Mr Michael Davey KC KC > Chambers of Poonam Melwani KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Chambers of Poonam Melwani KC
Quadrant Chambers
QUADRANT HOUSE, 10 FLEET STREET
LONDON
EC4Y 1AU
England
Michael Davey KC photo

Position

Barrister specialising in commercial and shipping: charterparties and bills of lading; international sale of goods; insurance; salvage and collisions; shipbuilding; fisheries.

Significant recent cases: MSC v Cottonex Anstalt [2016] EWCA Civ 789 (Court of Appeal decision on repudiation and liquidated damages); Loose v Lynn Shellfish Ltd [2016] 2 W.L.R. 1126 (Supreme Court decision on the boundary of private fisheries); Fish & Fish Ltd v Sea Shepherd [2015] A.C. 1229 (Supreme Court decision on joint liability in tort for environmental protest); The “Ocean Victory” [2015] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 381 (Court of Appeal decision on unsafe ports and demise charters, appeal in the Supreme Court in November 2016).

Career

Called 1990; Silk 2014.

Languages

French.

Memberships

COMBAR; LCLCBA.

Education

King’s College, London (1988 LLB); St Edmund Hall, Oxford (1990 BCL)

Lawyer Rankings

London Bar > Insurance and reinsurance

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4

Michael Davey KCQuadrant Chambers

London Bar > Shipping

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3

Michael Davey KCQuadrant ChambersHis perception from very early on in a case of what will be crucial in negotiations or ultimately at a hearing, sets him apart when it comes to complex disputes.’

Quadrant Chambers continues to be involved in market-leading cases in shipping, with the set fielding a large number of silks and juniors specialising in maritime matters. In FMG SYDNEY c/w MSC APOLLO, Nigel Jacobs KC acted for the owners of the FMG Sydney in a rare a decision by the Admiralty Court to contribute full liability to one vessel, the MSC Apollo, regarding a collision between the two ships in the approaches to Tianjin in 2020. James Shirley appeared on behalf of RTI in the Supreme Court in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd, a case dealing with a force majeure clause in a contract of affreightment in light of Russian sanctions. Robert Thomas KC led Paul Henton in High Court limitation proceedings arising out of the high-profile grounding of the Ever Given which obstructed the Suez Canal in 2021, opposite a number of other Quadrant silks including Stewart Buckingham KC, John Russell, James Turner KC, and Michael Davey KC. Damaged undersea electricity cables running under the English Channel were the subject of claims in the Bremen Fighter, in which Caroline Pounds was instructed on behalf of the owners of a tug which had transported a dumb barge to the location where its anchor, dragging during a storm, resulted in the damage to the cables.