Full Profile
Mike has over 30 years' experience in marine insurance dispute resolution, handling a broad range of coverage, liability and recovery cases acting for London and foreign market insurers/reinsurers and their insureds/reinsureds. He also has significant experience of general commercial disputes with a marine flavour.
Mike heads up the fine art practice in London, often working closely with our New York office, acting for clients across a diverse range of issues including as to provenance, attribution, valuation and the recovery of stolen or looted art.
Mike sits as the ex officio Legal Adviser to the London market's Joint Cargo Committee and is a supporting member of the Average Adjusters' Association.
He has presented at IUMI, the leading marine market insurance conference, and frequently lectures to other audiences on topical marine and fine art insurance issues. He is regularly asked to draft new Policy wordings and clauses, a number of which have been adopted by the JCC and by clients.
He has extensive experience of handling cases before foreign Courts requiring the involvement of foreign correspondents and has achieved a number of important successes (e.g. the Tsakos / "In Sung" litigation where the clients won before the Uruguayan Supreme Court on the applicability of their terms and conditions; the "Contship France" where the clients succeeded before the Tahiti Court of Appeal in having multiple claims against them struck out on time bar grounds).
Mike has a working knowledge of French, German and Spanish, working closely in particular with our Paris office, and has given expert evidence to foreign courts in a number of cases (e.g. the M/V "SEWOL").
He also has a particular interest in yacht work both contentious and non-contentious involving yachts big and small, and works closely with our Ship Finance team.
Reported cases include:
- M/T "Alexandros T" [2014] - Mike acted for the Companies Market Insurers in their successful appeal to the Supreme Court in London on jurisdiction – described, in the Supreme Court's judgment, as a "a remarkable case in more than one respect" and subsequently before the Court of Appeal on the merits.
- M/V "Irene EM" [2014] – Mike acted for Hull and IV insurers in defence of a contested constructive total loss claim following the vessel's grounding.
- Borealis v Geogas [2011] – Mike acted for Borealis in their successful contractual claim against the supplier of a contaminated butane cargo. This is an often cited case on the chain of causation and when that is broken.
- M/T "Borvigilant" [2003] Court of Appeal – Mike acted for tug owners and their P&I Club in their recourse action against the owners of the tow following the loss of the tug with loss of life, a leading case on agency in the tug and tow field.
Experience
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Advising cargo insurers on coverage issues arising in relation to claims by the insured for loss/seizure/misappropriation of rice and veg oil cargoes in West Africa.
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Acting for fine art insurers following the high profile recovery of a stolen work of art and its later salvage sale.
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Advising specie insurers in relation to coverage issues arising (including breach of warranty/failure to implement surveyor's recommendations) following a South American vault loss.
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Advising H&M insurers on coverage issues arising following a catastrophic vessel shell plating failure.
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Advising H&M insurers and their insured on liability issues arising following an allision by the insured vessel with a port facility leading to partial closure of the port.
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Advising shipyard liability insurers and their insured in relation to personal injury claims for multiple trauma following a shipyard explosion.
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Advising builders' risk insurers on coverage issues (including defective design, delay in delivery and betterment) arising in relation to a series of vessels under construction at the insured's yard.
