Alex has a busy practice across Chambers’ core areas of shipping, commercial arbitration, and public international law (including investor-State arbitration). He has been involved in arbitrations under a variety of institutional rules, including LMAA, GAFTA, LCIA, ICC, SIAC, and ICSID, as well as arbitration-related proceedings in the Commercial Court. He is regularly instructed as sole counsel, but equally enjoys working as part of a team.
Prior to joining Chambers, Alex studied law at the University of Oxford, where he came first in his year overall and won numerous subject prizes and scholarships. He maintains a strong academic interest in the law; he enjoys attending academic conferences, and his contributions have been published in leading journals such as the Law Quarterly Review, Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, and the Journal of International Arbitration.
Alex is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, having grown up in Singapore, and maintains a keen interest in the Asian markets.
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Arbitration
- Instructed (as sole counsel) in relation to a three-party arbitration; successfully persuaded the tribunal to find that it had no jurisdiction on the basis that the claimant’s single notice of arbitration against two respondents was invalid.
- Instructed (as sole counsel) in relation to a dispute where each party has sought to commence arbitration in a different jurisdiction.
- Advised on multi-jurisdictional enforcement proceedings arising out of two arbitral awards valued at over US$50 million (led by Paul Lowenstein KC and Jonathon Redwood SC)
- Instructed in relation to an LCIA arbitration arising out of a partnership agreement between private equity fund managers.
- Instructed in relation to a high-value LMAA arbitration concerning a joint venture to finance the construction and long-term operation of two cruise ships; drafted expert report on English law in aid of an application to a foreign court to stay winding-up proceedings in favour of arbitration.
- Drafted (as a pupil) pleadings and advice in relation to an SIAC arbitration that involved issues of implied variation and estoppel by conduct.
- Drafted (as a pupil) pleadings and advice in relation to several arbitration challenges under sections 67, 68, and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996.
Banking and financial services
- Represented (as sole counsel) debtor in bankruptcy proceedings in the High Court; successfully obtained validation order to permit disposal of property.
- Advised on the merits of a dispute in relation to a six-figure commercial mortgage.
- Drafted submissions in relation to claims for relief arising out of allegedly unfair credit relationships under s.140B of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
- Drafted (as a pupil) pleadings for an unjust enrichment claim in relation to a foreign bank’s failure to comply with a payment order.
Commercial litigation
- Instructed in relation to a successful application under s.44 of the Arbitration Act 1996 for a 7-figure freezing injunction in aid of arbitration (led at various points by Henry Byam-Cook KC and David Davies KC of Essex Court Chambers).
- Drafted (as a pupil) pleadings and advice in relation to several applications for freezing injunctions/security for costs.
Commodities and international trade
- Instructed in relation to a GAFTA dispute arising out of the assignment to a sanctioned entity of the seller’s rights under a contract of sale.
- Instructed in relation to a GAFTA arbitration concerning alleged short landing of cargo.
- Instructed in relation to multi-party LMAA proceedings arising out of shipowners withholding delivery of a high-value cargo on the basis of an asserted common law lien (led by Chirag Karia KC of Quadrant Chambers).
Public international law
- Instructed by the claimant investors in an ICSID arbitration in relation to an investment in the telecommunications sector.
- Instructed by the claimant investors in ABH Holdings S.A. v. Ukraine (ICSID Case No. ARB/24/1), in relation to the alleged expropriation of an investment estimated to be worth no less than US$1 billion (led by Baiju Vasani; reported in Global Arbitration Review).
- Assisting in the M/T “Heroic Idun” (No. 2) case currently pending before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), concerning the circumstances under which a coastal State may take enforcement action against a foreign-flagged vessel in its exclusive economic zone.
- Drafted (as a pupil) advice in relation to a treaty-based investor-State arbitration claim, with a focus on the assessment of damages.
Shipping
Alex is regularly instructed as sole counsel in relation to charterparty disputes such as those concerning off-hire, underperformance, laytime/demurrage, and short loading/landing of cargo. He also has experience with disputes in respect of shipbuilding, ship sales, and shipping-related financing arrangements. Recent instructions include:
- Advising the time charterers of a vessel that has come under armed attack in the Gulf of Aden.
- A high-value LMAA arbitration arising out of a shipbuilding contract, involving allegations of a defective vessel being delivered (led by Rupert Hamilton).
- An LMAA arbitration concerning various claims under a time charter, including in relation to unseaworthiness, underperformance, and deviation.
- Advising the buyers of a second-hand vessel in relation to latent defects in circumstances where the buyers had waived the right to physically inspect the vessel prior to delivery.
- An LMAA arbitration concerning demurrage, involving multiple inconsistent laytime statements/statements of facts.
- Various LMAA arbitrations concerning the alleged frustration of charterparties due to the situation in Ukraine.
- Advising shipowners on their entitlement to terminate a voyage charter where the charterers failed to provide a cargo to load.
