Mark Jones

Mark Jones Commercial Profile

BA (Hons) - Oxford University

1998-2000 - Ince & Co

2000 - Called to the Bar (Lincoln's Inn, Kennedy Scholar)

Profile

Mark Jones is a barrister with a broad commercial practice, encompassing general commercial work, banking, insurance and reinsurance, shipping, and the sale and carriage of goods (international and domestic).  He appears regularly in the English Courts, and acts in arbitrations both in London and abroad. He also provides expert evidence on English maritime law for use in foreign proceedings.  

Before commencing his career at the Bar, Mark trained as a litigation solicitor at Ince & Co focusing on commercial, shipping and insurance matters. He is also accredited to appear in the DIFC in Dubai.

Mark is recommended in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading barrister. 

Mark Jones joins the rankings this year following exceptional feedback from the market. Sources say: "He is an effective operator with a great sense of humour." (Chambers & Partners 2012)

Mark Jones pays ‘phenomenal attention to detail and gives prompt and pragmatic advice'. (Legal 500 2011)

Particular Areas of Expertise

• General Commercial:
  • All aspects of general commercial practice, both international & domestic.
  • Conflict of laws / jurisdictional issues.
• Banking:
  • Domestic and international banking.
  • Surety, guarantee and performance bond disputes.
  • Commercial loan agreements.
  • Trade-related finance (including documentary credits and bills of exchange).
• Insurance and Reinsurance:
  • Marine and non-marine.
  • Disputes as to policy construction, coverage and non-disclosure.
  • Brokers
• Shipping and International Trade:
  • “Ship Building and Sale / Purchase (including guarantee wordings).
  • Sale / Carriage of goods by air, road, rail and sea, including domestic and international commodity disputes.
  • “Wet” and “Dry” shipping
• Arbitration:
  • Domestic and international arbitration as Counsel.
  • Supervisory jurisdiction of the English Courts (procedural challenges, appeals, ancillary relief, and enforcement).

Examples of Recent Cases of Note:

General Commercial

Mark’s general commercial work is wide-ranging, as illustrated by the diversity of the following examples of his work:

• Acted as Sole Counsel for the Government of Cameroon in Commercial Court proceedings relation to a claim brought by an alleged assignee of significant tranches of government debt. (Gracechurch Capital v Republic of Cameroon).
• Advised a major company in the paper business in a dispute arising out of a contract for the disposal and relocation of extensive plant and machinery among group companies based in the UK, China, Spain, India and Germany.
• Acted as Sole Counsel for a well-known Internet Service Provider, in a number of significant commercial disputes, some involving successful High Court proceedings and others involving advising / preparation for mediation.
• Advised, as leading Counsel, an international firm of solicitors facing claims of professional negligence from their former client arising out of their handling of a long term and significant arbitration on their behalf.  The claims were successfully settled in mediation.
• Acted in High Court proceedings for the enforcement of German Judgments by way of charging orders over share holdings.
• Instructed as Sole Counsel to act for the defendants in a Commercial Court claim for US$1,500,000 by a major airline regarding the storage and sale of aircraft parts. (Pakistan International Airlines Corporation v IAA(UK)).
• Acted as Sole Counsel for a major Indian company in an arbitration held in Dubai regarding a significant dispute arising out of the launch and management of a new state-of-the-art hospital in Dubai.
• Instructed as Junior Counsel in a dispute involving the import of a significant number of cars into the UK from the US and allegations of (inter alia) malicious falsehood. (The Car Agency (International) Ltd v Daimler Chrysler UK Limited).
• Acted as Junior Counsel in Commercial Court proceedings involving claims of approximately US$11million arising out of the collapse of the Pegasus shipping group. (JP Morgan Chase v Peraticos & Ors).
• Acted as Sole Counsel in a case involving, amongst other things, consideration of how the rights of third parties should be protected when the court grants a party interim relief (Miller Brewing v Mersey Docks & Harbour Company & Ors [2004] FSR 81).

Banking

Mark regularly acts for and advises various financial institutions in relation not only to ‘vanilla’ loan agreements, but also to more complex instruments and facilities concerning particular major projects. His experience extends well beyond advising on the relevant agreements, but also includes acting for institutions financing major projects that encounter serious difficulties and is therefore familiar with the longer term strategic thinking required when such parties are standing ‘behind’ the principal parties involved with the projects in question. For example:

• Mark is acting for the banks standing behind the buyers in various major shipbuilding projects that have stalled, and in some cases, been cancelled. One such case involves the construction of 8 chemical tankers, each with a price of US$26.6million (total value well in excess US$200 million), and another involves a US$260 million project for the construction of 10 vessels.

