DT Economics acts as expert in Lonestar v Orange - one of The Lawyer's Top 20 Cases of 2022

Mr Justice Foxton has handed down judgment in Lonestar Communications Corporation v Kaye and Ors ([2023] EWHC 421 (Comm)), one of The Lawyer magazine's Top 20 Cases of 2022. The case was the first civil claim in England and Wales arising out of a cyber-attack.

DT Economics partner David Thomas acted as expert witness for the defendant on valuation and economic matters. The case concerned the quantum of damages claimed by Lonestar in connection with a campaign of distributed denial of service attacks against its telecoms network in Liberia between 2015 and 2017. Lonestar's claim was in the region of $50 million.

The court awarded damages of approximately $4.3 million - a substantial reduction from the amount claimed. Foxton J described David as "very well-qualified, well-prepared and adept at holding his ground in the course of cross-examination", and noted that his analysis was "largely grounded in the internal materials disclosed by Lonestar." The judge further observed that David had been willing to adopt assumptions favourable to the claimant "in order to present a conservative and robust analysis."

Lonestar failed to beat a without prejudice offer made by the defendant, with costs consequences.