Chris has a broad commercial practice with a focus on heavyweight commercial litigation and arbitration, often with an international dimension. He has experience in civil fraud, commercial litigation, insolvency and company disputes, banking litigation, trust litigation and professional negligence.
Many of Chris’s cases are multi-disciplinary, but they often involve issues of fraud or bad faith in a commercial context. He recently acted as the senior junior for a claimant in the Commercial Court alleging a conspiracy spanning a number of jurisdictions to avoid payment under a sale contract. His leader in that case stated Chris was “the best junior that I have worked with in the past ten years”. The strength of his fraud practice is evident from the fact that in 2018 Chris rose from Band 4 to Band 2 in the Legal 500’s civil fraud rankings.
Chris is the author of the International Maritime and Commercial Law Yearbook section on Arbitration Law. He has particular experience of LCIA arbitrations (he recently acted in a four-day arbitration relating to parking data).
His technical skills and breadth of experience mean that he is increasingly sought out for high value offshore work, especially in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Isle of Man. Chris has a double first class degree in engineering and is well suited to disputes that have a technical aspect.
Example cases
- Acting for a leading business services provider in a confidential arbitration (led by Robert Howe QC).
- Acting for a major investment bank in a dispute concerning equity capital markets (instructed by RPC, led by David Wolfson QC).
- Acted for the petitioners in a s 994 dispute over a well-known kitchenware business (instructed by Withers, led by Thomas Grant QC).
- Acting for the petitioners in a s 994 dispute about a major security business (instructed by RPC, led by David Blayney QC).
- Acting for the defendant in a bribery action (instructed by Walker Morris, led by Robert Howe QC).
- Acting for the claimants in a professional negligence action against a major UK law firm arising from the conduct of litigation (instructed by Field Fisher).
- Acting for the owners of floating crane in a contractual dispute (instructed by CMS, led by Richard Waller QC).
- Acting for a major supermarket in a CIarb arbitration about a delisting decision (instructed by Walker Morris).
- Acting for the owners of a superyacht in an arbitration (instructed by Walker Morris).
- Acting for the beneficiary of a Guernsey trust in a dispute regarding control of the protector.
- Acting for the claimant in a dispute in the Isle of Man about family wealth.
- Acted for a BVI company in proceedings in the Chancery Division concerning a transfer of shares (held by a Guernsey trust) and the incidence of voting rights in the Isle of Man.