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Practice Summary

Nick’s practice is divided equally between international commercial arbitration and disputes heard in the English courts. 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 has been recommended in (variously) Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 for Commercial Dispute Resolution, Energy and Civil Fraud, where he has been described as a “fantastic lawyer” and “very clever, very practical and a delight to work with.” Nick was also nominated for Energy Junior of the Year at the 2019 Legal 500 Bar Awards.

Nick was also featured, in 2012, by Legalweek in its list of ‘Stars of the Bar’. 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:

  • SIAC arbitration (Singapore seat): acting (with Laurence Rabinowitz QC) in a US$5.5bn SPA dispute in the oil&gas sector, being heard in Singapore under the rules of SIAC. The trial took place over some 35 days in 2018;
  • The VW Emissions group litigation: defending the VW group (with Charles Gibson QC, Prashant Popat QC and others) in the largest ever English Group Litigation Order;
  • ICC arbitration (Geneva seat): acting (with John McCaughran QC) in a multibillion US$ gas supply dispute between national electricity/gas companies heard at the ICC in Paris. Successfully obtained an approx US$1.7 billion award (subsequently upheld before Geneva courts);
  • Dar Al Arkan v Al Refai: acting (with Craig Orr QC) in a fraud dispute relating to Islamic bonds/banking practice, one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 High Court trials of both 2015 and 2014;
  • Bilta v Deutsche Bank: acting (with Daniel Toledano QC) 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:  

“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)

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

“Fantastic. Very clever, very practical and a delight to work with” (Chambers & Partners 2018, Civil Fraud)

“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)

“Super-charged energy combined with a first-class legal mind” (Legal 500 2016, Energy)

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