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Practice Summary

Nick’s practice is divided equally between disputes heard in the English courts and international commercial arbitration. Over the years, Nick has acted in some of largest-scale international commercial disputes, frequently within the energy or financial sectors, and often involving allegations of fraud or other wrongdoing.

Nick is recommended in Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior barrister in the fields of Commercial Dispute Resolution, International Arbitration, Energy & Natural Resources and Civil Fraud, where he has been described as “very clever, very practical and a delight to work with”, a “fantastic lawyer” and a “formidable opponent”. Nick was shortlisted for Energy Junior of the Year at the 2019 Legal 500 Bar Awards.

Nick was also featured by Legalweek in its list of ‘Stars of the Bar’ for 2012. He was described as having “a razor-sharp intellect and a staggering ability to remember key details in complex cases” as well as being “committed to the client's cause and a really nice man to work alongside.”

Nick’s recent work has included the following:

  • Mariana & ors v BHP Billiton plc (the Fundão dam litigation): defending BHP in a c. US$5bn claim by 200k+ Brazilian Claimants in respect of the Fundão dam collapse in Brazil. 
  • SIAC arbitration (Singapore seat): acting in a US$5.5bn SPA dispute in the oil&gas sector, heard in Singapore and London under the rules of SIAC. The trial took place over some 35 days in 2018;
  • The VW Emissions group litigation: defending the VW group in the largest ever English Group Litigation Order;
  • ICC arbitration (Geneva seat): acting in a multibillion US$ gas supply dispute between national electricity/gas companies heard at the ICC in Paris. Successfully obtained an approx US$1.7 billion award;
  • Dar Al Arkan v Al Refai: acting in a fraud dispute relating to Islamic bonds/banking practice, one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 High Court trials;
  • Bilta v Deutsche Bank: acting for Deutsche Bank in relation to alleged carbon trading fraud; and
  • A corporate investigation at a FTSE 100 plc.

Directory comments, over the years, have included the following:  

“His drafting and analysis are excellent…He bats way above his years of call” (Chambers & Partners 2020, Energy & Natural Resources)

 “Nick is the definition of an all-rounder: he has superb technical skills and is quick-witted, engaging and thorough." "He gets on top of the subject matter and has a very, very good writing style.” (Chambers & Partners 2019, Commercial Dispute Resolution)

“A formidable opponent, a great all-rounder and a real star” (Legal 500 2019, International Arbitration: Counsel)

 “Super smart, quick, and delightful to work with” (Legal 500 2018, Commercial Litigation)

 “A fantastic lawyer, who gets the law right and is a terrific team player.” (Legal 500 2017, Energy)

“He is excellent: he is very pragmatic, cuts through all the nonsense and reads and absorbs long documents very quickly." (Chambers & Partners 2017, International Arbitration)

 “A forceful and persuasive advocate, who outshines opponents who are far more senior” (Chambers & Partners 2016, Commercial Dispute Resolution)