Sydney, 14 February 2011: Leading London barrister and international arbitrator John Rowland QC today joins Clayton Utz's Litigation & Dispute Resolution team as a partner, giving clients access to a senior advocate in-house who can appear both before the courts and in arbitrations.
Leading London barrister and international arbitrator John Rowland QC today joins Clayton Utz's Litigation & Dispute Resolution team as a partner, giving clients access to a senior advocate in-house who can appear both before the courts and in arbitrations.
Mr Rowland QC – a senior member of the UK bar who was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1996 – has over 30 years' experience in commercial dispute resolution across a wide range of industries including insurance (particularly product liability disputes), energy and resources and construction. He is also an experienced arbitrator and mediator, with both Australian and international experience.
In recent years Mr Rowland QC's experience has included advising a number of large insurers on D&O coverage in the wake of the global financial crisis, numerous disputes arising out of Business Interruption claims including two large claims involving flooding of mines in Queensland and Western Australia, and product liability claims arising out of a wide variety of products including asbestos, the herbicide Agent Orange, and breast implants.
Mr Rowland QC also worked alongside a Clayton Utz team in achieving a successful commercial outcome for client Anaconda Limited in a series of high-profile international and domestic arbitrations. The first, heard in London, related to enforcing a bespoke extended liquidated damages insurance policy. The second and third arbitrations were heard in Melbourne before well known international arbitrators Jan Paulsson (of Paris), John Uff QC and Philip Naughton QC (both of the London Bar). Each of these arbitrations was rated by The American Lawyer as in the top ten arbitrations in the world for the years in which they were heard.
The national head of Clayton Utz's Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, Brigitte Markovic, said Mr Rowland's broad-ranging dispute resolution experience, together with his experience as an advocate, meant Clayton Utz would be able to provide clients with a unique dispute resolution service.
"Bringing John into our team means Clayton Utz will be able to offer a senior advocate to assist our clients and appear for them in disputes, both before the courts and in arbitration. That, combined with John's dispute resolution experience across many of the sectors and industries in which our clients operate, greatly enhances the service we are able to provide in the dispute resolution area, particularly arbitration," she said.
Clayton Utz's Chief Executive Partner Darryl McDonough said Mr Rowland QC's appointment reflected the firm's commitment to excellence in legal services. "Excellence in legal services is what we are about. John's appointment is part of our ongoing commitment to our clients to provide them with the best possible legal services available that reflects their commercial and business needs. This commitment is also reflected in other lateral appointments we have made over the last 12 months, including Bruce Cooper and Andrew Jinks to our Banking practice."