toby Starr, commercial litigation and international arbitration consultant at Druces said:
“We are proud to have acted for Giedo on what ended up being an extremely high profile case for the sport of Formula 1. Giedo’s case was upheld at every step of the legal process and we were extremely pleased to be able to assist our client to achieve that. Ultimately, the parties were able to resolve matters and end the litigation. We wish Giedo every success in his new motor racing challenges ahead.”
Toby has also been featured in The Law Society Gazette talking about the case.
About Druces LLP:
The firm’s core services are corporate, banking and finance; employment; commercial property and property litigation; commercial litigation and international arbitration; charities; private wealth and contentious probate and high value residential property. As well as banks and other financial institutions, Druces’ clients include investor-entrepreneurs, banks, other significant businesses, charities and the independently wealthy.
Druces operates from a single-site, recently-refurbished office in the City, where it has practised for over 200 years. It has established international links – primarily through its membership of the Alliance of Business Lawyers which covers 40 countries – with law firms specialising in business and personal law in leading cities around the world.
