Nigel Jacobs KC is a specialist in international arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, shipping, insurance, commodity and commercial disputes.
His work covers the full range from casualty work (collisions, salvage, unsafe port and limitation) through to disputes in relation to commodities, marine insurance, joint ventures, guarantees, and letters of credit, as well as “traditional” charterparty, carriage of goods by sea and contractual claims. He appears both in the High Court and in arbitration. He is also regularly instructed in (worldwide) freezing injunction, anti-suit injunctions and jurisdictional disputes. His recent arbitrations (2019) include the shipment of a cargo of rail damaged during transit, a claim by brokers to commission and the construction of a Pool Agreement. He is currently involved in an unsafe port case (South America) and a number of other casualties, including the “Ever Smart” and the “Saga Sky”. He also accepts appointments as an arbitrator.
Over the past three years Nigel led the team (on behalf of cargo underwriters) in the substantial “ATLANTIK CONFIDENCE” litigation. This involved a 29-day “scuttling” trial in which cargo interests successfully challenged the shipowner’s right to limit under the Limitation Convention 1996 on the grounds that the vessel was the subject-matter of a deliberate casualty. This was the first occasion in which the right to limit had been successfully challenged in this jurisdiction. The litigation subsequently involved proceedings against the shipowners’ alter ego and between the cargo interests themselves.
Consistently ranked as a ‘Leading Silk’ in Chambers UK, Chambers Global and The Legal 500 directories where he has been praised as”...excellent under pressure with good judgement and an effective courtroom manner...”
Praised by Chambers UK as “...a guru in jurisdictional disputes...,” Nigel has a strong international practice. He
was specially called to the Hong Kong bar to represent the Master of the NEFTEGAZ 67 in his appeal against
conviction arising from a collision in Hong Kong waters; he has appeared in the Kuala Lumpur Arbitration Centre representing a substantial Malaysian company in a commodity and letter of credit dispute. He has also given expert evidence in international jurisdictions including in marine insurance disputes in the Spanish High Court.
Nigel has acted on many ground-breaking cases during his career, including The “ATLANTIK CONFIDENCE”, Kulemesin Yuriy v. HKSAR [2013] 2 Ll.R. 367 where Nigel appeared for the Master of the “NEFTEGAZ 67” in a criminal appeal involving a dispute as to the application of the narrow channel and the crossing rules, in the Marchioness Public Inquiry and in The “Ikarian Reefer”. During the last year Nigel represented the Owners of the “EVER SMART” in Court of Appeal in collision liability proceedings ([2019] 1 Ll.R. 130) and at the subsequent High Court trial on damages ([2019] EWHC 163 Admlty). The Supreme Court has historically granted permission to appeal in the collision liability proceedings.
Nigel lectures on Litigation and Arbitration at the World Maritime University’s Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Law and also gives talks and seminars to firms and P&I Clubs. He was Chairman of Chambers’ Management Committee from 2011 to 2015 and has regularly served on other Chambers’ Committees.
