International & Offshore
One of Maitland’s core practice areas is international and offshore work and it is one of the prominent sets in this area, being ranked highly by Chambers UK. Our barristers regularly appear as advocates before foreign courts and tribunals from first instance through to the higher Court such as the Privy Council; as well as appearing on all forms of ADR and providing expert evidence of law in foreign proceedings.
Our international and offshore work draws on our broad range of specialist skills from:
- Cross-border insolvencies, funds and other investment vehicles work
- Commercial disputes
- Fraud, asset-tracing and recovery, (including world-wide freezing orders/injunctions), both contentious and non-contentious trust, company disputes, including breaches of duties by directors
- Commercial disputes
- The variation and operation of offshore/non-UK trusts
- Advice and drafting in non-contentious matters, for example in structuring/restructuring offshore trusts, companies, partnerships and other corporate structures, including related tax considerations
- Breaches of duty by directors, officers and trustees
- Professional negligence claims
- Shareholder and joint venture partner disputes
- Disputes about jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments/arbitration awards worldwide
Our experience in all of these areas means that we bring cross-disciplinary expertise to complex matters.
Particularly significant cases in which members of Maitland have been involved include, Convoy Collateral Ltd v Broad Idea International Ltd & Anor, Ming Siu Hung v JF Ming Inc, Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds v Krys, Fairfield Sentry Ltd v Migani and Fairfield Sentry Ltd v Farnum Place LLC.
Our members are called to the local Bar either on an ad hoc or temporary admission basis, for example in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and other parts of the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei and the Isle of Man.
We have been involved in arbitrations and other tribunal hearings ranging as far afield as Singapore, New York, Zurich, Paris, Milan, Luxembourg and Stockholm. A number of Judges who sit outside the UK (including in the Eastern Caribbean, the Cayman Islands and the DIFC) have been known to us professionally for many years. Several of our senior members sit as fee-paid judges themselves not only in the UK but also offshore.
For information regarding our expertise in International Arbitration, please see below.
Expertise
litigation
jurisdiction challenges
interim remedies
International Arbitration
International arbitration is the leading method for resolving cross-border disputes in a neutral forum, often offering businesses greater confidentiality, flexibility, finality and enforceability than traditional court litigation.
Our members have wide experience of acting as advocates and arbitrators in arbitrations conducted under all of the major institutional rules (including the ICC, LCIA, ICDR, SCC, SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, and ICSID rules, as well as other major arbitral rules such as UNCITRAL) and with various different seats.
Members of Chambers also act in court litigation ancillary to arbitration, such as disputes about the validity of arbitration agreements, claims for pre-arbitration injunctive relief, and challenges to and the enforcement of arbitral awards.
We have experience of arbitrations involving parties from a wide range of industry sectors, including energy, mining, oil & gas, banking & financial services, LLP disputes, trusts and shareholders, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, commodities, international investment, and projects and construction.
Several of our members and associate embers regularly sit as arbitrators, including, Sir Nicholas Patten, Sir William Blackburne (formerly a judge of the English High Court), Simon Nesbitt KC (formerly co-head of international arbitration at Hogan Lovells), and Paul Klaas (formerly chair of Dorsey & Whitney’s international disputes practice).
Examples of our work in the field of international arbitration include:
- P (a co inc in country A) v D (a co inc in country B) & ors (2019): successful challenge to arbitration award under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on the grounds that the tribunal had acted unfairly in reaching a decision without the losing party’s main witness being cross-examined on that issue and by basing their decision on a case which had not been argued
- An LCIA arbitration seated in London between two Nigerian companies involving claims for payment under a Sale & Purchase Agreement and related Guarantees for two deep offshore oil mining leases in Nigeria, and counterclaims relating to management of the relevant oilfields
- An LCIA arbitration seated in Dubai under the Rules of the Dubai International Financial Centre concerning investment banking fees and margin calls on derivatives
- An ICSID arbitration seated in Washington, D.C, concerning copper mining investments
- Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. v OJSC Rosneft Oil Company: part of the long running Yukos affair, claims to enforce arbitral awards worth nearly half a billion dollars which had been set aside by the Russian courts
- An ICC arbitration seated in Bucharest between German and Austrian construction companies on the one hand, and a Romanian state agency on the other, regarding claims arising under an agreement for the rehabilitation of highway bridges
- A Swiss Rules arbitration seated in Zurich between a German chemical manufacturer and a US chemical manufacturer involving a trade secrets/licensing dispute concerning chemical coatings for containers
- IPCO (Nigeria) Ltd v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation: an application to enforce in England a Nigerian arbitral award worth over $150m
- An LCIA arbitration seated in London between a Dutch company and a Tanzanian company involving claims for breach of an exclusivity agreement governed by Dutch and English law and concerning the acquisition of a Tanzanian company
- An ICC arbitration seated in Paris between a French electronics manufacturer and a US airline involving a dispute over the manufacture of aircraft simulators
- JSC Zestafoni G Nikoladze Ferralloy Plant v Ronly Holdings Ltd: an arbitration claim in the Commercial Court challenging an Award relating to contracts for supply and manufacture of ferroalloys at a plant in Georgia under ss. 67 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996
- An ICDR arbitration seated in New York between a Japanese food processing company and British, US and German food processing companies concerning corporate control issues between formerly related corporations
- An ad hoc arbitration seated in London under the UNCITRAL Rules between the local subsidiaries of two major oil companies, relating to back-in rights arising under a joint operating agreement for the exploitation of an oilfield in the South China Sea
- An ICDR arbitration seated in New York between a North American distributor and an Australian winery owner involving a dispute concerning North American distribution rights of fine wines
- An LCIA arbitration seated in London between an Australian coal mining company and an Indian steel manufacturer involving an $80 million contract claim