Sir Nigel Teare

Sir Nigel Teare sat as a judge of the King’s Bench Division from 2006 until his retirement from the High Court bench on 30 September 2020. He now accepts appointments as arbitrator.

Sir Nigel has had an exceptional career first as counsel and then as a High Court Judge. In 2011 he was nominated the Admiralty judge. He was appointed judge in charge of the Commercial Court from October 2017 until his retirement. He has decided many of the most high-profile cases of recent years across many different business sectors.

Most recently, in 2019-2020 he decided which of two claimants to the Presidency of Venezuela was entitled to give instructions to the Bank of England regarding Venezuela’s gold reserves (Deutsche Bank and Bank of England v Central Bank of Venezuela [2020] EWHC 1721 (Comm), who was party to a shareholders’ agreement concerning a valuable site in central Moscow (Filatona and Deripaska v Navigator and Chernukhin [2019] EWHC 173 (Comm), whether a shipowner had scuttled his ship by arranging for it to be attacked by persons pretending to be pirates (Suez Fortune v Talbot Underwriting [2019] EWHC 259 (Comm), whether Liverpool Football Club was entitled to have Nike sponsor its football shirts (New Balance Athletics v Liverpool FC [2019] EWHC 2837 (Comm) and whether a defective passage plan rendered a vessel unseaworthy (Alise 1954 v Allianz [2019] EWHC 481 (Admlty).

Since 2020 he has been appointed arbitrator in over 70 disputes in the commercial, financial and maritime sectors.

e: nigel.teare@arb10fs.com

t: +44 (0)20 7583 4444

Recent Arbitration Appointments and Expert Opinions

  • Sir Nigel has been appointed arbitrator (either as presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator) in several LCIA (x13), DIFC )(x1), SIAC (x1), SCMA (x1) and ad hoc (x10) arbitrations, involving disputes in the fields of oil exploration, the sale and purchase of alternative energy companies, aircraft conversion, aircraft leasing, financial management, the sale and purchase of oil, the storage of oil, joint venture partnerships, guarantees, the effect of sanctions and the regulation of sport.
  • Sir Nigel has also been appointed arbitrator (again either as presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator) in many LMAA arbitrations (x45) involving claims under bills of lading, charterparties, contracts for the sale and purchase of ships and shipbuilding contracts.
  • Sir Nigel has provided expert opinions on the law of frustration, the law of limitation of liability and the law of salvage.

Experience

High Court Judge 2006-2020

  • Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division sitting, primarily, in the Commercial and Admiralty Courts
  • Judge in charge of the Commercial Court 2018-2020
  • Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit 2013-2017
  • Admiralty Judge 2011-2020

Practice at the Bar 1975-2006 in Commercial and Admiralty matters

  • 1989-1991 Treasury Junior in Admiralty
  • 1991 Appointed Queen’s Counsel
  • 1993-2006 Recorder of the Crown Court
  • 1997-2006 Head of Chambers
  • 2000-2006 Acting Deemster of the Isle of Man High Court
  • 2000-2006 Appeal Arbitrator for Lloyd’s Salvage Disputes
  • 2002-2006 Deputy High Court Judge

Selection of cases decided in the Commercial and Admiralty Courts

Contractual disputes between men of business:

  • Dhanani v Crasnianski [2011] EWHC 926 (Comm)
  • Grizzly Business v Stena Drilling [2014] EWHC 1920 (Comm)
  • BV Nederlandse v Rembrandt Enterprises [2018] EWHC 1857 (Comm)
  • Filatona v Navigator [2019] EWHC 173 (Comm)
  • Atlas Residential Solutions v Greengate [2020] EWHC 366 (Comm)

Investment Disputes:

  • WestLB v Nomura Bank [2010] EWHC 863 (Comm)
  • Zaki and others v Credit Suisse [2011] EWHC 2422 (Comm)
  • Gold Reserve Inc v Republic of Venezuela [2016] EWHC 153 (Comm)
  • Medsted v Cannacord Genuity Wealth [2017] EWHC 1815 (Comm)

Banking Disputes

  • Berghoff Trading v Swinbrook Developments [2008] EWHC 1785 (Comm)
  • Enka v Banco Popolare [2009] EWHC 2410 (Comm)
  • Societe Generale v Saad Trading [2011] EWHC 2424 (Comm)
  • Deutsche Bank v Unitech Global [2013] EWHC 2793 (Comm)
  • National Bank of Kazakhstan v Bank of New York Mellon [2020] EWHC 916 (Comm)
  • Deutsche Bank and Bank of England v Central Bank of Venezuela [2020] EWHC 1721 (Comm)

