Tim joined 7KBW in 1997, following the completion of his pupillage, and has been practising as a commercial barrister ever since.  His experience includes an 18-month stint at the award-winning Reinsurance and International Risk team at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert in 2006/2007, where he gained invaluable experience of life at a leading commercial litigation solicitors’ firm.

Tim specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration, acting both as an advocate and in an advisory capacity.  His practice covers all areas of commercial law, with an emphasis on insurance, reinsurance, shipping, professional negligence and general commercial disputes.

He has represented clients from a wide range of industries in a variety of different types and sizes of cases, both as the advocate and as part of a team of barristers.

He has particular expertise in large-scale litigation, and has worked closely with solicitors, clients, witnesses and experts in a number of very substantial commercial disputes. He has a ‘hands-on’ approach to all of his cases, and regularly travels abroad to meet clients and work with them on the preparation of their cases.

St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge: MA in law, first class (1995).

During his time at Cambridge, Tim was awarded a number of law scholarships and prizes by the University and St Catharine’s College: the Sweet & Maxwell prize for the top first in the University law examinations (1992); the ECS Wade prize for best performance in Constitutional Law (1992); the Rebecca Flower law scholarship (1992); St. Catharine’s College Hobbes scholarship and Adderley law prize (1992); St Catherine’s College Gostlin scholarship and Arthur Anderson law prize (1995).

Poitiers University, France: Diplôme de Droit Francais, first class (1994)

As part of his degree, Tim spent a year in France studying various aspects of French and European law, including French civil and constitutional law.  He has a good working knowledge of French and has acted on several occasions for French-speaking clients, or in cases requiring a good knowledge of French. 

Gray’s Inn/Inns of Court School of Law, London (1996) - Tim was awarded a Gray’s Inn Prince of Wales scholarship in 1995 and a Gray’s Inn Reid senior scholarship in 1996.

French - Good working knowledge

Outside work, Tim is a keen windsurfer, golfer and skier - although he currently spends most of his spare time running around after his young children.

• Insurance & Reinsurance
• Shipping
• General Commercial Disputes
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Entertainment & Sport
• Professional Negligence

Insurance and reinsurance litigation has been a major focus of Tim’s practice in recent years, and he has acted in a wide range of Court cases and arbitrations in this area.  His experience in this field includes an 18-month stint working for the award-winning Reinsurance and International Risk Team at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, in 2006 and 2007.

 Selected cases:

• Société Générale v. Württembergische Versicherung-AG and others: Tim is currently acting for one of the defendants to a US$500 million Commercial Court claim relating to the alleged loss of gold bullion in Turkey and Dubai in 2008.
• American Reliable Insurance Company and Bankers Insurance Company Ltd v. Willis Limited: Tim acted for the Claimants in a US$230 million Commercial Court action arising out of the PA LMX reinsurance market in the 1990s.
• A number of insurance and reinsurance arbitrations, the most recent of which include a Bermuda Form liability insurance arbitration, several PA LMX reinsurance arbitrations, and a reinsurance arbitration involving claims arising from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
• A Commercial Court action between a Belgian insurance company and its French insurance intermediary relating to the brokerage for a multi-year Italian sports insurance programme (Terra Nova v. Reass Sarl).
• Midland Mainline and others v. Commercial Union and others [2003] EWHC 1771 and [2004] EWCA: Tim acted for the National Express Group in the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal, in a dispute with their business interruption insurers arising from the Hatfield rail crash.

Like most members of 7KBW, Tim has been involved in a large number of shipping and ship-building disputes throughout his time in Chambers.  The cases in which he has acted span the entire spectrum of dry shipping and ship-building disputes, from small shipping arbitrations to large-scale multi-party Commercial Court cases and arbitrations in which he has acted as junior counsel alongside more senior members of Chambers.

