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‘He is very bright and able.’

Legal 500 2018

Stephen Du

Year of Call:	2012
Email:	Sdu@7kbw.co.uk

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Practice Profile

Stephen joined 7KBW in March 2014, after completing his pupillage.

He is developing a broad practice in commercial law, with a particular focus in insurance and reinsurance, shipping, commodities, private international law and civil fraud. He is equally comfortable being instructed as sole counsel or as part of a team, and has also provided expert evidence on English law in foreign proceedings. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and is interested in expanding his practice to jurisdictions in the Far East such as China, Hong Kong and Singapore. If you are interested in instructing Stephen, please contact our clerks to discuss the requirements of the case and his availability. If you would like to download Stephen’s CV in Chinese, please click here.

Areas of Expertise

Banking & Finance

Show Cases:

Advised on various aspects of MiFID, EMIR, MiFID II and MiFIR.
3-month secondment to an international bank regarding a Financial Conduct Authority review of the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products.

Civil Fraud

Show Cases:

Republic of Djibouti v Boreh: acting (as junior counsel) for Mr Boreh in defending claims by the Republic of Djibouti in the Commercial Court alleging abuse of his position as Chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority.
Acted (as sole counsel) for a Chinese manufacturer alleged to have fraudulently mislabelled its products sold to a British retailer.
Acted (as sole counsel) for the defendants in Chancery Division proceedings defending allegations that the directors of the claimant company had misappropriated the company’s property and the company’s business contacts to set up a competing business.
Assisted in a successful application to discharge a freezing order against an in-house solicitor on the grounds that there was no risk of dissipation and material non-disclosure.

Construction

Show Cases:

Saga Cruises BDF Limited v Fincantieri SpA [2016] EWHC 1875 (Comm). Appeared with Charles Holroyd for the owners of a cruise ship against an Italian shipyard regarding a dispute under a refit agreement.
Acted with Christopher Butcher QC in an LMAA arbitration for Korean shipbuilders concerning the construction of a US$56 million vessel.
Acted with Robert Bright QC in an arbitration concerning the construction of a series of pusher vessels alleged to be poorly designed and built.
Acted (as sole counsel) in a dispute concerning the construction of an extension to a family home.

Commercial Litigation

Show Cases:

HKN Energy Ltd v Hart Security Limited. Acted with James Drake QC on behalf of a security services company in a Commercial Court dispute relating to the provision of security guards for an oil company in Kurdistan.
Acted as sole counsel in a LCIA arbitration concerning a dispute worth over US$120m arising from the provision of a customised mobile phone web browser.
Advised a Chinese state-owned company regarding various aspects of a bilingual contract.
Acted for a well-known leisure company defending a claim by a well-known soft drinks company for breach of a distribution agreement.
Advised a Brazilian pharmaceutical company in relation to a dispute with an Israeli pharmaceutical company over a license and distribution agreement.

Commodities

Show Cases:

Acted with Peter MacDonald Eggers QC on behalf of a commodities trader based in Dubai in a GAFTA arbitration regarding a contract for the sale of wheat, the cargo having been rejected by inspectors from the Egyptian government.
Appeared as sole counsel in a HKIAC emergency arbitration hearing in Hong Kong on behalf of a buyer seeking urgent interim relief in a dispute regarding the sale of coal.
Acted as sole counsel on behalf of Chinese buyers in a CIETAC arbitration regarding a series of contracts for the purchase of US corn and DDGS.

Insurance & Reinsurance

Show Cases:

Acting with Sioban Healy QC in a SIAC arbitration concerning a claim under a trade credit insurance policy.
Appeared (at first instance and on appeal) on behalf of a policyholder bringing a claim against its insurer for an indemnity against losses suffered from a burglary.
Advised on coverage issues arising from various insurance policies, including professional indemnity, fidelity, life insurance and household policies.

Shipping & Transport

Show Cases:

Glory Wealth Shipping Pte Ltd v Flame SA [2016] EWHC 293, [2016] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 571. Appeared with Richard Southern QC in an arbitration appeal concerning breach of a contract of affreightment and whether the owners had suffered substantial loss.
Acted for various parties in actions arising from the collapse of OW Bunker, including the plaintiffs in Newocean Petroleum Co Ltd v OW Bunker China Ltd (“The Cosco Felixstowe”) [2016] HKCFI 492, the leading case in Hong Kong on claims by physical suppliers against shipowners.
Acting with Alistair Schaff QC in a LMAA arbitration concerning a dispute under three shipmanagement agreements.
Appeared as sole counsel against a QC in a LMAA arbitration hearing concerning the chartering of a Floating Storage Regasification Unit and a claim for over US$45 million in hire and related expenses.
Appeared as sole counsel for the owners in an LMAA arbitration hearing concerning the recovery of freight and demurrage against charterers who had been defrauded by their sub-charterers.
Acted as sole counsel for the sellers in an appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act arising from a contract for the sale of a vessel based on the Norwegian Saleform.
Advised shipowners in numerous charterparty disputes regarding issues such as demurrage and unsafe ports.

Education

2007-2010 Trinity College, University of Oxford BA Jurisprudence (First Class Honours)

2010-2011 Trinity College, University of Oxford BCL

2011-2012 College of Law, Birmingham BPTC (Outstanding)

Awards

Lady Astbury Memorial Prize, Trinity College, Oxford 2008 (best College performance in first year exams)
Colin Nicholls QC Prize, Trinity College, Oxford 2008 (best College performance in Criminal Law paper)
Lovells Prize, Trinity College, Oxford 2009
Mowat Scholarship, Trinity College, Oxford 2009
Finals Prize, Trinity College, Oxford 2010
RA Knox Memorial Prize, Trinity College, Oxford 2010
College of Law prizes for best performance in Civil Litigation and Criminal Litigation papers
Hardwicke Entrance Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
Buchanan Prize, Lincoln’s Inn
Sunley Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

Interests

Violin (Grade 8 Distinction); former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain Languages: Mandarin Chinese (fluent)

Directories

He is very bright and able. Legal 500 2018
A Chinese speaker instructed directly by Mainland firms. Legal 500 2018 Asia Pacific
Exceptional. Legal 500 2017

General Information

Articles

Stephen Du and Steven Zhou, King & Wood Mallesons co wrote an article called "Maritime Injunction: a proper weapon against the anti-suit injunction?". To view the full article please click here.

Contact Clerks

Email: clerks@7kbw.co.uk
Office Hours: 8.00 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Out of hours: +44 (0)7831 394225

Latest News

A proper weapon against the anti-suit injunction?

Stephen Du, 7KBW and Steven Zhou, King & Wood Mallesons (Shanghai, China) have co written an article called Maritime Injunction: a proper weapon against the anti-suit injunction? Very recently, Wuhan Maritime Court issued a maritime injunction by which a foreign shipowner was ordered to apply to withdraw an anti-suit injunction issued by the Hong Kong […]

September 5, 2017

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‘He is very bright and able.’

Legal 500 2018

Stephen Du

Practice Profile

Stephen joined 7KBW in March 2014, after completing his pupillage.

Areas of Expertise