International law firm Trowers & Hamlins has secured an interim anti-suit injunction from the DIFC Courts in favour of its client, Mr Steven Ivankovich, to restrain KJM Marine LLC from pursuing parallel proceedings before the onshore Dubai Courts.
This is the first time the DIFC Court has granted an anti-suit injunction since Decree 29 and also the first injunction issued under the new DIFC Court Law No 2/ 2025.
This is the third groundbreaking case Trowers & Hamlins' Dubai Disputes team (led by Matthew Showler) have worked on in as many years after our earlier cases of Jones v Jones CFI 043/2022 and Sandra Holdings v Saleh CA 003/2023. These cases demonstrate the technical excellence of our team and also the fact that we work on the most important cases before the DIFC Court and are at the vanguard of developing new law there.
Trowers represented the Claimant in ongoing legal proceedings before the DIFC Courts. The Trowers team is led by Partner Matthew Showler, Senior Associate Daniel Smith and Associate Tania Singla, with Matthew Watson (Three Verulam Buildings) instructed as Counsel.
The ongoing dispute before the DIFC Courts involves a joint-venture agreement for the manufacture and global distribution of luxury maritime vessels. The agreement also contains an exclusive jurisdiction clause, which provides that the DIFC Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes that arise in relation to the agreement. Soon after the First Defendant submitted its counterclaim in the DIFC Court proceedings, it issued a second set of proceedings involving the same facts and subject-matter before the Dubai Courts against the Claimant.
However, the Claimant received notice of these parallel proceedings only after the Dubai Courts had reserved the matter for judgment. In response, an application was made swiftly to the DIFC Courts by us on behalf of the Claimant for an anti-suit injunction to restrain the First Defendant from continuing the Dubai Court proceedings. The DIFC Courts granted the interim anti-suit injunction with indemnity costs being awarded against the First Defendant. This was a significant win for our client.
In the judgment, the Judge concluded that the parallel proceedings before Dubai Courts were "vexatious, oppressive and unconscionable", and criticised the First Defendant's conduct as an abuse of the court's process.
Matthew Showler commented:
“This is a significant outcome for our client, and we are proud to have delivered a swift result. Anti-suit injunctions are not granted lightly. That the DIFC Court was willing to grant an anti-suit injunction in this case sends a strong message that parties cannot disrupt DIFC proceedings by initiating parallel proceedings before the onshore courts. This outcome also reflects the depth of our team's expertise and commitment to safeguarding our clients' interests in the disputes we handle, no matter how complex or hard fought. On a personal note, it is also pleasing to have developed further the DIFC Court's jurisprudence on anti-suit injunctions after obtaining (with my great colleagues Matthew Watson and Tom Montagu Smith KC) the first ever reported anti-suit injunction granted by the DIFC Courts back in 2016 the case of Hayri International LLC v Hazim Telecom Private Ltd."
Trowers & Hamlins' Dispute Resolution team continues to act for clients around the globe in high-stakes disputes, leveraging its deep sectoral knowledge and cross-border capabilities to navigate complex as well as challenging legal issues.
