Nautica Law

The firm is led by Senior Partner, Tim Houghton and is made up of a further seven Partners, two Senior Associates, two Associates, two Trainees and a Paralegal. Languages spoken at the firm include, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Afrikaans, conversational Russian and intermediate German. The team has experience gained over many years of practice as well as including impressive younger lawyers whose talents the firm is keen to foster. The firm aims to continue to build and strengthen its long-term relationships with clients through excellent service and providing value for money.

Nautica Law (formerly known as Winter Scott) is a shipping litigation practice established in 2004. In 2022, the firm relaunched as Nautica Law with new branding and new offices in the heart of the City of London. The firm however remains known as a specialist shipping boutique set apart by the quality of its advisory, litigation and arbitration work in the shipping and arbitration sectors and by its commercial focus.

Nautica Law's expertise is in all aspects of shipping including charterparties, bills of lading, ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding, oil and dry bulk trading and trade finance. The firm handles disputes in London and international arbitration, including LMAA, LCIA, GAFTA and FOSFA the English courts and in mediation, as well as undertaking advisory and drafting work. The firm acts for P&I clubs, charterers, shipowners, insurers and multinational commodities traders and energy companies.

The firm's core area of practice is advising on and handling all types of dispute concerning charterparties and bills of lading and all related issues such as obtaining security (arrest and attachment), jurisdiction, repudiation/renunciation and damages. Complementing Nautica Law's core shipping work the firm has extensive experience in trade and commodities. The firm's lawyers understand how the markets work and how to operate as part of a team to work effectively with lawyers in other jurisdictions to achieve results. Nautica Law has also acted on behalf of international banks in respect of disputes arising under letters of credit and other trade finance documents. The team have hands-on experience of litigating issues concerning the procurement of letters of credit by fraud and the avoidance of these and other trade documents. Our lawyers have acted in many ship sale and purchase and shipbuilding cases over the years, advising clients on contracts and terms. Nautica Law also acts in relation to disputes concerning MOAs and shipbuilding contracts.