Chambers UK 2021

Silks

David Blayney QC: "He is exceedingly bright and very good on his feet." "He has a super-computer brain for any sort of technical, scientific or financial expert material and he has a very easy and understated style of advocacy."

Legal 500 2021

Serle Court is an 'excellent commercial set' whose members are often instructed on market-leading and complex banking and finance disputes, including many with an international angle.

Silks:

Elizabeth Jones QC: "An outstanding mind and phenomally hard worker."

Dominic Dowley QC: "Quick and great on the papers."

Philip Marshall QC: "A superlative Commercial and Chancery Silk – creative with exceptional tangential thinking ability and very hard working."

David Blayney QC: "A brilliant mind, and first choice for complex and fact-heavy financial litigation. Large-spirited and unflappable."

Rupert Reed QC: "Our go to silk for DIFC Court matters - he is pre-eminent in the UAE and DIFC."

Juniors: 

Simon Hattan: "Top-notch senior junior - works hard, is reliable and produces excellent work product."

Shanghai Shipyard Co Ltd v Reignwood International Investment (Group) Company Ltd [2020] EWHC 803 (Comm):

The Commercial Court held that a parent company guarantee of the final instalment under a shipbuilding contract was not a demand bond but a true “see to it” guarantee, under which the guarantor did not have to pay unless an arbitration award was first made against the owner.  The case has attracted significant interest in the shipbuilding industry, and permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal has been granted.

Please click here to view the judgment.

Ang v Reliantco [2019] 3 W.L.R. 161:

Jonathan Harris QC (Hon.) and Zahler Bryan successfully argued that an investor in Bitcoin futures was a consumer for the purposes of the European rules of jurisdiction in Ang v Reliantco [2019] 3 W.L.R. 161. 

Yukos Finance B.V & ors v Stephen Lynch & Ors:

Jonathan Adkin QC successfully acted for one of the Defendants in Yukos Finance B.V & ors v Stephen Lynch & Ors in a five-week Commercial Court trial arising out of the Yukos Oil saga, in which allegations of corrupt participation in a rigged Russian auction were dismissed. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

Grove Park Properties v Royal Bank of Scotland:

Lance Ashworth QC continues to represent the claimant in Grove Park Properties v Royal Bank of Scotland due to be heard in May 2020, in which allegations of forgery are made against the bank's employees, with the result that the Claimant is excused from repaying £16 million.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) v Srinivasan [2019] EWHC 3495 (Ch):

In Punjab National Bank (PNB) v Srinivasan [2019] EWHC 3495 (Ch), Matthew Morrison appeared for the Third Defendant in connection with an appeal from a judgment setting aside permission to serve the Defendants out of the jurisdiction. PNB's claims in respect of loans totaling US$37 m were based on personal guarantees and allegations that the loans had been produced by fraudulent misrepresentation. The decision to set aside permission on the grounds of non-disclosure of existing foreign proceedings, and the absence of viable claims in contract and deceit, was upheld on appeal. 

Please click here to view the judgment. 

The Global Legal Post:

'Banking litigation offers appellate insight on sanctions compliance' article by Professor Suzanne Rab