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Stephenson Harwood

Living Wage
1 FINSBURY CIRCUS, LONDON, EC2M 7SH, ENGLAND
Tel:
Work 020 7329 4422
Fax:
Fax 020 7329 7100
DX:
64 LONDON CHANCERY LANE WC2
Email:
Web:
www.shlegal.com
Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Piraeus and 4 more
Stephenson Harwood, Duncan McDonald, London, ENGLAND

Lawyer rankings

Duncan McDonald

Tel:
Work 020 7809 2629
Email:
Stephenson Harwood

Work Department

Marine and international trade.

Position

A senior partner in the firm's marine and international trade team, Duncan is a leading practitioner in his field. He represents a wide range of interests including shipowners, charterers, commodities traders and banks and has a vast experience of advising those involved in the shipbuilding and offshore construction sectors. He has been singled out by The Legal 500 for his pragmatic and commercial approach and has been described as a "tough negotiator".

Duncan has more than 30 years' experience of working both in London and the Far East. He has a predominantly European and Far Eastern client base including shipowners and charterers, P&I and FD&D Clubs, shipyards, commodities traders and banks. He is recognised for his "first class" ability "to balance the legal and commercial aspects" and as “a real star, top talent.”

He has extensive experience of drafting and negotiating shipbuilding and ship repair contracts, charterparty terms and Memoranda of Agreement.

Duncan has comprehensive experience of arbitration, High Court litigation and forms of alternative dispute resolution in the shipping sphere and has been involved in numerous high value and complex disputes relating to vessels and offshore structure of all types, and has handled many hundreds of disputes arising under charterparties, COAs and MoA’s. Over recent years he has successfully handled a number of ground-breaking cases in which the law has been developed. 

His specialist shipowner clients include a leading European shipowner specialising in the installation of offshore wind turbines.

Duncan has provided commentary and analysis to the global media including BBC News on shipping matters.

London: Transport

Shipping

Within: Shipping

Stephenson Harwood is a ‘friendly and approachable firm’ which has ‘excellent attention to detail and logistical acumen’ and is noted for its experience in high-value and complex shipping disputes. The team acted for the successful shipowners in a Supreme Court decision arising out of the seizure of the vessel MV Longchamp by Somali pirates and represented Commerzbank in a case which examined shipping loan agreements. It is also acting for PDVSA group companies in a number of shipping disputes. Head of marine and international trade Mike Phillips is ‘outstanding’; Nick Barber is noted for his ‘admiralty expertise, his brilliant investigative knowledge and experience’; Stuart Beadnall regularly advises on the maritime aspects of the oil and gas industry; Paolo Ghirardani is ‘simply brilliant’; Cristan Evans is ‘very professional, responsive and delivers a high-quality service’; Alex Davis leads the marine insurance and marine and casualty response groups; Tony Concagh is ‘extremely knowledgeable’; Sean Gibbons is noted for his experience in acting for Korean shipowners and shipyards in disputes; and Ingolf Kaiser is ‘very experienced. Simon Moore, Max Lemanski, Duncan McDonald, Haris Zografakis and senior associate Tom Adams are also key members of the team. Menelaus Kouzoupis recently joined from HFW.

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