Mark Sachs > Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP Offices

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP
125 WOOD STREET
LONDON
EC2V 7AW
England
Visit website 020 7457 3000 020 7457 3240

Mark Sachs

Mark Sachs photo
020 7390 2235 [email protected]

Work Department

Shipping, Commercial dispute resolution, International trade

Position

Mark has a broad practice in shipping, commodity and commercial litigation. He has conducted arbitrations in London, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Stockholm either as counsel or lead partner. He also has considerable wet shipping experience having handled all types of casualties. He has litigated shipbuilding, construction and mining disputes.

A fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker, Mark studied in China and is adept at working with Chinese evidence, both oral and written. He was one of the first foreign maritime lawyers to work in China in the late 1980s. 

In London arbitration he was the lead partner in a significant arbitration arising out of a cancellation dispute involving the vessel Atalanta. This has generated consequential High Court litigation in Westwood Shipping Lines and Weyerhaeuser NR Company v Universal Schifffahrtsgesellschaft mbH [2012].

Career

Mark has acted for Japan-based marine insurers for over 25 years and in 2018-2019 has been instructed in several high-profile marine casualties in South Africa (collision and total loss) and at Suez (multi-vessel collisions).

Mark opened the firm’s Singapore office in 1996.

Languages

Mandarin Chinese

Education

His first degree was in Chinese Literature (First Class) from the University of British Columbia followed by an LLB. He is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in British Columbia and was admitted as an English solicitor in 1998.

Lawyer Rankings

London > Dispute resolution > Commodities disputes

(Leading partners)

Mark Sachs –Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP

The ‘practical, trade-oriented group‘ at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP is ‘very experienced, with good knowledge and a willingness to be available‘. The firm is best known for handling transactional and contentious matters in both soft and hard commodities on behalf of producers, traders, end users, trade arbitration tribunals, banks and other financial institutions. The work of practice heads George Mingay (who is ‘calm, personable and commercially very astute‘) and Mark Sachs encompasses disputes in the oil and gas, chemicals, metals and mining, sugar, grain and coffee sectors. Both are also heavily involved in high-value civil fraud cases connected to the commodities sector, which is an increasingly important part of the market, as well as soft commodities cases in the Turkish market concerning issues with the Black Sea grain agreement on exports from Ukraine.

London > Finance > Trade finance

In trade finance, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP is known for its ‘expertise and experience and innovation‘. Clients note that it has ‘very good technical experts and excellent links with other practice areas so they can provide a seamless service‘. Head of financial services Grant Eldred, who is ‘always responsive, practical and pragmatic‘, and trade finance litigation specialist Mark Sachs are the standout practitioners. The work of Ellis van der Vos encompasses bilateral and syndicated lending, international trade finance, and banking regulation and compliance matters. The team is particularly active in the London market in documenting transaction structures, sanctions and related regulatory matters for Chinese entities.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings