Emma Hogwood

Primary Focus & Experience

Key experience includes:

• Acting for Visa in multiple sets of proceedings in the High Court (including appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court) and further proceedings in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, all of which concern the alleged infringements of competition law relating to the setting and implementation of multilateral interchange fees associated with the use of debit and credit cards. A four-month trial of the initial wave of claims was listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 20 Trials of 2016.
• Acting for a leading international bank in defending a High Court claim brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on behalf of several failed US banks in relation to alleged infringements of competition law and fraudulent misrepresentations arising out of the setting of USD LIBOR.
• Acting for a leading UK energy company in a complex and high-value commercial dispute arising out of a failed IT project. The claim concerned multiple breaches of contract and misrepresentation in relation to the supplier’s ability to deliver the solution.
• Acting for Rabobank in relation to regulatory investigations into the setting of the LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmarks and settlements reached in 2013 with the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the US Department of Justice, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Dutch Central Bank, the Dutch Public Prosecutor and the Japan Financial Services Agency.
• Advising a former senior executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland in the defence of claims brought by shareholders in the High Court arising from a £12 billion rights issue in 2008. The claim concerned allegations that the rights issue prospectus contained untrue or misleading statements or omissions.
• Acting for AstraZeneca in its successful High Court litigation with IBM arising out of the termination of a US$1.5 billion IT infrastructure contract.
• Acting in litigation between two of the world's leading technology companies arising out of a contract relating to a £5 billion project for a UK government department.
• Advising a leading UK pay-TV company in relation to various appeals before the Competition Appeal Tribunal arising out of Ofcom's high-profile investigation into the Pay TV market, listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 20 Cases of 2011.
• Acting for one of the world's leading technology companies, defending claims brought by a major pay-TV company for breach of contract, negligence and deceit, amounting to over £700 million. The trial, which lasted for an entire court year, was one of the largest trials to come before the UK courts, and was listed by The Lawyer as one of the Top 10 Trials of 2007 and 2008.
• Acting for a leading satellite operator in LCIA arbitration proceedings in relation to claims for breach of contract and misrepresentation arising from the critical malfunction of a communications satellite.
• Acting on behalf of the Official Committee of the Unsecured Creditors of Lehman Brothers on a number of aspects of the English restructuring and insolvency of Lehman entities.
• Advising a leading international investment fund in various sets of proceedings arising out of a major cross-border fraud.
• Acting for one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates in ICC arbitration proceedings relating to its steel trading arrangements.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Emma is a dual-qualified lawyer who has been recognised by the legal directories as a ‘Key Lawyer’ in Banking Litigation (Investment and Retail), Competition Litigation and Commercial Litigation (Premium), with testimonials in Legal 500 UK identifying her as “one of the most impressive solicitors I have worked with. She is exceptionally bright, has a frightening attention to detail, and runs the most difficult cases with ease” (Banking Litigation, 2025); “adept in matters involving concerning evidential and procedural requirements” (Competition Litigation, 2025); and “an extremely bright lawyer who combines an incredible eye for detail with vast reserves of pragmatism” (Commercial Litigation, 2025). In previous years, Emma has been described as a “calm, considered and commercially savvy lawyer” (IT and Telecoms, 2024); “very talented” (Competition Litigation, 2024); a “standout” associate (Commercial Litigation, 2022); and “a name to watch – she is always on top of the detail and clients and opponents listen to her” (Banking Litigation, 2021).

Emma is a co-author of two UK chapters in the Lexology In-Depth reviews (“Private Competition Enforcement” and “Technology Disputes”) and has written articles on various legal topics. She previously also co-authored a chapter in “International Project Finance: Law and Practice” entitled “Dispute Resolution in Project Finance Transactions”.

She is also an active committee member of the Women@Milbank affinity group in London.