David Owen is a barrister, arbitrator and mediator with over 25 years of experience of commercial disputes. His practice principally involves the fields of: banking/finance; insurance/reinsurance; shipping; international trade; commodities; energy; professional negligence; and general issues relating to commercial contracts. The Chambers UK Guide has described him as "a figure right at the heart of the commercial dispute resolution world". (Other quotations from directories are given below, under the Quotes heading.)
He is often involved in resolving large and complex cases. He has extensive experience in the shipping and international trade sectors. He acted for the successful party in the first reported case in England on the selling on derivatives (Bankers Trust v Dharmala), and he has advised and acted as Counsel in numerous cases relating to banking disputes and complex financial transactions. He deals with a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance matters. For over ten years was an editor of a leading textbook on English insurance law (MacGillivray). He is also retained to provide expert opinions on English law for the purpose of foreign proceedings.
In the arbitration context, he has frequently acted as Counsel in, and advised on, many types of arbitration proceedings, including claims involving states and state trading bodies. He has also dealt with a wide range of Court applications relating to arbitrations.
He is regularly appointed as an arbitrator, and has been appointed in references under the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the London Maritime Arbitrators' Association; he also acts as an arbitrator in ad hoc references. He is a Member of the London Court of International Arbitration, and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators' Association. He often lectures on arbitration law and practice. Recent appointments have included disputes relating to: P&I cover for fleets of vessels; ship sale and ship building; insurance claims (marine and war risks); gas carrier charter claims, and claims involving insurance companies.
He is in demand as a mediator in a wide range of commercial disputes, having originally been accredited in 2002. He regularly mediates cases involving proceedings in the Commercial Court in London, or London arbitrations. He has been appointed to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators' Mediator Panel, and is a member of the Civil Mediation Council and the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates. For several years he had management responsibility for a London mediation service, and he has lectured on mediation and dispute resolution topics in England and Singapore. Recent examples of mediations have included: shipping disputes (ship sale, ship chartering, and performance issues); insurance claims (including marine, liability and fidelity claims); product contamination claims; corporate fraud; private equity financing; publishing, and international drug distribution rights. His style aims to combine legal reality testing with a pragmatic commercial approach. Detailed mediation feedback is set out below, under the Quotes heading.
