As a litigator, mediator, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Patrick is well placed to deal with domestic, cross-border disputes and conflicts with an international element across a range of sectors.
After an early grounding in marine, shipping and re-insurance litigation in both London and Hong Kong, he has since worked for clients including but not limited to those in insurance and re-insurance, professional liability insurance, technology, financial services, hedge fund management and medical sectors as well as representing private individuals.
More recently, Patrick has been advising high-profile businesses in the satellite and space sector and emerging energy sources.
Expertise
- Commercial disputes
- Litigation
- Arbitration
- Management of multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary teams
- Fraud
- Banking disputes
- Professional negligence
- Insurance
- Technology
- Space-sector disputes
- Financial services
- Remedies arising following the collapse of Collective Investment Funds
- Personal guarantees
- Shipping
- Maritime communications
- Medical joint ventures
- Warranty disputes
Experience
Arbitration
- Co-lead adviser on a large international fraud case, including an LCIA arbitration, 2 parallel AAA arbitrations and proceedings in support of arbitration in multiple other jurisdictions. The UK team comprised 5 lawyers, 3 QCs and 4 junior barristers and internationally the team comprised about 30 other lawyers in a number of jurisdictions from the US to the Far East.
- Successfully acted for Lloyd’s names’ agency in an arbitration that concerned denial of cover on whole account excess of loss reinsurance policy.
- Acted for numerous shipping clients in LMAA Arbitrations against a variety of Romanian Government agencies.
- Acted for a well-known yacht manufacturer in LMAA arbitration defending build-quality disputes.
- Passed Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Special Fellowship examination, 1996.
Marine and Shipping
- Represented Occidental Petroleum in negotiating resolution of a complex dispute with BP over the joint venture ownership of a North Sea safety rig.
- Represented numerous shipowners and their insurers in charter party disputes.
- Frequently obtained security for judgements or awards, through arrest of shipping assets, often in other jurisdictions. At one time had procured the simultaneous arrest of 7 Romanian Government-owned ships in France by persuading French courts to look behind the statutes of incorporation of the various government agencies involved.
- Represented owners in a leading case on equitable set-off from charter hire in the context of a five-year time charter.
- Advised an owner on a claim in negligence against a marine architect.
Professional Negligence
- For six years in the 1990s acted solely for the Solicitors Indemnity Fund in defending negligence claims against solicitors and advising insurers on settlement. Now advises claimants and potential claimants on professional negligence claims against solicitors and other professionals.
Banking Disputes
- Acted for an international trading company in taking a case to a three-week trial in the Chancery Division in a dispute with its bank concerning representations made by the Indian bank’s chairman. The case involved the interpretation of oral assurances given to the business by the chairman, their meaning and effect, particularly in relation to personal guarantees, and the bank’s entitlement to offset multi-currency accounts and a counterclaim for damages caused to the business as a result of the bank’s misrepresentation.
- Successfully set aside a number of statutory demands for directors of a property development companies following unilateral decisions by banks to cease lending in respect of London-based property development projects and the consequent “manufacture” of breaches of the financial covenants as a pretext for withdrawing loans and calling on the personal guarantees.
- Acted for the director of Biogas plant in a £40m dispute with funders over the failure to fund construction of gas to grid plant as agreed and leading to project failure.
- Advised a borrower on rights to call in policies of mortgage guarantee insurance following the bank’s assertion of event of default on a £250 million loan portfolio.
- Acted successfully for guarantors in defending a claim by Barclays by scrutinising the bank’s inability to produce original documents and Barclays’ entire record-keeping system.
Financial Services
- Advised a group of six international IFAs in respect of potential liabilities arising from clients’ investments into collapsed Bermuda-based collective investment funds.
- Advised on liability of SIPP providers and IFAs in the context of ‘execution only’ instructions and unauthorised investments.
- Regularly advises investors and IFAs in respect of claims of negligent financial advice and, in particular, pension transfer cases.
- Successfully settled a claim for life time earnings and damaged prospects at mediation for an IFA whose career had been ruined by the provision of a negligent career reference.
- Advised a large international IFA network on consequences of data breach following access of data by a disgruntled former AR.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong 1986
CEDR and ADR Net trained Mediator
Career
Patrick qualified as a solicitor in 1983. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2009, he worked at the following firms:
- Bevans
- Bond Pearce Exeter