The Legal 500

Position

Justin Fenwick specialises in advisory and litigation work covering all aspects of commercial law, with particular emphasis on insurance disputes as well as professional liability and product liability matters. He has practised extensively in most areas of commercial and related civil litigation; he is particularly experienced in the cross-examination of technical experts, the analysis of financial accounts and the calculation of economic loss, tax issues and the detection of fraud and exaggerated claims; accustomed to dealing with cases involving very large numbers of documents; Familiar with information technology including the use of databases and spreadsheets; he has advised extensively on the construction of insurance policies and has frequently acted as arbitrator in disputes over insurance policy issues; he has recently acted in relation to: the liability of oil depot operators (Buncefield litigation); the liability of auditor’s and accountants: Freightliner v Ernst & Young, Dennard v PWC; share sale agreements – Marplace v Chaffe Street; home income plans – Investors Compensation Scheme Limited v West Bromwich Building Society & Others (1998) 1 BCLC 493, where he successfully defended several hundred firms of solicitors against a contribution claim for in excess of £30m brought by the Investors Compensation Scheme who had compensated very large numbers of investors in equity release mortgage; Watson Wyatt v Maxwell Batley where he successfully defended solicitors against a contribution claim for US$65m brought by international actuaries in respect of losses arising from an international employee share scheme set up by SITA Inc; the ATE disputes in the TAG and CLE litigation where he acted for a total of some 400 firms of solicitors; profit-related pay – University of Keele v Price Waterhouse (2030) (CA) May 2004 in which he successfully obtained substantial damages for the University; inheritance and capital gains tax – Jemma Trust v Kippax Beaumont Lewis – in which he successfully defended a claim brought for alleged negligence in relation to inheritance and capital gains tax. He has wide experience of multi-party litigation relating to produce liability including: acting for the government in the BSE litigation, Opren litigation, the HIV haemophiliac litigation, the CJD human growth litigation, the nuclear test veterans litigation, and other litigation involving medicinal products; acting for public bodies in relation to MMR litigation, aspirin litigation, whopping cough vaccine litigation and the leukaemia radiation litigation; acting for manufacturers in relation to measles vaccine litigation, asthma/steroids litigation and tobacco litigation; has also acted for manufacturers in other product liability litigation involving polymer and polymer resin products, packaging materials and similar products; Joseph Owen Davies v Eli Lilly & Others (CA) 1987 1 WLR 428; Joseph Owen Davies v Eli Lilly & Others (No 2) (CA) 1 WLR 1136; The Human Growth Hormone/CJD Litigation 41 BMLR 157; Newman & Others v Medical Research Council & Anon (The Times 1997) (CA); HIV Haemophiliac Litigation 41 BMLR 171 9CA); Hodgson & Others v Imperial Tobacco Limited & Others (1998) 1 WLR 1056 in which he led the tobacco company’s successful defence to the smoking and health litigation brought in the United Kingdom. He has extensive experience of building and engineering disputes in the UK and the Far East; has acted for many of the major construction companies including Tarmac Wimpey, Bovis, John Laing, Balfour Beatty, Vianini AG and others; he has considerable experience of disputes involving computer software and hardware; has acted both for and against HM Customs & Excise on VAT matters, including the tax treatment of supplies, insurance and interest-free credit.

Career

Called 1980, Inner Temple Bencher 1998; QC 1993, recorder since 1996, Deputy High Court Judge Chancery Division, Queen’s Bench Division and Administrative Court since 2003; chairman of Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund since 1999; Head of Chambers 2000-06; previously ten years in Grenadier Guards (including intelligence and operational duties); assistant private secretary, temporary equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh 1979-81.

Languages

French, Spanish (fluent); some Italian, German.

Education

Ampleforth College; Clare College, Cambridge (1971 Modern Languages and Architectural History).

Practice Areas

Litigation - commercial; Litigation - insurance/reinsurance; Professional negligence