Caroline Pounds

Caroline is instructed by a number of well-known banks and appears regularly in the High Court and the County Courts on their behalf. She handles a variety of matters, including claims relating to guarantees, loans and mortgages and the provision of other financial services.

Caroline has particular experience of disputes arising out of factoring and invoice discounting arrangements and advises frequently in relation to the varied complex questions (i.e. concerning assignment and legal and equitable set-off) which these disputes can give rise to.

Dry shipping work forms the bedrock of Caroline’s practice.  She has extensive experience of bill of lading and charterparty disputes, including claims for damage to and/or misdelivery of cargo, unsafe port cases, claims for early/late redelivery, off-hire disputes, claims for demurrage/damages for detention, claims under the NYPE Inter-Club Agreement and cases concerning the application and effect of the Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules.  Her recent and current cases include the following:

• Hire/off-hire dispute under a NYPE time charterparty following the detention of a vessel by the port authorities in India.
• Claim for demurrage/damages under a voyage charterparty turning on the proper construction and effect of clause 4 of the AMWELSH form.
• Claim for damages for late redelivery of a vessel, turning on the question of whether service of a notice of redelivery amounted to a waiver of the right to exercise an option to extend under the charterparty.  Successfully resolved by way of a six-figure settlement in advance of the hearing.
• Claim for off-hire/loss of profit under a NYPE time charterparty following the arrest of a vessel at the suit of an unpaid bunker supplier.
• Claims for damages/an indemnity under a NYPE time charterparty in respect of hull-fouling and related issues.
• Claim for sums due under a pooling agreement, involving questions of rectification, construction and estoppel.
• Claim for damages in respect of damage to cargo and/or misrepresentation under bills of lading issued against provision of a letter of indemnity.

Caroline’s practice also includes a significant amount of CMR work and she has considerable experience of cases concerning the BIFA, RHA and UKWA Conditions.

Caroline also undertakes a variety of work in the commodities field.

Caroline has a rapidly expanding practice in this area and is presently engaged in a number of ongoing ship-building disputes being resolved by way of arbitration.  She is instructed as junior counsel in a series of connected arbitrations (with a collective value in excess of US$60 million) focussed on claims for delay and whether or not the buyers were entitled to rescind the contracts.  Other current matters include claims in respect of defective construction and claims giving rise to issues of misrepresentation and illegality.

• In the construction field, Caroline has also acted as junior counsel in a dispute concerning a contract for the provision of diving, ROV, survey and sub-sea tie-in, testing and other sub-sea construction services for the purposes of the development of a gas field in the North Sea. The matter was successfully resolved at mediation.
• Caroline also handles ship-sale disputes and has particular experience of the Norwegian Sale Form.  Last year, she was instructed as junior counsel on behalf of the sellers in a 10 day arbitration in which the buyers alleged that they had been induced to enter into the MOA by a fraudulent misrepresentation by the sellers as to the condition of the vessel.

In addition to her more specific practice areas, Caroline is a popular choice of counsel in a variety of more general commercial matters.  Her recent and current cases include the following:

• Claim for damages/an indemnity in respect of environmental contamination pursuant to a contract for the sale of a well-known chemicals and polymer business.
• Claim for damages against an electricity supplier in respect of a fire at a warehouse.
• Claim for damages arising out of the supply and installation of support structures and rigging services in respect of the construction of a fan park for the public viewing of football matches during the 2006 World Cup.
• Claims for remuneration by a business selling agent pursuant to sole agency/sole selling rights agreements.
• Claims pursuant to guarantees and letters of undertaking.
• A variety of claims under forward freight swaps agreements.

Caroline has also acted in commercial fraud cases and has experience of applications for urgent interim relief, including freezing and search orders and applications relating to the appointment of receivers.

A significant proportion of Caroline's practice comprises cases dealt with by way of arbitration.  Many of these cases proceed to an award on a documents-alone basis, where Caroline's skill lies in identifying the important issues and producing clear, focused and persuasive written submissions. Whilst most of the disputes that Caroline deals with are subject to the LMAA terms, Caroline also has experience of the LCIA, most notably in her role as junior counsel representing a Russian investment vehicle in a LCIA arbitration against a former CIS state for expropriation of aviation assets (US$20 million). In the international field, Caroline was instructed as junior counsel representing a Chinese shipyard in a shipbuilding dispute which went to arbitration in Hong Kong.

Caroline has also been instructed in a number of cases concerning applications to the Court under the 1996 Act.

Caroline has experience in both marine and non-marine insurance matters, acting for assureds, underwriters and brokers in cases concerning such issues as coverage, non-disclosure and misrepresentation defences and claims co-operation clauses.  Caroline also has experience of claims pursuant to P&I Club rules and claims under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930.

Caroline was junior counsel to the Nimrod Review, an independent, private review conducted by Charles Haddon-Cave QC into the broader issues surrounding the loss of the Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan on 2 September 2006. See the report of the Nimrod Review.

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