Jonathan Harris KC

Practice Areas

Professor Jonathan Harris KC (Hon.) has a pre-eminent reputation in the field of private international law. He is general editor (with Lord Collins of Mapesbury) of the leading work Dicey, Morris and Collins, The Conflict of Laws (16th edition, 2022). He specialises in cross-border commercial and chancery litigation (particularly disputes raising issues of jurisdiction, anti-suit injunctions, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and choice of law).

He was recently instructed for the successful respondent in the Supreme Court in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance LLC on jurisdiction to restrain breaches of foreign seat arbitration clauses. He was previously instructed for the successful respondent in the landmark Supreme Court case of Granatino v Radmacher on pre-nuptial agreements; and for the successful appellant in the Privy Council in Hutcheson v Spread Trustees, a case concerning trustee exemption clauses in Guernsey. He has appeared in numerous other leading cases in England and offshore.

He also regularly acts as an expert on English law in proceedings around the world. He was legal advisor to the Ministry of Justice on the EU Succession Regulation. He has drafted “firewall” trusts legislation for a number of offshore jurisdictions. He is co-author of Underhill and Hayton, Law of Trusts and Trustees (20th edition, 2022). He is a member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Private International Law; and is also Professor of International Commercial Law at King’s College, London.