People

Iain qualified with Macfarlanes in 1992 and became a partner in 1999. Since qualification, he has specialised in large-scale commercial, corporate and financial services litigation for a mix of UK and international corporate clients, banks and financial institutions. He became head of litigation and dispute resolution in October 2008.

Iain advises on a wide range of corporate disputes  including shareholder disputes; claims for breach of fiduciary duty against directors & senior employees; public and private investigations, including fraud issues, the rights and obligations of directors; derivative actions and unfair prejudice petitions; insolvency issues and restructuring. He also handles disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and warranty claims, and has particular expertise in matters involving private equity investments.

He acts for banks, financial institutions and fund managers in relation to disputes concerning fund and asset management, lending/security, complex financial instruments (particularly derivatives), trade finance and internal investigations. He deals with regulatory investigations by the Financial Services Authority and other regulators, both in the UK and elsewhere, and advises on market abuse and compliance issues.

He is regularly involved in advising non-UK clients involved in English law disputes, particularly in relation to international arbitrations concerning commercial and corporate matters. Iain also has extensive experience of the successful use of forms of alternative dispute resolution, particularly mediation.

Recent highlights include:

• acting for the Municipalities of Haugesund and Narvik in claims brought by them against Depfa Bank concerning certain complex swap transactions. The municipalities successfully obtained declarations from the Commercial Court that the transactions were void as they were ultra vires under Norwegian law.  The case, which is an important precedent on the law of restitution, is currently pending before the Court of Appeal;
• Charter v City Index, in which we acted for City Index in its claims against the former directors and auditors of Charter plc. City Index was successful in the Court of Appeal in overturning an order made by the Chancellor, a widely reported decision that is an important clarification of the law of contribution;
• involvement in international arbitrations, ranging from disputes in the offshore oil sector, supply and distribution contracts, cross-border acquisitions to financial services disputes;
• advising in relation to funds, private equity, joint venture  and limited partnership disputes, including sensitive and high value litigation in a number of other jurisdictions including the BVI, Cayman islands, France, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States;
• representing a range of regulated clients including corporate finance houses, private equity firms, hedge funds, stockbrokers and approved persons in FSA investigations and enforcement proceedings, and in investigations by other UK and overseas regulators. He has represented clients before the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the FSA, for example, acting for Hoodless Brennan in two disciplinary matter brought by the FSA, including the first major case to go before the FMSA Tribunal; and
• R v Secretary of State ex parte Thomson Holidays, a successful challenge in the Court of Appeal to an order made by the DTI under the Fair Trading Act.