• Drafted Particulars of Claim in a claim for the delivery-up of a private jet following a lessee’s refusal to return the aircraft to the lessor upon termination of the relevant lease (Fox Flight v 247 Aviation LM-2024-000223) (with Koye Akoni).
• Defended and procured strike-out (as sole counsel) of a claim against a balloon company by a landowner for alleged disruption caused by overflights.
• Regularly instructed as sole counsel on behalf of commercial airlines in passenger claims arising from EU Regulation 261/2004 and the Montreal/Warsaw Convention, including those involving a personal injury element.
• Assisted (as a pupil) in the Russian Aircraft Commercial Court litigation, involving claims by various aircraft lessors under insurance and re-insurance policies for losses arising out of the detention of commercial aircraft in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
• Drafted (as a pupil) position papers for a mediation concerning damage to an aircraft engine during delivery maintenance.

• Assisting in defending a claim by a trader against his former employer for bonuses that were allegedly due to him.
• Advising (as sole counsel) on the formality requirements of a ship mortgage.
• Acted on behalf of a lender in an action for the recovery of vehicles supplied under hire-purchase agreements.
• Assisted (as a pupil) in an application for a worldwide freezing order against the alleged perpetrator of a multi-million dollar crypto-currency fraud (Chu v Je & Anor [2024] EWHC 90 (Ch)).

• LCIA Arbitration: defending a US$500m claim involving allegations of, inter alia, breach of contract, bribery and unlawful means conspiracy (with Poonam Melwani KC and Emily Saunderson).
• Acted on behalf of a well-known private members’ club, successfully resisting their joinder to proceedings concerning a membership scam perpetrated by an unconnected third-party. 
   

• Ad-hoc arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996: successfully acted (in both the underlying arbitration and in subsequent Court proceedings under ss.67, 68, and 69 of the 1996 Act) for the seller of a grain cargo in a c.US$15m claim against the buyer’s guarantor (with Ben Gardner).
• LCIA Arbitration: acting on behalf of a buyer in a US$ 5 million claim for non-delivery under a sale contract for clinker (with Benjamin Coffer).
• GAFTA Arbitration: successfully challenged the jurisdiction of a GAFTA tribunal on behalf of a respondent against whom proceedings had been wrongfully commenced in the absence of an applicable arbitration agreement (with Koye Akoni).
• Assisting (as a pupil) in an LCIA Arbitration concerning payments made under commodity supply contracts which had been blocked and frozen as a result of US sanctions against Russia.
• Advising (as a pupil) as to whether a seller could recover damages (worth potentially in excess of US$100m) against a buyer in relation to breaches of a long-term coal supply contract.

• Advised on the effect of waiver of subrogation provisions in a cargo storage contract and associated insurance policy (with Luke Parsons KC).
• Assisted (as a pupil) in the Russian Aircraft Commercial Court litigation, involving claims by various aircraft lessors under insurance and re-insurance policies for losses arising out of the detention of commercial aircraft in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

A significant proportion of Michael’s work occurs in the context of arbitral proceedings in the UK and abroad. In addition, Michael has significant expertise in dealing with arbitration-specific issues and related court applications, including:

• Successfully acted on behalf of a shipowner in their application to the Commercial Court for an urgent anti-suit injunction to restrain arrest proceedings against a vessel in Portugal which had been commenced in breach of an arbitration agreement (with Saira Paruk)
• Successfully procured the dismissal of parallel challenges/appeals under ss.67, 68, and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 against a US$ 15 million arbitral award concerning the non-payment of a guarantee (with Ben Gardner).
• Acting for the appellants in their appeal under s.69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 against an LMAA arbitration award on the question of the proper interpretation of certain clauses in the SALEFORM 2012 standard ship sale form (with Andrew Leung).
• Prepared a successful jurisdictional challenge against GAFTA arbitration pro-ceedings on the basis that the parties had not consented to arbitration (with Ko-ye Akoni).
• Drafted a successful application for security for costs under s.38(3) of the Arbitration Act on behalf of a counter-claiming defendant in LMAA arbitration (with Will Mitchell).

