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Practice Summary

Nick acts in some of the largest-scale international commercial disputes, frequently within the energy or financial sectors, and often involving allegations of fraud or other wrongdoing. He is recommended in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 in the fields of Commercial Litigation, International Arbitration, Civil Fraud and Energy & Natural Resources, where he has been described as “One of the best and most popular juniors around – exceptionally clever, wonderful tactically, and an asset to any team”. He was named by Legalweek as one of the ‘Stars of the Bar’ and was shortlisted for Energy Junior of the Year at the 2019 Legal 500 Bar Awards.

Nick’s recent work has included the following:

  • Mariana & ors v BHP Billiton plc (the Fundão dam litigation): acting for BHP in a c. US$5bn claim by 200k+ Brazilian Claimants in respect of the Fundão dam collapse in Brazil, on which BHP’s strike out for abuse and jurisdiction challenge was upheld in November 2020 (one of the Lawyer’s Top 20 High Court disputes of 2020).
     
  • The VW Emissions group litigation: acting for the VW group in the ‘diesel-gate’ claim, brought under the largest ever Group Litigation Order;
     
  • HMRC v GE: acting for General Electric companies in a fraud claim by HMRC;
     
  • SIAC arbitration (Singapore seat): acting in a US$5.5bn SPA dispute in the oil&gas sector, heard over many weeks in Singapore and London under the rules of SIAC. The trial took place over some 35 days in 2018;
     
  • 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;
     
  • A corporate investigation at a FTSE 100 plc.
     

Recent directory comments have included the following:

“Clever, hardworking and ever so sensible and practical, he is a real star and a joy to work with” (Legal 500 2020, Energy)

“Very clever, approachable and easy to work with” (Chambers & Partners 2021, Commercial Dispute Resolution)

“An excellent lawyer – very clever and formidable powers of legal analysis.” (Legal 500 2020, Commercial litigation

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

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

“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)

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