The Northern Rock shareholder dispute hits the courts today (13 January), with a number of the legal profession's big hitters set to battle it out with the Government.

The three-and-a-half day trial, at a specially convened Divisional Court at the Royal Courts of Justice, will see more than 150,000 private shareholders attempting to secure improved compensation following the nationalisation of the crisis-hit lender.

The shareholders will not challenge the nationalisation itself but claim the statutory criteria established for the valuation process breach the European Convention on Human Rights.

The shareholders allege that the Government's compensation scheme in the wake of the nationalisation would leave the value of the shares at virtually zero, whereas Northern Rock's book value before the February rescue was at least £4 per share.

David Greene, head of litigation at UK group action specialist Edwin Coe, is advising the largest group in the action, the UK Shareholders Association (UKSA), which comprises 150,000 shareholders who held almost 25% of the bank's shares. Blackstone Chambers' Thomas de la Mare has been instructed as counsel.

Activist hedge fund SRM Global Fund, which acquired an 11.5% stake in the bank, has joined the UKSA in the judicial review, represented by White & Case with litigation partner John Reynolds leading the team and Blackstone's David Pannick QC (pictured) and Maitland Chambers' Matthew Collings QC instructed as counsel.

Alongside the UKSA and SRM, RAB Special Situations Fund is being represented by Nabarro, with Blackstone Chambers Michael Beloff QC and One Essex Court's David Wolfson instructed as counsel.