Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

As sole legal counsel, I must ensure that I can manage competing responsibilities and tasks that come in from three offices, all in different time zones and working weeks. I noticed that when we have had litigation matters, due diligence and updating of records needed to be improved therefore I implemented a scheme whereby my colleagues need to ensure we collate a list of documents such as POAs, and trade licences from our counterparts when entering into contracts and ensure that each of these are kept up to date. This assists me dealing with any issues that arise further down the line as having the correct documents in place from the start means that any enforcement matters are easier to advise on without trying to find out information after an issue has arisen – which helps reduce costs. 

How do you balance your responsibilities as a general counsel with your involvement in dispute resolution and M&A matters? 

At times as sole legal counsel, it can be very difficult to manage claims as well as M&A and corporate matters that arise. With any job whether someone is a waitress, PA or junior lawyer up to general counsel (I have worked in each of these roles) it is necessary to prioritise and organise one’s task list according to urgency, importance, difficulty of managing the client and of course the length of time you need to complete the task (and hopefully not underestimate the time and complexity too much). At times this can be difficult, however, anything which is M&A and corporate based is not usually urgent unless of course there is a deal taking place or a new ship purchase, sale, and finance restructure. 

Generally, I find dispute matters and advising on shipping matters, which may arise day to day, are more urgent by nature and usually require attention as soon as possible. With any tasks that comes in, it is necessary to assess the issue and decide where on the to do list these should fall. I try to ensure that I keep my to do list updated every day and update it before I leave for the day. I also think it is important to remember that, albeit you may have had something planned for the day, you are employed by the business and if something else is demanding attention that day then you must adjust and change course, you can always get back on course later in the day or the next day. I find therefore being flexible is necessary and a sense of humour helps to get through the day. 

Can you discuss a particularly challenging dispute or M&A scenario you encountered and the innovative strategies you implemented to address it? 

With any litigation matter, whether it be in-house or in private practice, there will usually be many elements to the dispute. Often as a shipping lawyer you are dealing with an asset which has people on board (whether they be crew or oil platform workers), and you will have the added issue that the vessel should be earning hire each day and there could be cargo onboard which is dangerous, or the vessel could be blocking access to the port, for example. 

Whilst I have worked on many litigation matters which do not involve shipping (such as the sale of a famous hotel and the commission to be paid), shipping matters are often real time issues in which you are dealing with the potential litigation as well as the vessel which could be detained. 

A challenging matter involved a vessel which was to be redelivered after a very long-term charter. The vessel was old and there was a requirement for her to be returned to the condition she was in at the start of the charter (like real estate dilapidations claims). Most commercial vessels’ lifespan tends to be around 20 years before they need to be scrapped. However, the client I was working for was refusing to pay anything towards the repairs or see the need to repair her (regardless of what the contract stated) as the vessel was near the end of her life. However, the vessel’s class was expiring within a week or two, there were crew onboard who were striking and had involved various human rights organisations, and the vessel was detained by the port due to non-payment of port dues and some HSE issues. 

The negotiations at hand were very difficult as the crew refused to work to bring the vessel back to her home port (which was understandable as they had not been paid their salaries), but our client was refusing to pay hire and for repairs, and the owner was refusing to pay the crew and port due to what was outstanding from the charterer. It was eventually resolved by settling the dispute in part to release payment for the crew and port to ensure the vessel was returned to her home port before her class certificates ran out as otherwise, she would have been stuck in a foreign country with expired class certificates which would have made the resolution, repatriation of the crew and repairs much more difficult. Once she was redelivered the clock stopped on the real time issues then it was easier to deal with the main dispute between the parties. 

In this matter, the innovation came from working as part of a team to resolve the problem and working out how to get to the solution of redelivering the vessel. I enjoy litigation matters which involve how to work out the solution to the impasse and getting the parties to accept how to resolve the matter, which is no doubt why I enjoy acting as a mediator as well.