Gavin Kealey KC > Chambers of Gavin Kealey KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Regarded as a “go-to set” for aviation insurance matters, 7 King’s Bench Walk‘s barristers are instructed by global insurers and lessors on major disputes, most notably on several disputes arising out of the re-registration of aircraft leased to Russian carriers. Head of chambers Gavin Kealey  acts for several insurers defending claims totalling in the billions of dollars for aircraft seized in Russia, and his practice further encompasses claims for hull damage and loss. Emma Hilliard is also noted for her aviation insurance practice, while Harry Wright has a broad commercial practice that includes disputes between airlines and lessors and hull damage claims. Elizabeth Lindesay represents clients in insurance and reinsurance disputes, including in cases involving fatalities and maintenance issues.

7 King’s Bench Walk is ‘a very strong commercial set‘. Although particularly well known for its insurance and shipping credentials, the set’s members are also consistently mandated for other heavyweight commercial litigation. In Premia Reinsurance Ltd v Amtrust International Insurance, Ltd, David Edwards KC acts for Premia Reinsurance in an approximately £20m claim regarding its purchase of the legacy business of a number of Lloyd’s syndicates run by another insurer. In the AerCap litigation, over fifty members of chambers (including Gavin Kealey  and Clara Benn for AIG, and Richard Waller KC and Michael Ryan for Lloyd’s) are instructed in Commercial Court claims brought by aircraft lessors against their insurance companies and concern the Russian government’s banning of Western aircraft from leaving Russia, effectively expropriating them, after its invasion of Ukraine.