Richard Leedham > Mishcon de Reya LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Mishcon de Reya LLP Offices
AFRICA HOUSE
70 KINGSWAY
LONDON
WC2B 6AH
England
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Richard Leedham
Work Department
Dispute Resolution - Insurance
Position
Richard is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution department, who advises on commercial disputes, often with international and fraud elements, with a particular specialisation in insurance.
Richard advises individual and institutional funds clients on claims arising from investments in rights issues and other corporate investments under FSMA s90 and s 90A, and is involved in some of the leading cases in this developing area, for example advising Scottish Widows and others in their claims in the RBS rights issue litigation. He also led the team defending a Kazakh businessman against claims of $5billion brought by a state owned Bank, including defending various alleged breaches of world-wide freezing and receivership orders. The litigation was amongst the most complex ever seen in the UK and involved over 40 hearings and multiple jurisdictions.
Richard also advises international clients on shipping disputes over charter parties and letters of credit. He is also involved in international construction disputes, and has a growing practice litigating shareholder disputes, often, but by no means exclusively, in the hedge fund/ private equity arena. Accordingly, as well as regularly being in the Commercial Court, Richard has current and detailed expertise in the rules and procedures of all the main international trade and arbitration bodies, including LCIA, ICC, and GAFTA, and of the FIDIC (yellow book and red book) rules.
On the insurance side, he acts predominantly for corporate policy holders on coverage issues across a wide range of industries, and has expertise in most lines of business. This includes professional indemnity, D&O, employers’ liability, corporate crime, cyber/privacy, political risk, trade credit, and all property and construction related risks. In addition, he acts for insurance and reinsurance companies in disputes, insolvency and run off issues in the reinsurance sector.
Richard is ranked as a Tier I expert in Chambers 2017 and has been listed as an expert in both Chambers and Legal 500 since 2007. He was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers™ in the United Kingdom 2017 in the field of Insurance Law. He has also been at the forefront of innovation in the litigation funding field, advising on and working with clients on conditional fee arrangements, and maintaining deep links with the main players in the funding and ATE community.
Career
Partner, Mishcon de Reya LLP; Partner, Addleshaw Goddard; Associate, Paisner & Co (now BLP); Trainee/Associate, Simmons & Simmons
Education
King’s College London (Law (LLB Hons))
Lawyer Rankings
London > Insurance > Insurance litigation: for policyholders
(Hall of Fame)Mishcon de Reya LLP’s ‘market-leading’ insurance disputes team ‘combines broad commercial awareness with targeted knowledge’, from expertise in Bermuda Form disputes to recent experience participating in the FCA Business Interruption test case and involvement in one of three ongoing test cases regarding Covid-19 aggregation issues. The growing team is led by ‘stand out partner’ Sonia Campbell, a specialist in life science work with and high-profile directors and officers coverage issues, and Richard Leedham – ‘one of the very best around’ – who has extensive experience acting for corporate policyholders across a range of industries. Ralph Fearnhead and senior associate Sophie Fairclough are also recommended.
London > Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
The ‘diverse and experienced team’ at Mishcon de Reya LLP have experience in areas such as group litigation, director and shareholder disputes, advising high-net-worth individuals, and acting on high-value proceedings. The firm’s merger with Taylor Vinters in January 2023 added to the bench strength of the team and expands the offering provided to clients. Kasra Nouroozi leads the team, alongside Richard Leedham, Janet Tobin, and ‘hard-working and extremely focused’ Nicola Bridge. ‘Tactically very astute’ Mark Davis is also recommended.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame London > Insurance > Insurance litigation: for policyholders
- Insurance litigation: for policyholders London > Insurance
- Commercial litigation: premium London > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Private client > Art and cultural property
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Employment > Employers
- Private client > Family
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Gaming and betting
- Employment > Immigration
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Real estate > Residential property
- Employment > Senior executives
Firm Rankings
- Public sector > Administrative and public law
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: white-collar crime (advice to individuals)
- Insurance > Insurance litigation: for policyholders
- Corporate and commercial > Partnership
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Private prosecutions
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Reputation management
- Industry focus > Retail and consumer
- Industry focus > TMT
- Corporate and commercial > Venture capital
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Dispute resolution > Competition litigation
- Risk advisory > Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity
- Public sector > Education: individuals
- Employment > Employee share schemes
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Franchising
- Industry focus > Hospitality and leisure
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious)
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Media: Film & TV
- Real estate > Planning
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport
- Dispute resolution > Tax litigation and investigations
- Public sector > Civil liberties and human rights
- Corporate and commercial > Commercial contracts
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: premium
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Employment > Health and safety
- Industry focus > Life sciences and healthcare
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Lower Mid-Market Deals, £100m-£750m
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > PATMA: Trade mark attorneys
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £250m)
- Real estate > Property finance
- Dispute resolution > Banking litigation: investment and retail
- Private client > Charities and not-for-profit
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Crime: general
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Private client > Court of protection