Erik Penz

Career

Erik Penz is Special Counsel practising commercial disputes out of Kennedys' Bermuda office. He is called to the Bar of Bermuda and in Canada, and was a Foreign Legal Consultant in the Sultanate of Oman between 2017 and 2021.

Erik maintains a broad advocacy and advisory practice in complex contentious matters, particularly involving the insurance, construction and professional-services sectors. His practice areas include injunctions, winding-up petitions, arbitration enforcement, company disputes, policy claims and coverage disputes, international judicial assistance, and recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and practitioners.

He has appeared as counsel before the Court of Appeal and the Commercial Court in Bermuda, as leading counsel before the Court of Appeal, Divisional Court, Superior Court and regulatory panels in Canada, before international and domestic arbitral tribunals, and in mediations in London and Canada.

Erik was a partner at Norton Rose in Canada for nearly 10 years and then practised international disputes in the Middle East for four years. He was counsel on leading insolvency, contract and private-international cases in Canada, and acted in high-profile litigation and international arbitration proceedings in the Middle East. Erik was profiled as a Leading Practitioner in The Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist for the Middle East in 2022 and 2023.

Practice Areas

Erik’s practice covers all forms of dispute resolution, including insolvency and regulatory proceedings, and he has extensive experience with strategic/tactical litigation and multi-jurisdictional proceedings. Erik is a strong proponent of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as mediation (including through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in London), pre-trial settlement conferences, and negotiation.