Rupert Reed KC > Serle Court > London, England > Barrister Profile
Serle Court Offices
6 NEW SQUARE, LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3QS
England
- Set Profile
- Go to...
Rupert Reed KC
Position
Queen’s Counsel specialising in commercial and financial disputes, with a strong focus on real property and its development, management and finance, as well as fraud, banking, shareholder disputes and professional liability. His practice in England is primarily in the Commercial Court and Chancery Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He has acted in many of the leading cases in the Courts of the Dubai International Finance Centre and has a strong interest in litigation and arbitration in the Middle East or in England involving parties from the region. He is familiar with the laws of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab civil law jurisdictions.
Career
Called 1996: Lincoln’s Inn; QC 2014; Called (ad hoc) to the Bar of the Cayman Islands 1999; Attorney General’s C Panel of Treasury Counsel 2002-2005; registered as an advocate of the DIFC Courts 2009; editor of the leading guide to the Rules of the DIFC Court, published in its most recent edition in 2016.
Languages
French (fluent); Arabic (working knowledge)
Memberships
COMBAR; Chancery Bar Association
Education
Lincoln College, Oxford (BA Hons History and French, 1st Class with Distinction); Downing College, Cambridge (MA Hons Law, Double 1st Class); Harvard Law School (LLM, Kennedy Scholar).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Property litigation
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Rupert Reed KC –Serle Court ‘He is a strategic thinker, which clients value. His preparation and legal analysis is meticulous. In court, Rupert is authoritative and commands the confidence of the judge.’
Serle Court includes property silks and juniors experienced in a broad range of property disputes, including complex issues relating to easements, covenants, options, land registrations and trusts, often crossing over with the set’s broader expertise in Chancery matters. Rupert Reed KC represented the widow of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in Asturion Foundation v HH Princess Al Jawharah bint Ibrahim al Ibrahim, a Court of Appeal case which raised complex issues of Liechtenstein, Saudi and Islamic law concerning the validity of a will which gifted the property to her. Turning to the set’s juniors, Andrew Bruce represented the successful seller defendants in a five-day case, after the buyers of a property alleged fraudulent misrepresentation after significant amounts of Japanese knotweed were found two years after the transaction.
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4Rupert Reed KC –Serle Court ‘Rupert is extremely bright, hardworking and a team player. A true specialist in the Middle East, and a fluent speaker of Arabic. There are few like him.’
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Rupert Reed KC –Serle Court ‘Rupert is, for good reason, widely renowned as one of the foremost advocates in the Middle East, not only because of his Arabic-speaking skills but also because his profound expertise in common and civil law principle and practice and amiable user-friendly approach. Rupert has an unparalleled knowledge of Middle Eastern civil law and the quirks of DIFC common law and is an incredible hard-working, astute and technically superb lawyer.’
Serle Court continues to be instructed on high-profile and complex banking and finance cases, both in the domestic courts and international courts. One such example was the case of Eternity Sky Investments Limited v Zhang, in which Philip Marshall KC and James Mather were instructed in relation to a claim brought by Huarong Banking Group, which raised issues on public policy and illegality regarding enforcement of guarantees and Hong Kong arbitration awards. David Blayney KC has been involved in large banking cases including the RBS Rights Issue Litigation arising out of the insolvency of Lehman Brothers, while Rupert Reed KC is noted for his cross-border banking practice in the Middle East and London, with significant experience of cases involving Islamic finance. Zoe O’Sullivan KC has a broad commercial and Chancery practice and is a recognised practitioner in the DIFC courts.
Middle East: The English Bar > Commercial
(Leading silks)Ranked: Tier 1Rupert Reed KC – Serle Court ‘An excellent assured advocate with superb judgment. He is client friendly and works extremely well with the solicitor team.’
Serle Court ‘deservedly has an excellent reputation for DIFC cases’ and has an equally strong presence in the Middle Eastern arbitration space, acting as both counsel and arbitrators. Zoe O’Sullivan KC led Gregor Hogan when successfully acting for the respondent in Al Buhaira National Insurance Co v Horizon Energy, with the DIFC Court of Appeal’s judgement establishing that anti-suit injunctions will only be granted exceptionally to restrain proceedings in another Emirate. As the SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd v Renish Petrochem FZE and Prime Energy FZE case continues on, James Weale appeared at the sanctions hearing in June 2023. Rupert Reed KC remains extremely active throughout the region in disputes concerning commercial, banking, civil fraud and property issues.