Personal
Adrian is a Commercial Dispute Resolution specialist. He has substantial experience handling a wide range of general commercial disputes through litigation, arbitration, or alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Adrian was admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 1987. In addition, he was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong (1990), as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Australian Capital Territory (1993) and as a Barrister of the High Court of Australia (1993). He has worked in several jurisdictions namely England (1985-89 and 1995-2008), Hong Kong (1989 – 1995) and Dubai, UAE (February 2008 to date).
He regularly represents his clients as Counsel in arbitrations governed by various institutional rules including DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC, and LMAA. He has also been appointed as a Sole Arbitrator by DIAC for several arbitration matters. He is a member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA).
Adrian is registered as a Legal Practitioner of the DIFC Courts with full rights of advocacy and has appeared many times as an Advocate before these Courts and before the Special Tribunal relating to Dubai World and its subsidiaries. He is a current member of the DIFC Courts’ Rules Committee and a former Chair and Deputy Chair of that Committee. He is a lecturer for the DIFC Academy of Law and handled the leading case heard by the DIFC Court on forum non conveniens.
He also regularly works with our UAE Advocates in connection with a wide range of disputes before the UAE Courts where the governing law of the dispute is UAE Law as applied in the Emirate of Dubai. Adrian is licensed to advise on UAE Law by the Dubai Government’s Legal Affairs Department.
Adrian has developed particular experience handling multi-jurisdiction enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards including directly through the UAE Courts or through the DIFC Court as a conduit court for enforcement in onshore Dubai. He has appeared as an expert witness before Courts and Arbitration Tribunals including, before the Sudanese Courts on enforcement of foreign court judgments in England.
For a considerable part of his legal career Adrian specialised in handling shipping and international trade matters in London (with Waterson Hicks, a boutique specialist shipping and international trade practice) and in Hong Kong (with Clyde & Co) and this remains an important part of his work load. He handles both contentious and non-contentious shipping work. As well as dealing with charterparty and bill of lading disputes he has considerable experience of shipping finance, newbuilding and vessel repair and ship sale/purchase transactions.
Practice Areas
Arbitration
Banking Disputes
Commercial Litigation
Director & Shareholder Disputes
Dispute Resolution
Financial Crime, Asset Tracing and Regulatory Investigations
Insurance
Maritime, Transport & Trade
Maritime, Transport & Trade Disputes
