Emma Carr

Bio

Emma helps organisations resolve disputes without losing focus on their business.

For over 20 years she's acted on high value commercial litigation where the financial, operational and reputational risks are significant. That has included resolving long-running breach of contract cases under complex supply agreements, pursuing high value professional negligence claims, acting both for and against public bodies on procurement challenges and handling shareholder and warranty disputes following major corporate transactions. These matters demand the ability to cut through detail quickly and deliver outcomes boards can stand behind.

Emma advises on the issues that regularly come before leadership teams: governance disputes, supply chain disruption, termination and pricing disagreements, force majeure events, and procurement challenges, across sectors including healthcare, technology, energy, finance, manufacturing, food and beverage, and sport. Many of these are resolved through negotiation or ADR, preserving relationships and avoiding years of litigation.

Alongside this, Emma leads Gowling WLG’s Litigation Finance practice, working with claimants, funders, and law firms to design funding structures that are enforceable, balanced, and board ready. Done well, funding doesn’t just remove cost, it creates options, unlocks claims that once looked uncommercial and gives clients real leverage.

As co-chair of ThinkHouse ThinkHouse, Gowling WLG's tailored programme for in-house counsel and GC Connect, she stays close to the challenges facing in-house teams while keeping a clear focus on outcomes that matter at board level. For Emma, success means clarity, cost certainty, and confidence that disputes won’t derail strategy.

Emma is known for bringing her versatility and experience together in resolving disputes, her relentless drive to meet her clients' requirements and expectations and her desire to provide exceptional client service.

Clients

She acts for a broad range of clients ranging from high-net-worth individuals through to multi-national corporates and across both public and private sectors, including, Retail, Healthcare, Education, Government Contracting, Technology, Energy, Finance, Litigation Finance, Sport, and Food and Beverage.

Recognition

"Emma helped us achieve an excellent result in difficult circumstances through her focus on the detail of a complicated situation along with her ability to probe and challenge our thinking…." Deputy CE, Leading Convenience Store

" ... without your diligence and tenacity, I am doubtful whether this would have been concluded in the way it was." Head of Finance, Housing Provider

"Emma Carr is brilliant. She gives clear, practical advice and is an excellent lawyer." Legal 500 testimonial

"Emma Carr is extremely committed and responsible and has shown why she deserved to be elevated to partner a few years ago." Legal 500, 2020

"Emma is my first port of call whenever I need external support.." Head of Legal, Government Corporation

"Emma's diligence and tenacity make her the first person we will call on to support any future dispute" Managing Director, Energy Provider

• Emma successfully resolved a dispute brought by West Ham United Football Club ("WHU") against E20 Stadium LLP and one of its partners, London Legacy Development Corporation (a Mayoral Development Corporation) in relation to the number of seats WHU claimed it was entitled to at the former Olympic Stadium (which serves as WHU's home ground), under the terms of a 99 year Concession Agreement. The case received significant media interest and political interest due to the implications of taxpayer funding being involved and the involvement of a Premier League football club.
• West Ham settle London Stadium dispute with landlords at last minute - BBC Sport
• West Ham go to court in London Stadium capacity battle worth £100 million - Evening Standard
• West Ham will pay extra £450,000 per season if they increase capacity to 66,000 - BBC Sport
• She acted for Philips Electronics UK Limited and Philips Pension Fund in respect of a £300 million claim against Aon Hewitt Limited and Alliance Bernstein Limited, the fund's former investment advisers and investment managers.
• She acted for a public sector client on a multi-million-pound negligence claim brought against a magic circle law firm arising out of the drafting of a multi-year contract with a total value of over £200 million.
• She has acted for a Core Participant in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
• Emma has defended and raised numerous procurement challenges both for and against a private and public bodies, including an NHS Trust and The Royal Parks.
• She successfully fought a very large civil fraud claim for a consortium of claimant manufacturers involving injunctions and parallel criminal proceedings against multiple defendants, worth in excess of £30 million.
• Emma acted for one of the five biggest housing care providers in the UK as co-defendants with the NHS in a clinical negligence claim worth in excess of £4 million.
• She advised the SFO on a highly confidential matter in respect of the enforcement of a confiscation order worth many millions of pounds to the public purse.
• Emma advised one of the UK's largest Councils on its dispute with a supplier in connection with the termination and exit of a 15-year ICT contract.
• She frequently acts for a number of institutional investors in advising on the feasibility and impact of entering litigation funding packages with third party funders and insurers. She has also acted for funders in devising complex funding structures.
• Emma has acted on several tax negligence cases against former accountants, solicitors and barristers, involving complex non-domiciliary schemes and tax exemptions.