William is dual-qualified at both the English and Scottish Bar. In addition to having a particular interest in international arbitration, William has a busy and wide-ranging domestic practice at all levels in the fields of professional negligence, public law (including Judicial Review) and commercial law.
William is ranked Tier 1 for Commercial Litigation in the latest edition of the Legal 500 (2019) which describes him as "Excellent in court; a joy to work with."
William is a highly experienced and client focused barrister with a wide ranging international practice. Described by independent legal directories as "user friendly and responsive" and as "persuasive and well prepared" and "outstanding" in relation to international arbitration. William is a specialist in the main areas of:
William specialises in international arbitration and mediation. He has significant experience in dispute resolution in the Middle East and since 2010 has acted as counsel in many of the leading cases before the Dubai World Tribunal (DWT), including successfully representing the Claimants in the first trial with witnesses before the tribunal, which is presided over by former UK Court of Appeal judges. He represented the former CEO and Chief General Counsel of the world's one time largest property developer in separate actions against their former employer.
William has a wide experience in real estate and construction related disputes. He has acted for a number of UK investors in arbitrations and tribunal hearings in respect of actions relating to the collapse of the offshore World project in Dubai. He has been involved in financial disputes, including the collapse of a hedge fund and a negligence based class action against a leading international bank.
Successfully represented the Claimants as sole counsel in an AED 250m unfair termination arbitration relating to the construction of a twin-tower block in Dubai, and was junior counsel in an arbitration involving the quality of the construction of the largest structure of its kind in the world.
William has a good knowledge of various institutional arbitration bodies including the LCIA, ICC, DIAC and ICSID and has significant experience in advising clients on both jurisdiction and enforcement related issues in the field of arbitration. Recently instructed in a $250 ICSID arbitration (energy dispute) and is currently instructed in an ICSID denial of justice claim.
Described as ‘outstanding’ in Chambers UK 2013 William is regularly instructed as counsel in international arbitrations around the world and has an excellent knowledge of the various global arbitration bodies including the LCIA, ICC and the DIAC and has significant experience in advising clients on both jurisdictional and enforcement related issues. He is also a Chartered Arbitrator and accredited CEDR Mediator.
He has extensive experience in international arbitration, particularly in the Middle East. The majority of his work relates to disputes in the construction, real-estate, finance and energy sectors, which have included disputes relating to a number of large scale infrastructure and development projects.
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