Date of Birth: 1966Date of Call: 1989
Silk Date: 2006
General Information
King’s School, Chester
Peterhouse, Cambridge
M.A. (Hons.) Cantab.
Practice
• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance and Reinsurance
• International Arbitration
• Banking and Finance
• Professional Negligence
• International Trade
David Edwards Q.C. is a barrister specialising in commercial law, in particular insurance and reinsurance, banking and finance, professional negligence and international trade. He appears most frequently in the Commercial Court or the Chancery Division, and on appeal in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
Much of his work is dealt with in confidential international arbitration. A significant part of his practice involves working together with foreign (particularly United States) lawyers and arguing cases governed by a foreign substantive law (particularly New York law).
In addition to his practice as an advocate, David Edwards Q.C. has sat as sole or as party-appointed arbitrator in ad hoc or institutional (ICC and LCIA) arbitrations.
Recommendations
For many years, both as a junior and since 2006 as a silk, David Edwards Q.C. has been listed by Chambers and Partners and by the Legal 500 as a leader in insurance and reinsurance and sometimes in commercial litigation. Recent editions comment that he:
“is blessed with a fantastic brain”
“can cut quickly through matters which take others hours”
“is able to get straight to the heart of a problem and solve it”
They describe him as:
“a polished advocate”
“someone who can make the implausible sound plausible”
“a brilliant cross-examiner”
David Edwards Q.C. was twice nominated for Chambers and Partners insurance junior of the year.
Recent Work
David Edwards Q.C. has been instructed in relation to most of the major problems that have affected the insurance and reinsurance markets over the last 20 years from the Lloyd’s litigation in the early 1990 to the plethora of E & O and D & O disputes which have arisen out of recent problems in the financial markets. He has also been involved in more general commercial work. Over the last ten years, for example, David Edwards has:
• acted for Middle Eastern clients in an ICC arbitration concerning the breakdown of a joint venture to build US$5 billion mixed-use towers in the Persian Gulf
• acted for a United Kingdom household name insurer in successive arbitrations with a Japanese reinsurer concerning the disposal of a book of financial solutions business
• acted for a United States telecommunications company in a Bermuda form arbitration seeking to recover from D & O insurers losses in excess of US$100 million arising out of securities litigation in the United States
• acted for a specialist firm of hedge fund brokers, advising on insurance policy wordings and notification issues arising out of recent financial market conditions
• acted for insurers of a United Kingdom pharmaceutical company advising on product liability claims brought by patients in relation to one of the company’s blockbuster drugs
• acted for casualty insurers of a French conglomerate advising on claims arising out of the departure of its CEO and ensuing securities litigation in the United States
• acted for Bermudian insurers in a Bermuda form arbitration defending claims by a United States telecommunications company arising out of securities litigation in the United States
• acted for reinsurers of the captive of a major accountancy firm in an London arbitration concerned with claims arising out of the firm’s development and marketing of tax shelter schemes in the United States
• acted for the Law Society seeking to recover compensation payments from professional indemnity insurers of a firm of solicitors (Law Society v Shah [2008] 3 WLR 1401; Law Society v Wemyss [2008] EWHC 2515 (Ch))
• acted for Bermudian insurers in a Bermuda form arbitration defending a claim brought by a United States healthcare provider arising out of allegations of improper and unnecessary cardiac surgery
• acted for a Lloyd’s syndicate in a London arbitration pursuing a claim against whole account reinsurers for an indemnity for losses suffered on its personal accident book
• acted for a Bermudian insurer in a Bermuda form arbitration against its reinsurers seeking to recover in respect of 2005 hurricane losses and to resist allegations of non-disclosure of catastrophe modelling output
• acted for a United States life insurance company in a variety of court and arbitration proceedings arising out of its involvement in the personal accident LMX market
• acted for a Lloyd’s syndicate in an arbitration against a catastrophe reinsurer concerning maintenance of zonal aggregates for United States hurricane and earthquake risks
• acted for the captive insurer of AstraZeneca in litigation against reinsurers in relation to claims concerning genetically modified crops (CGU International Insurance v AstraZeneca [2007] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 142)
• acted for the administrators of Turner & Newall seeking to recover from insurers under a £500 million policy covering the company’s asbestos liabilities (Centre Re v Freakley [2006] 1 WLR 2693)
• acted for insurers and reinsurers of energy, satellite and reflight guarantee business in various court and arbitration proceedings pursing or resisting claims
• acted for a Lloyd’s syndicate in a dispute concerning payment of brokerage on personal accident business (Absalom v TCRU [2006] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 129)
• acted for Spanish insurers of the football club Atletico de Madrid in court proceedings against their London market reinsurers (Toomey v Banco Vitalicio [2005] Lloyd’s Rep. IR 423)
• acted for Winterthur Swiss Insurance company in what is believed to be the world’s biggest “baseball” arbitration arising out of the sale of part of its business to XL and in related court proceedings
• acted for lenders in relation to a number of insurance-backed corporate finance transactions in the United States and Cayman Islands involving amounts as high as £300 million
• acted for JP Morgan Chase (HIH v Chase Manhattan [2003] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 61) and for Société Génerale, Royal Bank of Canada, National Bank of Canada and the Matrix Partnerships in the film finance litigation
• acted for Harding Maughan Hambly in a dispute between producing and placing brokers about payment of commission on a political risks placement (HMH v CECAR [2000] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 316)
• acted for Sanwa, Sumitomo and Arab Banks in court proceedings against Banque Bruxelles Lambert arising out of a syndicated lending transaction (Sumitomo v Banque Bruxelles Lambert [1997] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 487)
Reported Cases
Law Society v Wemyss [2008] EWHC 2515 (Ch)
Law Society v Shah [2008] 3 WLR 1401
CGU International Insurance v AstraZeneca [2007] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 142
Absalom v TCRU [2006] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 129
Centre Re v Freakley [2006] 1 WLR 2863
Toomey v Banco Vitalicio [2005] Lloyd's Rep. IR 423
HIH v Chase Manhattan [2003] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 61
The “Winter” [2000] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 298
The “Seta Maru” [2000] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 367
HMH v CECAR [2000] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 316
Source v TUV [1998] QB 54
Sumitomo v Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA [1997] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 487
The “Lendoudis Evangelos II” [1997] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 404
The “Bergen” [1997] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 380
Glencore v Portman [1997] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 225
New Hampshire v MGN [1997] Lloyd’s Rep. IR 24
The “Nicholas H” [1996] AC 211
