Louis Zvesper has a busy practice, specialising in construction, insurance, and commercial disputes. He is ranked as a "rising star" by The Legal 500 in both construction and insurance & reinsurance; as a leading junior in professional negligence; and as “up and coming” by Chambers and Partners in commercial dispute resolution.
Louis regularly appears in the High Court and County Courts, acting for a wide range of clients including insurers and policy holders, and (within the construction industry) employers, contractors, site-owners, developers, construction professionals etc.
Louis is regularly instructed to advise, draft documents, and represent parties from pre-action through to trial and appeal, including in various forms of ADR. His experience ranges from relatively modest disputes through to billion-pound claims.
Louis’ recent instructions include:
- Instructions from Fenchurch Law to act for Stonegate Pub Company Ltd in Stonegate v MS Amlin & Ors. Louis is being led by Ben Lynch KC, Adam Kramer KC, and David Pleiner KC. The case was listed as one of The Lawyer magazine’s top 20 cases of 2022. It concerns a £1 billion claim for business interruption losses due to COVID-19, and is a market leading case addressing issues arising from COVID-19 in relation to aggregation, post-policy period causation, treatment of furlough and government support, and AICW. The Stage 1 Judgment was handed down in October 2022, with an appeal to the Court of Appeal due to be head in November 2023, and a Stage 2 trial thereafter.
- Instructions from Burges Salmon to act for a UK café chain in a £17m business interruption insurance claim, led by David Pleiner KC.
- Instructions from Herbert Smith Freehills in a multimillion-pound PII coverage arbitration, led by Nigel Jones KC, Chambers Bar Awards Commercial Litigation Silk of the Year for 2022.
- Instructions from Fieldfisher to act for a property developer in a £7m insurance claim for water damage to a luxury apartment development in London, led by David Pleiner KC.
- Instructions as sole counsel from Acuity Law to act for an RMC in a £5m claim relating to roofing defects and water penetration affecting a development of apartment blocks.
- Instructions as sole counsel from Fenchurch Law to act for a pharmaceutical R&D company in a £3m business interruption insurance claim.
Louis has contributed chapters to Construction Professional Indemnity Insurance (Sweet & Maxwell); Construction All Risks Insurance 3rd edition (Sweet & Maxwell); Construction Insolvency 7th edition (Sweet & Maxwell); and Risk and Negligence in Property Transactions (The Law Society).