Michael accepts instructions across all types of shipping work (both dry and wet). This includes typical charterparty, bills of lading and cargo disputes, as well as cases concerning more niche topics. Particular highlights include:

• Port of Sheerness Ltd v Swire Shipping Pte Ltd (“The Kiating”) [2025] EWHC 7 (Admlty): acted for the Port in a six-day Admiralty Court trial concerning the enforceability of a “period toll” levied against a vessel for overstaying during discharge operations. The trial raised issues of contractual interpretation, expert evidence, and the application of “triple penalty” provisions under relevant local port legislation (with John A Kimbell KC).
• LMAA Arbitration (2025). Acted (as sole counsel) on behalf of Owners in a dispute concerning unpaid hire under the SUPPLYTIME 2017 standard form in the sum of over USD 1 million, culminating in a 1-day hearing involving cross-examination of factual witnesses and legal submissions.
• LMAA Arbitration (2025). Acted on behalf of a time charterer in a dispute con-cerning allegations of defective bunker supplies and engine damage, with the combined value of the various claims and counterclaims exceeding USD 10 mil-lion (with Gemma Morgan). Settled before trial.
• LMAA Arbitration (2025). Successfully acted (as sole counsel) on behalf of Owners in three parallel references concerning unpaid freight under a series of voyage charterparties.
• Advised (as sole counsel) on potential claims (worth up to US$3 million) by charterers and cargo interests against owners of an oil tanker arising from the placing of the vessel on the US OFAC sanctions list.
• Acted (as sole counsel) in proceedings concerning the sale of a co-owned barge moored on the River Thames.
• Advised (as sole counsel) a yacht broker in relation to the proper interpretation of commission provisions in the MYBA Charter Agreement.
• Advised (as sole counsel) a major commodity trader on the redrafting of its voyage charterparty standard terms.
• Advising and acting as sole counsel in various time, voyage and yacht charterparty disputes, involving issues such as agency, off-hire, demurrage, termination/cancellation and port safety.
• Advising and acting as sole counsel in various cargo claims under the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules.
• Advising (as a pupil) on whether a shipowner could rely on a Himalaya clause contained within slot charterers’ standard bill of lading terms to prevent claims being brought against them by cargo interests
• Advising (as a pupil) on the correct interpretation of the Shelltime 4 off-hire clause, specifically with respect to its effect in relation to delays arising out of Covid-related quarantine.

• Acting as sole counsel in various disputes involving both international carriage under the CMR and domestic carriage under the RHA Conditions of Carriage.
   

• SIAC Arbitration: acting for a large shipyard in a contractual dispute (worth over US$1 billion) concerning the construction of a fleet of LNG carriers (with Luke Parsons KC and Gemma Morgan).
• LMAA Arbitration: acting for a shipbuilder in a dispute concerning the non-acceptance of an offshore oil rig (worth c. US$150 million) (with James Turner KC).
• LMAA Arbitration: acted for the buyers of a superyacht in relation to a US$20m+ claim against the yacht’s builders in relation to substantial defects in the yacht’s construction (with Robert Thomas KC and Max Davidson). Settled on eve of trial.
• Acting for the appellants in their appeal under s.69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 against an LMAA arbitration award on the question of the proper interpretation of certain clauses in the SALEFORM 2012 standard ship sale form (with Andrew Leung).
• Advised (as sole counsel) on the formality requirements of a ship mortgage.

Michael has a particular interest in technology-related disputes arising out of his previous experience as a freelance software developer. Accordingly, he is comfortable dealing with the technical issues and evidence that arise in such cases. His work in this area so far includes:

• Acting for an e-commerce business in relation to a £200,000 claim against their website maintenance provider (as sole counsel).