Name

Charles Davies

Practice

A wide variety of commercial and shipping work, including: Admiralty, air law, arbitration, banking, bills of lading, boat repair, business disputes, charterparties, collisions, commercial contracts, contracts of carriage (sea, land and rail), freight forwarding, insolvency, insurance (marine and non-marine), international trade, landlord and tenant (business premises), oil industry/construction, partnership, personal injury (marine-related), pollution, sale of goods, salvage, ship sale.

Reported cases include American Express Services Europe Ltd v Tuvyahu (CA) LTL 12/7/2000; Voaden v Champion [2001] 1 Lloyd's Rep 739 (Admiralty Court), [2002] 1 Lloyd's Rep 623 (CA); Middle East Tankers & Freighters Bunker Services SA v Abu Dhabi Container Lines PJSC and others [2002] 2 Lloyd's Rep 643; Logos Trading NV v A-Z Petroleum Products Ltd [2002] EWHC 761 (Comm) LTL 1/5/2002; Newham London Borough Council v R LTL 12/1/2005; Vitesse Yacht Charters SL v Spiers and another (The "Deverne II") [2004] 1 Lloyd's Rep 179.

Qualifications

• Commenced practice October 1996 in 4 Field Court, Gray's Inn, London.
• Pupillage at Queen Elizabeth Building, Chambers of Geoffrey Brice QC (which moved to 4 Field Court in 1996) 1995-6.
• Called to the Bar, Middle Temple, November 1995.
• Bar Vocational Course (very competent), Inns of Court School of Law, 1995.
• Dip Law, PCL, 1988.
• MA, D Phil (1985), Oxon.
• BA Hons 1 st class, Persian with Arabic (1980), Oxon.

Languages

Persian (Farsi), Arabic, Spanish, French (in descending order of proficiency).

Examples of cases in which instructed

• Instructed on behalf of a national airline in a dispute in the Commercial Court concerning the performance of its managers and rights arising under the airline's contract with them. Aspects of the case included accounting issues and the effect of representations. Also instructed in other air law cases, including ACMI aircraft lease and passenger claims.
• Acted for a UK coal mining company in a dispute between it and its mining contractors arising out of the operation of an opencast mine. Major issues included contract terms and interpretation, and the matter of land restoration.
• Instructed on behalf of a European distributor of plastics in its contractual dispute with a major UK manufacturer and supplier. Issues of contract and estoppel by convention.
• Junior in a long-running international dispute referred to arbitration in London concerning the construction and functioning of an oil platform in the Gulf. The dispute concerned the performance of the installation, and included numerous complex expert, as well as contractual legal, issues. The documentation, both primary and in the form of pleadings, was considerable.
• Acted for a UK harbour company in a dispute with a major grain importer which contracted with it for use its facilities. The case concerned the storage of and condition of imported grain, involving expert issues.
• Have acted, both in Court (including the Commercial Court) and in arbitration, on behalf of international oil trading companies in a number of disputes between them and their suppliers and purchasers. These disputes have centred upon contractual issues, involving demurrage and responsibility for customs formalities and letters of credit.
• Acted in case involving novel aspects of credit card law: annually renewable policy of insurance with provision for payment of monthly premiums by debiting credit card; cardholder terminating account and instructing card provider to refer all standing orders on account to him; card provider continuing to allow second account to be debited in respect of payment of premiums; whether cardholder liable in debt to credit card provider for debits to account.
• Acted for European ship managers in a contractual dispute with bunker suppliers. The central issues were those of jurisdiction and the law of agency. Also acted for major ship managers in dispute with officer relating to secret commission.
• Instructed in a variety of marine insurance cases, including cargo, barge, passenger ferry, yacht and commercial pleasure boat insurance, both court cases and arbitration. Issues have included role of classification society, role of broker, double insurance, non-disclosure and misrepresentation, warranties, wreck removal, unseaworthiness, wilful misconduct, estoppel and waiver, policy terms and coverage.
• Non-marine insurance cases, including building, motor and product liability insurance.
• Instructed in a variety of bill of lading, charterparty (unsafe berth, unseaworthiness, fire, demurrage etc.) and commercial contract disputes both in court and in arbitration. Have also lectured on international trade.
• Involved in cases relating to freight forwarding, warehousing and carriage by rail.
• Acted for, and later as junior for, vessel owner in case involving significant issues of quantum. Negligent mooring of defendants' vessel caused total loss to plaintiff's vessel and pontoon. Issues included value of plaintiff's vessel at time of loss, and whether plaintiff could recover damages for loss of chartering income, loss of private use of vessel and loss of pontoon and mooring. Liability and limitation of liability had initially been in issue.
• Salvage (LOF arbitration).
• Instructed in a number of domestic and international collision cases.
• Advised in a number of cases involving ship sales, as well as being instructed in cases involving vessel construction and repair (including yacht and fishing vessels).
• Have advised and represented the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in its prosecutions.
• Yacht charters: Acted on behalf of yacht owners in claim against charterers for damages for loss of use arising out of grounding of yacht in Mediterranean on account of charterers' negligence (Admiralty Court). Major issue was that of whether charterparty terms regarding insurance and exemption of liability relieved charterers of liability. Also acted on behalf of yacht owners in arbitration concerning charterers' claim against them for alleged later delivery and breaches of terms of charterparty.
• Have advised and lectured in the field of marine pollution.
• Marine personal injury cases (including commercial vessels such as tankers and fishing vessels, and pleasure vessels such as yachts and small craft).
• Cases involving questions of mooring rights.
• Instructed in partnership disputes.
• Instructed by a charity in recovery proceedings against a former employee arising out of the latter's fraud, as well as in a Cheques Act action against the bank with which the employee set up accounts so as to facilitate his fraud.
• Experienced in the field of landlord and tenant, including business tenancies.
• Miscellaneous experience, including judicial review, professional negligence and some insolvency work.