Mark also acts for and provides advice in relation to guarantees and performance bonds, examples include:

• Advised a UK bank in relation to facilities that it provided to customers operating in international commodity markets as to the proper operation under English law of mechanisms used in international trade such as ‘trust receipts’ and various negotiable documents.
• Advised a major German bank as to its, and its customer’s rights, under instruments issued by a Chinese bank (involving as to whether the documents were guarantees or performance bonds, the effects of variations to the underlying contracts, and so on).

Insurance

Mark has been instructed in various insurance matters, and is frequently asked to advise and act for both insurers and underwriters in a wide range of disputes, primarily coverage disputes.  He is familiar with the workings of the London market.

• Instructed to act for underwriters seeking to recover from their insured the sum of US$1.75m following over-payments made on account.
• Disputed claim concerning the theft of high performance motor cars.
• Advised the charterers of a vessel which suffered significant damage caused by a chemical cargo, involving claims of circa US$12million made under the relevant charters and insurance policies and raising difficult questions about (i) the inter-relationship between dangerous cargo and seaworthiness obligations, and (ii) the application of the doctrine of inherent vice.
• Advised the insured in relation to claim for $2.4million under liability insurance, and in particular as to the operation of the “pay to be paid” clause in the policy and the proposed structure of the underlying settlement.

Shipping and International Trade

Mark’s practice has a considerable shipping component (both ‘dry’ and ‘wet’), and covers all aspects of international trade, whether it be the carriage of goods, the sale of goods, or the related financial and insurance transactions.  He has been involved with some of the leading shipping cases of the last 10 years, such as

• The Sea Angel [2007] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 517 (Court of Appeal), [2007] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 335: acted for successful sub-contracting salvors in claims arising out of the large scale “TASMAN SPIRIT” casualty in Pakistan in the Commercial Court and then in the Court of Appeal involving novel and important issues relating to the doctrine of frustration of contract.
• The ‘Starsin’ [2004] 1 AC 715 (House of Lords): acted for the successful Appellant shipowners / demise charterers on appeal to the House of Lords in one of the most important shipping cases in recent years involving a wide range of issues relevant to the carriage of goods under bills of lading.

Mark has been instructed either as Sole or Leading Counsel in some significantly high value disputes. This is most evident in his shipbuilding work, where the disputes have arisen out of projects involving sums in excess of US$200 million.

Arbitration

Mark has been instructed in various disputes that have been referred to arbitration, both in the UK and abroad. Matters of confidentiality preclude mentioning most such disputes by name, but examples of his work include acting as Sole Counsel in an arbitration in Dubai about the establishment and management of a state-of-the-art hospital.

• Mark has also frequently been instructed to advise and act for clients in cases involving challenges to the Awards under the Arbitration Act 1996.  For example, he acted for the successful respondents in the Commercial Court in Buyuk Camlica Shipping Trading & Industry Co Inc v Progress Bulk Carriers Ltd [2010] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. Plus 102 involving challenges to an Award on the basis of ss. 68 and 69 of the Act, as well as the operation of time limits and the appropriate procedures for the correction of Awards.
• Mark’s practice also includes seeking ancillary relief from the English Courts in support of both London arbitrations and foreign arbitrations, such as urgent Orders under s.44 of the Arbitration Act 1996 for the preservation of evidence and assets.

Mark is a supporting member of the LMAA, and is familiar with the rules of many of the major arbitral institutions.

Education & Legal Training

Mark was a scholar at Winchester College before going on to study Law at Oxford University (St Edmund Hall), graduating in 1996.  He completed the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in London, and then spent 2 years training as a solicitor at Ince & Co, London, specialising in shipping, (re-)insurance, and general commercial litigation.

Mark then moved to the Bar in 2000, and was awarded a Kennedy Scholarship by Lincoln's Inn.  He completed his 1^st 6 months of pupillage at Essex Court Chambers (Gordon Pollock QC) and his 2^nd 6 months at Stone Chambers (Steven Gee QC).  He joined Stone Chambers as a tenant in 2001.

Professional Memberships

Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR)

London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association.

British Maritime Lawyers Association (BMLA).

Supporting member of the LMAA.

• Mark is a member of two of the BMLA's working groups: one considering the UK Government's proposals for the implementation of the Bunkers Convention 2001, and the second considering the implementation by the UK of the European Directive on Environmental Liability.

London Shipping Law Centre

• Mark has appeared as a speaker at their professional seminars.