Sarah joined 7KBW in 2008, following the completion of her pupillage.

From October 2004 to June 2007, Sarah worked as a solicitor in the Dispute Resolution department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London.  She was a member of the financial institutions disputes sub-group and was involved in a variety of litigious matters, as well as major regulatory investigations in the insurance, reinsurance and investment banking sectors.

Sarah specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration, and has appeared in the High Court, the County Court and in arbitration.  Her practice covers all areas of commercial law, with an emphasis on insurance, reinsurance, shipping, professional negligence, sale of goods and banking, as well as general commercial disputes.  She has acted in a wide range of cases, both on her own and as a junior.

Qualifications

Magdalen College, Oxford: BCL, Distinction (2003); MPhil (2004)

Sarah was awarded a Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship to study at Oxford, one of two postgraduate law scholarships awarded by the Menzies Foundation to Australian lawyers each year for tenure at UK universities.

University of Melbourne, Australia: BA/LLB (Hons), First Class (2000)

At the conclusion of her degree, Sarah was ranked second on the law Honours class list, and awarded the Spero Wilson Memorial Scholarship.  During her degree, Sarah was also awarded prizes by Ormond College, including the Fowles Prize for Law, and was an Editor of the Melbourne University Law Review.

Other information

Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia (April 2002)

French (Working Knowledge)

• Insurance & Reinsurance
• Shipping
• Professional Negligence
• Sale of Goods
• General Commercial Disputes
• Jurisdiction/Conflicts of Laws
• Injunctions & Arrests
• Banking and Finance

Sarah has acted in a range of cases in this area, which include the following: 

Selected cases:

• Kuwait Qatar Insurance Company (KSCC) v Gulf Rocks Co; currently acting as junior to Alistair Schaff QC in a Commercial Court claim for negative declaratory relief under a hull and machinery policy on the grounds of alleged breach of warranties relating to compliance with a condition surveyor’s recommendations, maintenance of Class, and ISM compliance, following a collision involving the subject vessel
• Currently advising London reinsurers of the Malaysian Bar Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme as sole counsel
• Currently advising as second junior to Roger Stewart QC and Andrew Wales in an insurance coverage dispute arising from alleged professional negligence on the part of contractors and sub-contractors involved in a major construction project
• Synergy Health (UK) Ltd v CGU Insurance Plc (t/a Norwich Union) & Ors [2010] EWHC 2583 (Comm) (19 October 2010): Appeared as junior to Richard Southern QC on behalf of brokers in a Commercial Court fire insurance claim and a contingent claim for alleged brokers’ negligence 
• Appeared as junior to Richard Waller on behalf of a Lloyd’s syndicate in an arbitration concerning a claim against the syndicate’s coverholder for breach of binding authority agreements
• Appeared as junior to Adam Fenton QC in an arbitration concerning the aggregation of claims under a professional indemnity insurance policy
• Acted as second junior to Laurence Rabinowitz QC and James Brocklebank in an insurance arbitration arising from alleged mis-selling of endowment mortgages by a major bank
• Acted as junior to Stephen Phillips QC and appeared as sole counsel at a mediation in a Commercial Court claim for negative declaratory relief on the ground of non-disclosure following a loss under a motor insurance policy
• Advised healthcare provider on double insurance and contribution issues arising from claims under health insurance policies
  

Selected cases:

• Acted as sole counsel in collision claim, settling successful application for extension of time in which to serve admiralty claim form in rem under CPR 7.6(2)
• Appeared as junior to Julia Dias QC in two successful applications for worldwide freezing injunctions against the same foreign defendant in the context of arbitration claims for unpaid hire under long term time charterparties
• Farenco Shipping Co Ltd v Daebo Shipping Co Ltd [2008] EWHC 2755 (Comm):  Appeared as junior to Stephen Hofmeyr QC for the Claimant in a multi-party dispute concerning the construction of letters of indemnity issued pursuant to charterparties
• Appeared as junior to Richard Southern QC on behalf of a Chinese shipping company in an arbitration concerning the charterer’s entitlement to terminate a long term time charterparty
• Acted as junior to Stephen Hofmeyr QC in an LMAA arbitration involving a claim for recovery of a deposit paid under an MOA for the sale of a vessel, on the ground of late delivery
• Acted as sole counsel in an arbitration concerning the application of the CONWARTIME 2004 clause in the context of piracy
• Acted as junior to Simon Picken QC in an arbitration concerning a claim relating to the proper distribution of funds paid into a consortium bank account following the alleged repudiatory breach of certain time charterparties by a third party
• Advised in relation to package limitation under Hague and Hague-Visby Rules

