Keith Hutchison

Full Profile

Keith is a Dispute Resolution partner in Clyde & Co's Abu Dhabi office. He has worked in the UAE since joining the firm's MEA offices from the London office in 2007. He began his career with Clyde & Co in London in 2002.

Keith handles a wide range of commercial dispute resolution work, with a specialism in trade credit insurance matters (coverage and recoveries) and with a jurisdictional focus on representing clients in commercial litigation before the DIFC Courts (a common law financial free zone in Dubai) - where he has attained advocacy rights to appear as counsel - and in DIFC-LCIA arbitration. 

Of particular note, Keith has successfully obtained for clients various forms of injunctive relief in the DIFC Courts and the ADGM Courts, including a number of ‘firsts’ as their jurisprudence develops.

In addition to his insurance work, Keith advises regularly on disputes involving the enforcement of judgment and awards, shareholder issues, education and healthcare, telecoms, banking and investments, trusts, commodities and other general commercial litigation. Keith also heads Clyde & Co's Middle East Debt Recovery team, which includes acting for many of the world's largest trade credit insurers and Export Credit Agencies.

Keith has experience of handling dispute resolution through:

• Litigation in various fora: the DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts (a common law financial free zone in Abu Dhabi), the 'onshore' UAE Courts, the Joint Judicial Committee for Jurisdictional Conflicts between the DIFC Courts and Dubai Courts, and the Dubai World Tribunal, as well as in the Courts of KSA, Bahrain and Qatar, the English Courts and Cayman Islands Courts;
• Arbitration (including under the Arbitration Rules of each of the DIFC-LCIA, ICC, LCIA and DIAC); and
• Mediation (including under the Mediation Rules of the DIFC-LCIA).

He acted for the claimants in the first successful enforcement of a foreign arbitration award in the Dubai Courts under the New York Convention (2012) and in the first successful 'conduit' jurisdiction case involving enforcement of an award through the DIFC Courts (2015). 

Keith received the DIFC Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year Award 2016 in recognition for his contribution to the profession and the DIFC jurisdiction. He is also a contributing author to the DIFC Academy of Law Legal Commentaries series on DIFC Law published by LexisNexis (including the chapter on the DIFC Arbitration Law). 

Keith's notable reported DIFC Courts cases include:

• Allianz Risk Transfer (Dubai Branch) v Al Ain Ahlia Insurance Company (CFI-012-2012)
• Banyan Tree Corporate Pte Ltd v Meydan Group LLC (ARB-003-2013 / CA-005-2014)
• (1) Fiske (2) Firmin v Firuzeh (ARB-001-2014)
• (1) Egan (2) Eggert v (1) Eava (2) Efa (ARB-002-2014)
• Vannin Capital PCC PLC v Al Khorafi & Ors (CFI-036-2014)
• Tavira Securities Limited vs (1) Re Point Ventures FZCO (2) Jai Narain Gupta (3) Mayank Kumar (4) Saroj Gupta (CFI-026-2017)
• Sunteck Lifestyles Ltd v (1) Al Tamimi & Company (2) Grand Valley General Trading LLC (CFI-048-2017)
• Grand Valley General Trading LLC v GGICO Sunteck Ltd (CFI-044/2018)

Experience

• Advising on enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards in the UAE
• Advising on a private investment dispute against a large regional investment bank
• Advising on insurance and reinsurance aspects of the Arab Spring
• Advising reinsurers on a large marine cargo/property loss in the UAE
• Advising reinsurers on professional liability claims in the UAE courts
• Advising on commodities sale and purchase contract disputes
• Advising on a share sale and purchase dispute
• Advising a major commercial shipyard on contractual issues
• Advising on marine and aviation cargo insurance policy liability/coverage issues in the UAE courts
• Advice on obtaining security for maritime claims in the UAE
• Advising charterers/disponent owners on charterparty disputes in London arbitration
• Advising on service of foreign court process in the UAE