Date of Birth: 1956Date of Call: 1982
Silk Date: 2000
Languages: Afrikaans, Dutch and Flemish (working knowledge)
General Information
Bachelor of Commerce (University of Cape Town)
LLB (University of Cape Town)
MA (Oxon)
Rhodes Scholar
Recorder (County Court Judge)
Deputy Judge of the High Court in the Queen’s Bench Division
Arbitrator
Practice
Stephen Hofmeyr QC commenced practice at the English Bar in 1987, having previously practiced as a solicitor in Cape Town. He took Silk in 2000.
His relatively unique combination of legal and accounting qualifications has equipped him to specialise in all aspects of commercial law and make him particularly suited to complex commercial disputes. The areas of commercial law to which Stephen has been most exposed and with which he has had most experience range from the general contractual to the more specialized, such as insurance and reinsurance, financial services and banking, professional negligence, aviation, rail, shipping and company law (in particular, shareholder disputes and claims against directors).
The primary focus of Stephen’s practice is advocacy, but also involves a significant amount of related advisory work. He is equally adept in long commercial trials and international arbitrations (which typically demand an ability to assimilate and distil complex facts, a mastery of difficult technical issues, lengthy examination of witnesses, tactical skill, and detailed and meticulous planning and preparation), and interlocutory hearings and short appearances before first instance or appellate courts (which generally demand careful legal analysis, tactical appreciation and commonsense). He appears most frequently in the Commercial Court in London, in international arbitrations (ICC, LMAA, LCIA and others) and on appeal from these tribunals to the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and the Privy Council. He has also appeared in the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and in the Privy Council sitting in the Bahamas. He is very much a “team player”, operates an informal “hands-on” approach and is very accessible.
Increasingly, Stephen Hofmeyr QC sits as an arbitrator. He has also acted as an expert on English law in proceedings in various States of the USA and in Singapore.
Stephen Hofmeyr QC has been described in The Legal 500 as “one of the commercial Bar’s best all-round counsel”, as being “held in high regard by the market” and as “one of the Bar’s most impressive and likeable silks”. In Chambers, he has been described as a “quiet but effective all-rounder“, praised for his “wide practice and skillful advocacy” as well as his “insightful perspective that means he sees things others may miss”. He is also portrayed as being “adept at more complicated commercial disputes” and “grounded and thorough - I can’t imagine he is ever thrown by anything”, and praised for his “persuasive and confident manner” in handling tribunals and cross-examining witnesses. It is said of Stephen that he “fights his corner very hard" and "has an impressive compulsion for detail." He is ranked as a Leading Silk in various fields, and is recommended in four fields (commercial litigation, insurance/reinsurance, professional negligence and shipping) in Legal Experts.
Selected Cases
Stephen Hofmeyr QC has a major international arbitration and litigation practice. The breadth of his commercial practice is well illustrated by the full range of his experience.
Insurance and Reinsurance
For the past 21 years, Stephen Hofmeyr QC has been involved in a plethora of disputes arising from most of the major problems which have given rise to large-scale claims in the world-wide insurance and reinsurance markets, including the internecine disputes in the Lloyd’s market in the early 1990s, pensions mis-selling, Exxon Valdez, the invasion of Kuwait, the collapse of financial institutions in the East, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the PA LMX spirals, political risks losses in Sierra Leone, Argentina, Thailand, Colombia, Turkey and Israel, Film Finance and the 9/11 US Terrorist attacks. Reported cases are identified on the attached page. His experience is extensive:
• Marine Insurance
Stephen has significant experience in most areas of marine insurance law. His exposure to hull & machinery total loss claims is perhaps unparalleled at the Bar: beginning with “Archagelos”, in his first year of practice, the claims include “The Italia Express”, “Kastora”, “Centaurus”, “Karin Vatis”, “Mineral Star”, “North Star”, “Starsea”, “Oceanos”, “Kastor Too” and a number of SRB claims (none of which have yet been litigated). He also has extensive experience dealing with claims under most other varieties of policy: Constructors’ All Risks (e.g. Shell Gannet field, Felixstowe Harbour), War Risks (e.g. Dutch Dredgers, Somalia piracy, Lebanon, “Greek Fighter”), Charterers’ liability, P&I (e.g. Exxon Valdez, Miami Terminal) and cargo.