Selected Cases:

• Currently advising as second junior to Roger Stewart QC and Andrew Wales in an insurance coverage dispute arising from alleged professional negligence on the part of contractors and sub-contractors involved in a major construction project
• Synergy Health (UK) Ltd v CGU Insurance Plc (t/a Norwich Union) & Ors [2010] EWHC 2583 (Comm) (19 October 2010): Appeared as junior to Richard Southern QC on behalf of brokers in a Commercial Court fire insurance claim and a contingent claim for alleged brokers’ negligence
• Acted as junior to Sioban Healy QC for one of two defendants in a professional negligence claim relating to the placement of reinsurance with an alleged fraudulent enterprise
• Appeared as junior to Richard Waller on behalf of a Lloyd’s syndicate in an arbitration concerning a claim against the syndicate’s coverholder for breach of binding authority agreements
• Acted as sole counsel for the defendant broker in a High Court (Chancery Division) claim for breach of contract/misrepresentation
  

Selected cases:

• Currently acting as junior to Rebecca Sabben-Clare for the Claimant in an arbitration claim seeking a declaration under s 32 of the Arbitration Act 1996 that the sole arbitrator appointed by the Claimant pursuant to s 17 of the Act has jurisdiction to determine, inter alia, whether a valid and binding contract of affreightment was concluded between the parties
• Trafigura Beheer BV v Yieh Phui (China) Technomaterial Co Ltd [2009] EWHC 2054 (Comm): Appeared as junior to Robert Bright QC for the Claimant in an arbitration claim seeking a declaration under s 32 of the Arbitration Act 1996 that arbitral tribunals appointed pursuant to LME Arbitration Regulations had jurisdiction to determine claims arising from contracts for the sale of zinc
• Acted as sole counsel in an LMAA arbitration concerning a claim for breach of a series of CIF contracts for the sale of ore
• Advised on the construction of CFR contracts incorporating INCOTERMS 2000
  

Selected cases:

• Anglian Water Services Ltd v Laing O’Rourke Utilities Ltd [2010] EWHC 1529 (TCC) (25 June 2010):  Appeared as junior to Andrew Wales for the Claimant in an arbitration claim seeking an extension of time pursuant to s 12 of the Arbitration Act 1996, and alternatively a declaration pursuant to CPR r 62.4(3) that no extension of time was required
• Appeared as sole counsel in a two day Mercantile Court trial concerning a dispute over the construction of a mandate agreement and whether there existed in parallel a collateral oral agreement
• Acted as sole counsel on behalf of a claimant opposing an application to set aside a default judgment under CPR Part 13
  

Selected cases:

• Kuwait Qatar Insurance Company (KSCC) v Gulf Rocks Co; advised and appeared as junior to Alistair Schaff QC in successful application for permission to serve out of the jurisdiction in Commercial Court marine insurance claim, subsequently upheld upon challenge at inter partes hearing
• Advised as to the availability of an anti-suit injunction in support of an arbitration agreement in arbitration proceedings arising from a dispute concerning the performance of contracts of affreightment
  

Selected cases:

• Appeared as junior to Julia Dias QC in two successful applications for worldwide freezing injunctions against the same foreign defendant in the context of arbitration claims for unpaid hire under long term time charterparties

Selected cases:

• Acted as second junior counsel to Laurence Rabinowitz QC and James Brocklebank in an insurance arbitration arising from alleged mis-selling of endowment mortgages by a major bank
• Advised as to application of Banking Code to a victim of fraud, and as to alleged mis-selling of payment protection insurance, including the application of ICOBS
  

‘Lost and Destroyed Evidence: The Search for a Principled Approach to Abuse of Process’, (2005) 9 International Journal of Evidence and Proof 158-182