Douglas Grant

Douglas has acted in and advised on a wide range of arbitrations, including under LCIA, LMAA, GAFTA and FOSFA rules. These include:

• Acting in a hard-fought LCIA arbitration between two Ukrainian businesspeople involving allegations of fraud and forgery, led by Stephen Hofmeyr QC.
• Acting as sole counsel in a multi-million-dollar commodities arbitration concerning the effect of a certificate final clause.
• Acting as sole counsel in a multi-million-dollar commodities arbitration involving a dispute as to whether a binding contract had been concluded.
• Acting as sole counsel in a GAFTA arbitration, including a successful appeal to the GAFTA Board of Appeal.
• Acting in and advising on a number of LMAA arbitrations, including in relation to charterparty, ship sale and purchase, and superyacht disputes.

• Acting in a hard-fought LCIA arbitration between two Ukrainian businesspeople involving allegations of fraud and forgery, led by Stephen Hofmeyr QC.
• Advising on a breach of warranty claim arising out of the sale of shares in a professional services firm.
• Assisting in drafting the respondent’s notice of objections in an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the enforcement of solicitors’ undertakings and covenants in restraint of trade.
• Assisting in bringing successful committal proceedings for repeated breaches of a worldwide freezing order.

• Advising a coverholder on various issues relating to Covid-19 business interruption insurance, with James Brocklebank QC.
• Acting in Technip Saudi Arabia v Medgulf, a US$30m claim under an offshore CAR insurance policy, led by James Brocklebank QC.
• Acting in Manchikalapati & Ors v FSCS, an application for judicial review of a decision by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to refuse compensation to a group of policyholders, led by James Drake QC.
• Acting in Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 1, a leapfrog appeal to the Supreme Court concerning insurance cover for business interruption losses arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, led by Jonathan Gaisman QC, Adam Fenton QC and Miles Harris.
• Acting as sole counsel in a £800,000 insurance broker’s negligence claim.
• Acting as sole counsel for the insured in a £2m property insurance dispute.
• Advising on the effect of US-Iran sanctions on a claim under a marine insurance policy.
• Advising in relation to professional indemnity cover for cladding-related claims following the Grenfell Tower disaster.
• Providing evidence to a foreign court on various aspects of the English law of marine insurance and carriage of goods.

• Acting in a hard-fought LCIA arbitration between two Ukrainian businesspeople involving allegations of fraud and forgery, led by Stephen Hofmeyr QC.
• Assisting in the successful appeal from a three-week civil fraud trial in the Commercial Court on the grounds that the judge had failed to give adequate reasons for his decision: Simetra Global Assets Limited v Ikon Finance Limited [2019] EWCA Civ 1413.

• Acting for the sellers in a claim under a dishonoured letter of credit.
• Acting as sole counsel in a GAFTA arbitration, including a successful appeal to the GAFTA Board of Appeal.
• Acting as sole counsel in a multi-million-dollar commodities arbitration concerning the effect of a certificate final clause.
• Acting as sole counsel in a multi-million-dollar commodities arbitration involving a dispute as to whether a binding contract had been concluded.
• Advising an EU commodities trader in relation to compliance with global anti-corruption and sanctions regimes.

Douglas has experience of acting in and advising on a wide range of shipping disputes, and has spent six months on secondment at a leading shipping firm. Recent work includes:

• Acting for the owners in a claim for general average, led by Stephen Kenny QC.
• Acting in a LMAA arbitration concerning an agreement for the sale and purchase of a ship terminated during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Advising on the negligent management defence under the Hague-Visby Rules.
• Advising on a dangerous cargo claim relating to the shipment of Indonesian coal.

• Acting as sole counsel for the insured in a £800,000 broker’s negligence claim.
• Acting for the Financial Reporting Council in an investigation into the audits of a FTSE 100 company, led by Noel Casey.
• Assisting in a claim regarding auditors’ failure to detect fraud by the company’s director.
• Assisting in advising on a claim against a solicitor for failure to restrain the presentation of a winding-up petition.
• Assisting in advising on a claim against the trustees of a pension fund.