Dave Barnard

Dave Barnard

Call: 2022 (BVI, 2024)

Practice Profile


Dave accepts instructions in all of Chambers’ areas of commercial practice, including aviation, insurance and reinsurance, shipping, commodities, civil fraud and professional negligence.

Dave has a particularly keen interest in shipping and insurance; he became an Associate of the Association of Average Adjusters in 2022, following his completion of exams concerning the Marine Insurance Act 1906 and the Insurance Act 2015.

Dave accepts unled instruction and he has appeared alone in the County Court and in the High Court. He particularly enjoys instructions which seek injunctive or other interlocutory relief; he has previously been involved in obtaining freezing orders, third-party costs orders, and various forms of disclosure orders.

Dave is a member of the Bar of the British Virgin Islands.

Dave’s current and recent instructions include:

  • Acted for the Buyers in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal, in challenges made pursuant to sections 68(2)(d) and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, in King Crude SA v Ridgebury November LLC [2023] EWHC 3220 (Comm); [2024] EWCA Civ 719. Permission to appeal has been granted and the appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court later in 2025.
  • Acted (as sole counsel) in a challenge to the Admiralty Court’s in rem jurisdiction based upon ss. 20, 21 of the Senior Courts Act 1981.
  • Worldwide freezing order in support of arbitral proceedings in the British Virgin Islands, including numerous interlocutory applications (including disclosure orders).
  • Ongoing Commercial Court proceedings concerning aviation insurance.

Prior to joining Chambers, Dave read law at the University of Nottingham, where he achieved a First, and studied for a year at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. During his year in Vancouver, Dave acted pro bono for various clients in the provincial and criminal courts in British Columbia. In the year prior to pupillage, Dave worked in the shipping litigation department at a major international law firm, during which he worked on a wide range of shipping and commodities disputes, including the expedited trial, appeal, and third-party costs order in The “Amethyst” and “Courage” [2022] EWHC 452 (Comm); [2022] EWCA Civ 1091 (trial and appeal); [2022] EWHC 2696 (Comm) (third-party costs order).

Dave particularly enjoys marine insurance disputes. Dave became an Associate of the Association of Average Adjusters in 2022, following his completion of exams concerning the Marine Insurance Act 1906 and the Insurance Act 2015.

Examples of Dave’s recent instructions include:

  • Ongoing Commercial Court proceedings regarding aviation insurance.
  • Coverage under Protection and Indemnity club rules, in relation to damage said to have been caused by a deficient vessel which was detained abroad.

During pupillage, Dave experienced a wide range of insurance and reinsurance disputes. Selected work includes:

  • Assisted in relation to a claim in negligence against brokers which arranged a policy of fire insurance, in which the insured property was allegedly undervalued.
  • Assisted and advised in relation to the appeal in Quadra v XL [2023] EWCA Civ 432, which concerned an insurance claim arising out of fraud on Ukrainian agribusiness.
  • Advised in relation to a claim on a policy of marine cargo insurance arising from an alleged fraudulent financing arrangement and an alleged breach of the duty of fair presentation.
  • Advised in relation to a claim for a constructive total loss on a policy of marine insurance based upon the allegedly-improper detention of a vessel in Libya.
  • Prepared draft pleadings in a claim on a policy of mortgagees’ interest insurance.
  • Advised in relation to a claim on a policy of charterers’ liability insurance.
  • Assisted and advised in relation to claims on various policies of proportional, stop loss, excess of loss and treaty reinsurance.
  • Assisted in relation to consequentials following the hearing of preliminary issues in Greggs Plc v Zurich Insurance Plc [2022] EWHC 2545 (Comm).

Prior to pupillage, Dave worked in the shipping litigation team at an international law firm, during which Dave advised on various claims on policies of vessel and cargo marine insurance. In this role, Dave also drafted a variety of pre-action correspondence, in both Court and arbitral proceedings, as well as submissions in arbitral proceedings.

Dave is regularly instructed in shipping disputes. Daves ’s current and recent instructions include:

  • Acted (as sole counsel) in a challenge to the Admiralty Court’s in rem jurisdiction, following the arrest of a vessel, based upon ss. 20, 21 of the Senior Courts Act 1981.
  • Arbitral reference concerning an interim port claim with a preliminary issue as to the applicability of a time bar clause (as sole counsel).
  • Various concurrent arbitral references arising out of disputes with vessels’ technical and commercial managers.
  • Interpleader proceedings in the Commercial Court arising out of a dispute as to provisions concerning the payment of hire in a charterparty.
  • Advising on various general average disputes, including following the decision of the High Court in The “Star Antares”.
  • Various arbitral references involving cargo claims concerning the carriage of chemicals.
  • Advising on common shipping and charterparty disputes, including claims in bailment against the owners of a vessel, cargo claims and demurrage claims.

Dave experienced a wide range of shipping disputes during pupillage. Selected work includes:

  • Advised on various charterparty disputes related to laytime and demurrage, some of which related to the Court of Appeal’s decision in The “Eternal Bliss”, and others of which related to vessel detention and maintenance issues.
  • Advised on the application of a force majeure clause in a voyage charterparty.
  • Advised on a yacht brokerage dispute.
  • Advised in relation to a cargo claim against a carrier based upon alleged cargo contamination during shipment.
  • Advised in an off-specification bunker dispute.

