Nicola Phillips
Overview
Nicola Phillips guides her clients in all areas of commercial litigation. From providing crisis management and legal advice to clients facing cyberattacks to pursuing injunctive relief for victims of fraud, Nicola’s practice has a strong focus on urgent and critical support.
Career & Education
- University of Kent, LL.B., Honors, 2000
- University of Warwick, LL.M., 2002
- College of Law, London, LPC, 2003
- England and Wales
Nicola's Insights
Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.13.26
Supreme Court Confirms Contractual Loss of Bargain Without Repudiatory Breach
English law has long treated the choice between terminating for repudiatory breach and exercising a contractual termination right as consequential. Under the Financings[1] causation principle, a party exercising a contractual right for a non-repudiatory breach could recover losses accrued to the date of termination — but nothing more. Loss of bargain was out of reach unless the breach went to the root of the contract. A practical workaround, confirmed in Lombard,[2] was to designate the relevant obligation as a condition, elevating any breach to repudiatory status, but that device carries significant strategic risk if the termination is later found to have been wrongful.
Client Alert | 7 min read | 05.18.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.14.26
Blog Post | 05.14.26
Representative Matters
- Led an aviation client’s multibillion-pound high court contractual damages claim on an expedited timetable, successfully pursuing numerous interim applications; preparing pleadings, witness evidence, and expert evidence; and guiding the client on strategy and commercial settlement.
- Advised a global payroll services provider following a cyberattack that disabled its systems, resulting in potential disruption to its payroll services. Nicola managed the Information Commissioner’s Office’s report and investigation, assisted the client with resuming business operations, and dealt with contractual claims both for and against the client.
- Successfully pursued a manufacturer for the premature failure of parts supplied in a claim for breach of contract, obtaining a finding fully in our client’s favor and awarding our client all of the £11,243,026 claimed plus an indemnity for future losses.
- Pursuing cross-border constructive trust and unjust enrichment claims for a finance client in respect of a series of frauds perpetrated against it to the value of $20 million.
- Securing funds in excess of $26 million by way of third-party debt orders to enforce an international arbitration award against a nation-state. This followed after having won on the merits in this international commercial arbitration on a breach of contract claim.
Nicola's Insights
Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.13.26
Supreme Court Confirms Contractual Loss of Bargain Without Repudiatory Breach
English law has long treated the choice between terminating for repudiatory breach and exercising a contractual termination right as consequential. Under the Financings[1] causation principle, a party exercising a contractual right for a non-repudiatory breach could recover losses accrued to the date of termination — but nothing more. Loss of bargain was out of reach unless the breach went to the root of the contract. A practical workaround, confirmed in Lombard,[2] was to designate the relevant obligation as a condition, elevating any breach to repudiatory status, but that device carries significant strategic risk if the termination is later found to have been wrongful.
Client Alert | 7 min read | 05.18.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.14.26
Blog Post | 05.14.26
Insights
Russian Oligarch Used Illicit Finance Methods, And His Son, To Hide Wealth From Wife
|08.09.21
Money Laundering
- |
04.14.26
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
New UK Sanctions Reporting Duties for Insolvency Practitioners and Other Professionals
|06.05.25
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
New UK Sanctions on Russia Targeting Technology, Software and Additional Strategic Goods
|05.02.25
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
Firms at Risk of Monetary Penalty for Breaches of UK Financial Sanctions Imposed on Russia
|03.31.25
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
Authors:
UK’s OTSI Publishes New Russia Evasion and Diversion Guidance
|01.13.25
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
OFSI Granted Greater Sanctions Monitoring and Enforcement Powers
|11.25.24
Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Law
Practices
- International Dispute Resolution
- International Litigation
- Litigation and Trial
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
- Economic Sanctions
- Infrastructure
- International Dispute Resolution — London Practice
- International Litigation — London Practice
- Financial Services
- Financial Services Litigation and Disputes
- Financial Services Regulatory and Enforcement
- Investigations
- EU and UK Public Procurement
Industries
Nicola's Insights
Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.13.26
Supreme Court Confirms Contractual Loss of Bargain Without Repudiatory Breach
English law has long treated the choice between terminating for repudiatory breach and exercising a contractual termination right as consequential. Under the Financings[1] causation principle, a party exercising a contractual right for a non-repudiatory breach could recover losses accrued to the date of termination — but nothing more. Loss of bargain was out of reach unless the breach went to the root of the contract. A practical workaround, confirmed in Lombard,[2] was to designate the relevant obligation as a condition, elevating any breach to repudiatory status, but that device carries significant strategic risk if the termination is later found to have been wrongful.
Client Alert | 7 min read | 05.18.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.14.26
Blog Post | 05.14.26
