Harry Wright

Insurance and reinsurance: as pupil to Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, assisted with preparation for an appeal to the Supreme Court in Teal Assurance v WE Berkeley Insurance [2013] UKSC 57, including thoroughly researching the ‘hold harmless’ fiction in insurance law (see article, cited below), and Parliamentary procedure on non-controversial Law Commission Bills; as pupil to Peter MacDonald-Eggers QC, assisted drafting a skeleton argument for an appeal of an arbitration award relating to a claim under a hull and machinery policy; especially involved consideration of the meaning of ‘in the grip of an insured peril’ and the extent of an insured’s obligations under sue and labour clauses; drafted mediation position statement for underwriters on policy validity and coverage defences arising under a crime policy in the context of a claim for losses arising from alleged multi-million pound mortgage frauds against a major UK mortgage lender; drafted skeleton argument for strike out/summary judgment hearing in the County Court on behalf of insurers in defence of a claim by an insured under a directors and officers policy for defence costs; advised a reinsured on potential breach of a claims control clause by reason of an unauthorised settlement, including consideration of issues of waiver by election and estoppel by convention. Commercial: settled points of claim in an arbitration worth $1.5m for breach of a settlement agreement; involved points on jurisdiction/conflicts and agency, in particular duties of undisclosed principals and their agents; advised in a major dispute worth over US$100m on whether there was a binding exclusive distribution agreement between two parties, including issues over what constitutes an ‘agreement to agree’ and the level of detail necessary for a contract to be enforceable; as pupil to Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, assisted with preparation of advice to a major construction company on liability to their employer arising from alleged breaches (in the form of design defects) of an NEC Engineering and Construction Contract; advised and settled particulars of claim on behalf of a client of a commercial storage facility; involved application of principles of bailment and led to immediate settlement of the claim; advised a Lloyd’s syndicate on whether it had been subject to a fraudulent device by a representative of its insured; assisted Richard Southern QC with research into the necessary ingredients for a valid ‘combination in the tort of conspiracy and the status of a ‘commission agency’ in the English law of agency. Shipping: as pupil to Peter MacDonald-Eggers QC, assisted drafting a skeleton argument for a successful appeal to the High Court in Hyundai Merchant Marine Co Ltd v Americas Bulk Transport [2013] EWHC 470 (Comm), brought under section 67 Arbitration Act 1996. Included issues as to whether pmiies reached consensus and meaning of ‘back-to-back’ in the context of a charterparty; as pupil to Ben Parker, assisted with preparation for an arbitration hearing to decide the entitlement of owners to an indemnity from charterers under either the Inter-Club Agreement or the charterparty in respect of damage to a cargo of cement damaged during loading; as pupil to Rebecca Sabben-Clare QC, assisted with research into whether an engineering consultant owed a duty of care to shipowners following damage to a vessel worth over $1.5m. Included consideration of papers in Spanish language; advised vessel owners whether charterers were permitted to deviate to load additional cargo under terms of an Asbatankvoy charterparty, and whether damages were recoverable for delays (and resulting costs) caused by such deviation; advised slot charterers on viability of their claim against time charterers and head owners for cargo damage, including consideration of unseaworthiness of vessel, sub-bailment on terms of the cargo and contractual terms implied by a prior course of dealing; advised shipowners on unsafe ports, a charterer’s duties of maintenance of a chartered vessel and the loading of unlawful cargoes.

2006-2010: MA History, University of Edinburgh (First Class); 2008-2009: History and Politics, University of Virginia, USA; 2010-2011: GDL, BPP University College, (Distinction); 2011-12: BPTC, Kapla11 Law School, (Very Competent).