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

Richard Sarll

020 7910 8300 seniorclerks@7kbw.co.uk

Position

Richard Sarll is a barrister specialising in commercial and admiralty law, with particular expertise in the shipping and insurance sectors.  His distinctively commercial approach to cases sees him ranked in the legal directories as a Leading Junior, noted in particular for his  “real effort to understand the commercial realities of the business”. Richard’s unique combination of professional qualifications adds significant value to a case, having sat exams of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and the Association of Average Adjusters. Whichever industry is involved, Richard is keen to listen to and absorb the views of the businesspeople instructing him regarding this as instrumental in persuading tribunals of the justice of their position.

Career

Called 2005; Middle Temple (Harmsworth Scholar, Jules Thorne Scholar); tenant of 7 King’s Bench Walk since 2006. Recent notable cases include: The Brillante Virtuoso [2015] EWHC 42 (Comm) appeared for the successful claimants in a claim under a policy of war risks insurance for the total loss of an oil tanker by fire, in which insurers have alleged that the fire was instigated by the insured shipowner; The Owners of the Ship “Stolt Kestrel” v The Owners of the Ship “Niyazi S”  [2015] EWCA Civ 1035 now the leading authority on the Admiralty Court’s in rem jurisdiction; The Longchamp [2016] EWCA Civ 708 the first case concerning the York-Antwerp Rules to have been heard by an appellate court since 1993.

Languages

French, German: accepts documents in those languages without translation. 

Education

Ampleforth College; Jesus College, Oxford (2002 BA Hons, Modern Languages); College of Law (2004 PGDL); Called to the Bar in 2005; Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (2009 Advanced Diploma); Associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (Assoc RINA); Associate of the Association of Average Adjusters (2012 Distinction in Qualifying Examinations).

Leisure

Travel and languages. He has also recently enjoyed collaborating with the Chelsea Society on successful campaigns to save Chelsea pubs from closure by property developers.