Our Managing Director, Peter Coyle, has been named by the Times as their Lawyer of the Week.
In January 2018 Andrew Green won £1.7m playing blackjack on Betfred’s online mobile app. At first the UK bookmakers congratulated Mr Green on his win but a few days later, Betfred notified that they no longer intended to pay the winnings due to the involvement of a third-party software glitch. After consulting with the team at Coyle White Devine it became apparent that Mr Green would have to pursue legal action against Betfred in order to enforce payment of his winnings. A team of specialist contract dispute lawyers from CWD, led by Peter Coyle, took on the fight for Mr Green to the High Court in London where a hearing was held in October of 2020. On 7 April 2021, Justice Alison Foster QC handed down her summary judgment in which it was confirmed that CWD had won the fight for Mr Green.
This national recognition for Mr Coyle comes on the back of his instrumental involvement in Coyle White Devine’s recent victory for Andrew Green against Betfred. Under the leadership of Mr Coyle, the team at CWD were able to obtain a summary judgment order from the High Court which ordered the bookmakers to pay out £1.7m plus interest and costs to Mr Green.
The dispute began in January 2019 with Betfred refusing to pay the winnings due, as in their eyes, they only accrued as a result of a third-party software malfunction in the blackjack game played by Mr Green. Their case relied on the wording of their terms and conditions excluding liability on paying customers in the event of a software malfunction.
Since the beginning of the dispute, Mr Coyle had advocated consistently against the enforceability and specifically the fairness of Betfred’s terms and conditions from a consumer rights perspective. It is no surprise that Mrs Justice Foster agreed with Mr Coyle in her summary judgment on 7 April 2021.
After dedicating nearly 30 years to litigation this appreciation for Mr Coyle is no less than what he deserves. At CWD we are all very proud of him in what is a superb achievement.