Prior to pupillage, Dave worked in the shipping litigation team at an international law firm, during which Dave experienced a wide range of wet and dry shipping disputes. Dave was heavily involved in the expedited Commercial Court trial and the expedited appeal in The “Amethyst” and “Courage” [2022] EWHC 452 (Comm); [2022] EWCA Civ 1091. Dave also advised on numerous wet and dry shipping disputes, which concerned (for example) charterparty construction, the Inter-Club Agreement, disputes involving charterparty chains, cargo claims, and the applicability of various forms of war clauses in charterparties (including the BIMCO War Risk Clause and variants thereof).

At university, Dave scored the highest in his year in Maritime Law, and Dave wrote a dissertation about general average with a focus on the Supreme Court’s decision in The “Longchamp” [2017] UKSC 68.

Dave’s current and recent instructions include:

  • US$20 million dispute concerning payment for international shipments of coal.
  • Assisted in ongoing Commercial Court proceedings concerning allegedly off-specification soya beans.
  • Advised in relation to bailment and exclusion clauses in contracts of carriage.

During his pupillage, Dave:

  • Assisted in the appeal in Quadra v XL [2023] EWCA Civ 432.
  • Advised in relation to a dispute concerning a fraud allegedly perpetrated in relation to the storage of co-mingled commodities.
  • Advised on a dispute concerning the improper storage of commodities.
  • Advised on a dispute concerning the contamination of commodities during shipment.

International Arbitration

Dave is regularly instructed as both sole and junior counsel in international arbitrations in a number of practice areas pursuant to various institutional rules. Examples of Dave’s current and recent instructions include:

  • Acted for the Buyers in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal, in challenges made pursuant to sections 68(2)(d) and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, in King Crude SA v Ridgebury November LLC [2023] EWHC 3220 (Comm); [2024] EWCA Civ 719. Permission to appeal has been granted and the appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court later in 2025.Instructed as junior counsel in an LCIA arbitration, which involves disputes as to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, res judicata, the relevance and effect of related foreign proceedings, and allegations of fraud.
  • US$20 million international arbitration which concerns a dispute related to a sale of coal, involving a dispute as to the arbitral tribunal’s constitution.
  • Instructed as sole counsel in an interim port claim with associated disputes relating to cargo contamination, which involved the determination of the applicability of a time bar provision as a preliminary issue.

During his pupillage, Dave assisted with, and attended, various arbitration hearings, including a dispute arising out of the management of a vessel, and a multi-million-pound arbitration concerning the sale of a Lloyd’s syndicate.

Prior to pupillage, during his work in the shipping litigation department at an international law firm, Dave worked on dozens of arbitral proceedings subject to LMAA, GAFTA and LCIA Rules. Dave drafted pleadings, written submissions, and various applications to tribunals (including for security of costs and disclosure). Additionally, Dave assisted in the drafting of a skeleton argument for an application for permission to appeal pursuant to sections 68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996.

Dave’s instructions often involve an international element, as a result of which Dave has been instructed in various disputes which raise conflict of law issues. Examples of Dave’s current and recent instructions include:

  • Instructed as sole counsel in a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court.
  • Instructed as junior counsel (led by Michael Holmes KC) in a challenge to the High Court’s jurisdiction to hear international fraud and conspiracy claims based upon forum non conveniens, the rights afforded to employees in a foreign jurisdiction, and the law applicable to determine those claims.
  • Instructed as junior counsel in an LCIA arbitration involving a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and a challenge that the reference is vexatious based upon the existence of related foreign proceedings.
  • Instructed as junior counsel in various LMAA arbitrations involving challenges to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, including a reference commenced by an entity which was not a party to the jurisdiction agreement.

Dave has a particular interest in (international) sanctions. Dave has advised and is instructed in various disputes which involve sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom and international authorities (in the United States, the European Union, and others). For example, recent instructions concern the sanctions imposed on Russia by the international community in 2022, and the interaction between those sanctions and the Ralli Brothers principle that a party is excused from performance of a contract by reason of illegality under the law of the place of performance.

Before starting pupillage, during his work in the shipping litigation department at a leading international law firm, Dave advised on the applicability and relevance of sanctions in a number of contexts, including vessel insurance, charterparty disputes and chains, and the BIMCO War Risks Clause (and variants thereof). In addition, Dave was heavily involved in the expedited Commercial Court trial and the expedited appeal in The “Amethyst” and “Courage” [2022] EWHC 452 (Comm); [2022] EWCA Civ 1091, which focused upon the designation of an individual as a “Specially Designated National” by authorities in the United States.

    • 2020-2021: Bar Practice Course, Inns of Court College of Advocacy
    • 2016-2020: LLB Law with Canadian Law (Hons), University of Nottingham (First Class)
    • 2018-2019: Law, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

    Scholarships and Awards

    • Gray’s Inn Edmund Davies Scholar (2019)
    • Award for Scoring Highest in Maritime Law (2018)
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