Harrison Drury lands litigation duo

Commercial law firm Harrison Drury has strengthened its litigation offering with the appointment of experienced litigators Sean Gibbs and Nick Booth.

Both Sean and Nick join Harrison Drury from Napthens where they have spent the last four years as a team specialising in the resolution of boardroom wrangles, including shareholder and partnership disputes.

They have extensive experience dealing with professional negligence cases, contractual disputes, and issues arising out of the infringement of intellectual property rights, as well as dealing with claims arising from the publication of defamatory statements.

The pair were instrumental in Vet Plus Limited’s recent High Court success in defending a claim brought by Norbrook Laboratories in 2013 in relation to the publication of allegedly libelous and maliciously false statements, securing a substantial adverse costs award against Norbrook in the process.

Sean, who joins Harrison Drury as a director to head up its corporate and commercial litigation offering, has almost 25 years of litigation experience. He was a partner at Napthens and a former partner at DWF working at its Preston and Manchester offices. Nick was part of the commercial litigation team at Keoghs before working at Napthens and he joins Harrison Drury as an associate.

The appointments take the number of directors in Harrison Drury’s litigation team to three and the size of the overall team to eight.

John Chesworth, managing director of Harrison Drury, said: “While we strive to help our clients avoid disputes, inevitably there are always going to be times where we need to resort to litigation on their behalf. Sean and Nick’s experience will be invaluable as we encounter ever more complex disputes as our client base grows.”

Sean said: “John and his team have made Harrison Drury a modern law firm that puts clients and employees at the heart of its business. I’m looking forward to playing a role in the ongoing development of the firm which now has one of the largest litigation teams in Lancashire.” Nick added: “I’ve long admired Harrison Drury’s fresh approach and the way it has challenged the established way of doing things in the legal industry. It’s great to be on board.”