The Mercantile Court in the High Court of Justice in London awarded the amount to claimant Lawrence Karat in May of this year, after Fox did not show in court to defend against Karat’s claim of professional negligence against the firm, as reported by Legally India on Friday (26 July).

Pennington’s India co-head and dispute resolution head Rustom Dubash wrote a letter to Karat’s London lawyers Singhania & Co, also dated 26 July, stating that Penningtons was acting on behalf of Fox.

He wrote: “We wish to inform you that we will be advising our client to dispute jurisdiction and to have the default judgment set aside.”

Karat had alleged that Fox botched a patent registration in Mumbai and acted “unprofessionally”, after Mandal won the business in London, having been referred through a UK law firm, to advise Karat and his Hong Kong-headquartered company.

Fox’ Delhi-based managing partner Som Mandal confirmed in a text message that he had instructed Penningtons India co-heads Dubash and Saionton Basu.

In his letter, Dubash also asked Singhania for a copy of the claim form, the particulars of claim, the application for default judgment, the order, certificate and evidence of service, and any other court documents relating to the claim. Dubash did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Karat commented today that Mandal had been contacted “numerous times but as always declined to respond”. Mandal has had “ample opportunity to settle out of court” in this matter but he was “his own worst enemy”, added Karat.