Insurance Disputes

  • Aspen Insurance v Pectel [2008] EWHC 2804 (Comm)
  • Horwood and others v Land of Leather [2010] EWHC  546  (Comm)
  • All Leisure Holidays v Europaische Reiseversicherung AG [2011] EWHC 2629 (Comm)
  • The Seashell of Lisson Grove v Aviva [2011] EWHC 1761 (Comm)
  • PT Buana v Maritime Mutual Insurance [2011] EWHC 2413 (Comm)
  • San Evans Maritime v Aigaion Insurance [2014] EWHC 163 (Comm)

Fraud

  • In the insurance business, Markel v Surety Guarantee [2008] EWHC 1135 (Comm)
  • In the insurance of houses, Parker v NFU [2012] EWHC 2156 (Comm)
  • In the banking sector, JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov and others [2013] EWHC 510 (Comm)
  • In the insurance of ships, Suez Fortune v Talbot Underwriting [2019] EWHC 259 (Comm)

Commodities

  • Vitoil v Conoil [2009] EWHC 1144 (Comm)
  • Vinergy International v Richmond Mercantile [2016] EWHC 525 (Comm)
  • Cargil International v Utam Galva Steels [2018] EWHC 2977 (Comm)
  • Septo v Tintrade [2020] EWHC  1795 (Comm)

Sporting merchandise

  • SDI Retail Services v Rangers FC [2018] EWHC 2772 (Comm)
  • New Balance Athletics v Liverpool FC [2019] EWHC 2837 (Comm)

Carriage by sea:

  • Pace Shipping v Churchgate Nigeria [2009] EWHC 1975 (Comm)
  • Great Elephant v Trafigura [2012] EWHC 1745 (Comm)
  • Standard Chartered Bank v Dorchester LNG [2013] EWHC  808 (Comm)
  • Ocean Victory [2013] EWHC 2199 (Comm)
  • Oldendorrf v Sea Powerful II [2016] EWHC 3212 (Comm)
  • Cape Bonny [2017] EWHC  3036 (Comm)
  • Classic Maritime v Limbungan [2018] EWHC 2389 (Comm)
  • Alise 1954 v Allianz [2019] EWHC 481 (Admlty)

Ship sale:

  • Inta Navigation v Ranch Investments [2009] EWHC 1216 (Comm)
  • Griffon Shipping v Firodi Shipping [2013] EWHC 593 (Comm)

Oil and Gas Exploration:

  •        Seadrill Ghana Operations v Tullow Ghana [2018] EWHC 1640 (Comm)

Shipbuilding:

  • Korea Shipbuilding and others v Whale Corporation and others [2020] EWHC 631

Collisions at sea

  • MIOM1 v Sea Echo [2010] EWHC 3180 (Admlty)
  • Samco Europe and MSC Prestige [2011] EWHC 1580 (Admlty)
  • Nordlake v Sea Eagle [2015] EWHC 3605 (Admlty)
  • Nautical Challenge v Evergreen Marine [2017] EWHC 453 (Admlty)

Arbitration:

  • Michael Wilson and Partners v Emmot [2008] EWHC 2684 (Comm)
  • Sheffield United FC c West Ham United FC [2008] EWHC  2855 (Comm)
  • Broda Agro Trade v Alfred C. Toepfer [2009] EWHC 3318 (Comm)
  • ED and F Man Sugar v Belmont Shipping [2011] EWHC 2992 (Comm)
  • Transgrain Shipping v Deiulemar Shipping [2014] EWHC 4202 (Comm)
  • Tonicstar v Allianze [2017] EWHC 2753 (Comm)
  • UMS Holdings v Great Station Properties [2017] EWHC 2398 (Comm)
  • VTB Commodities v JSC Antipinsky [2019] EWHC  2392 (Comm)

Memberships

LCIA

LMAA (supporting member)

The Baltic Exchange

Related News & Events

  • 23/05/22
    Sir Nigel Teare is elected new chairman of the Association of Average Adjusters
    read more
  • Related News & Events

    • 01/10/20
      Sir Nigel Teare joins Arbitrators at 10 Fleet Street
      read more