• Energy
He has wide-ranging experience of both on-shore and off-shore energy risks: under-sea pipelines (e.g. Shell Gannet), under-sea cables (e.g. Jersey electricity, St Lawrence River), on-shore pipelines (Occidental Petroleum), refineries and petrochemical plants (e.g. Toulouse), power stations (e.g. Saudi Arabia) and rigs (e.g. P36).
• General Insurance
During the past 18 months Stephen’s diet has been as varied as ever: a US$50 million political risks insurance arbitration involving an insolvent telecommunications provider; a Constructors’ All Risks claim involving a land slip at a harbour development; material damage and business interruption claims arising out of mill failures at a South American mine; material damage and business interruption claims arising out of a warehouse fire; potential multi-million dollar claims arising out of Eskom power failures; an international bank’s potential public liability claim arising out of incidents of terrorism in Israel; and various professional indemnity and personal health claims. In addition, he regularly advises insurance companies on regulatory issues concerning proposed new insurance products.
• Aviation
He has litigated and advised in connection with hull and liability claims (e.g. Paris Concorde, Cessna, Milan/SAS), ground and airport risks (Birmingham City Airport) and personal accident claims.
• Reinsurance
Stephen Hofmeyr QC has 21 years experience dealing with wide-ranging reinsurance disputes. Most recently, he has acted for a market leader bringing claims for more than US$ 350 million under whole account excess of loss reinsurance protections spanning 7 years; for political risks insurers making US$100m plus and US$25m plus expropriation claims; for the insurer of a football finance transaction; for a reinsurer of the South African Road Accident Fund; and reinsurance claims arising out of the Tioxide litigation. He is regularly instructed in relation to coverage issues, allegations of non-disclosure and misrepresentation, “follow settlement” clauses, claims notification clauses, claims co-operation clauses, subrogation, double insurance and reinstatement.
• Disciplinary proceedings
He has represented an individual insurance broker in disciplinary proceedings and has advised the Managing Director of a Managing Agent in connection with disciplinary proceedings proposed by the Council of Lloyds.
Shipping
Recent years have seen something of a resurgence of Stephen’s historic shipping practice. He has appeared in court and arbitration in a number of MOA disputes (involving bulk carriers and oil tankers), bill of lading claims (involving a cargo which caught fire in the Bosphorus, a DRI cargo, a rice cargo) charterparty disputes (e.g. “clausing” of bills, cancellation and termination), cargo and cargo finance claims and ship construction, conversion and repair disputes (involving chemical carriers, pipe-laying vessels, a 96-berth passenger yacht and repairs carried out at the Grand Bahama Shipyard).
Company law
Stephen Hofmeyr QC appeared before the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas on behalf of the Official Liquidator of a US$500m plus International Hedge Fund in a case which raised many important and some novel issues of banking, regulatory, mutual fund management and company law. More recently, he represented the majority shareholder in a share sale dispute with a minority shareholder before the Privy Council in its inaugural sittings in Nassau. The case concerned the interpretation of a shareholder agreement embodied in a Consent Order and the valuation of the company’s interests in subsidiary companies.
Professional Negligence
Stephen is regularly retained to act both for and against professionals, especially – given his qualifications and experience – accountants, insurance brokers and solicitors. Recent reported cases are referred to on the attached page.
Rail
For a number of years Stephen Hofmeyr QC has advised Train Operating Companies in connection with disputes with Network Rail (generally also involving the Office of Rail Regulation) and the Department of Transport arising under Franchise Agreements, Track Access Agreements and the Network Code. He was also involved in rail, insurance and regulatory aspects of the Hatfield derailment.
Banking and Financial Services
Stephen has litigated and advised in relation to disputes concerning letters of credit (for use in international transactions), derivatives, currency swaps transactions and various aspects of FSA regulation.
Other
Stephen Hofmeyr QC is a Member of the London Court of International Arbitration, an Associate Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, and as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, was a member of the Commercial Arbitration Users Programme Working Party. Until the scheme was discontinued, he was also a member of the SFA Consumer Arbitration Scheme Panel of Arbitrators and conducted numerous hearings as sole arbitrator.
Stephen has also done some limited Ecclesiastical law work. Most recently he successfully represented a clergyman on an appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury against a decision of the Bishop of Southwark to remove the clergyman’s licence.
 |