Selected cases:

• Tim has recently been involved in a number of confidential ship-building arbitrations involving a wide range of contractual issues, in which he has acted for several major ship-building companies and a number of buyers.
• He has also recently been involved in a number of shipping disputes, including charterparty disputes, cargo claims, demurrage claims and a claim in Tanzania by an oil terminal operator against a cargo surveyor.   The largest dispute of this kind in which he has been involved since returning to Chambers in 2007 was a US$15m arbitration between the former owners of a luxury cruise liner and the vessel’s former operators concerning various issues arising from the early termination of a long-term charter for the vessel.
• Before moving to BLG in 2005, Tim regularly advised on and acted in the full spectrum of dry shipping cases, both in Court and in arbitration.  The most notable case in this area in which he was involved, as junior counsel, was The Silimna, a substantial Commercial Court action arising out of the loss of a bulk cargo carrier which raised complex issues of causation and computer modelling.

Tim’s experience of acting in large-scale commercial litigation in the core areas of Chambers’ practice has taught him skills which are equally valuable to substantial disputes in other areas of commercial life, such as the ability to drive complex litigation forwards and to work closely with clients, solicitors and experts.  As a result, he has regularly been instructed in commercial disputes which fall outside the main areas of 7KBW’s practice, or which span several of those areas.

Selected cases:

• The largest example of a case in this varied area is MAN A.G and ERF v Freightliner Ltd and Ernst & Young [2005] EWHC 2347 (Comm), in which Tim and Dominic Kendrick QC acted for the successful Claimants in a £350 million fraud claim against the seller of the truck manufacturer, ERF, from whom they had purchased the company in reliance on fraudulently-prepared accounts.  The Claimants won on liability after a six-month trial in 2005 and were awarded an interim payment of £250 million.  The remaining quantum disputes settled following further litigation in the USA.
• Tim is currently representing the film production company, Casino Royale, in a Technology and Construction Court case concerning a fire in the Bond Stage at Pinewood Studios following the filming of the James Bond film, Casino Royale.
• Tim is also currently acting for a major oil and gas producer in a dispute in the TCC against the supplier of a pipe-line isolation tool concerning the blockage of a gas pipeline in 2007/2008.

Tim has advised on and acted in numerous disputes involving a wide range of issues in this area, including gas supply contracts, the operation of off-shore and floating oil and gas platforms, power stations and gas pipelines. 

Selected cases:

• TDW Offshore Services AS v. Chevron North Sea Ltd: Tim is currently acting, with Dominic Kendrick QC, for the operators of the Erskine North Sea gas field in a £20m dispute in the Technology and Construction Court involving the blockage and consequent shut-down of the Erskine to Lomond pipeline in 2007/2008.
• Tim is currently acting, again with Dominic Kendrick QC, for the owners and operators of the Littlebrook power station in Kent in a dispute concerning damage to one of the generator rotors in early 2006 which resulted in the temporary shut-down of the power station.
• Philips Petroleum v. British Gas plc (1999): Tim acted as junior to Stephen Tomlinson QC (as he then was) in a large Commercial Court action involving various disputes under a take-or-pay contract for the supply of gas to the Claimant’s terminal at Bacton, Norfolk.  Tim spent about a year working full-time on the case, which settled shortly after the start of the trial.

During his time at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Tim was a member of the firm’s contingency insurance team and acted in contingency insurance disputes involving event cancellations, bloodstock claims and other related issues.  He is currently acting for the producers of the James Bond Film, Casino Royale, in litigation in the Technology and Construction Court arising from a fire which destroyed the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios in July 2006. 

Together with Julian Flaux QC (as he then was) and Christopher Butcher QC, Tim co-wrote  the auditors’ negligence chapter of LLP’s loose-leaf “Professional Liability: Law and Practice”, one of the leading practitioner texts in this area.  He has also acted in a number of large and complex cases in this area, most commonly involving claims against insurance and reinsurance brokers.

Selected cases:

• Société Générale v. Württembergische Versicherung-AG and others: Tim is currently acting for a French insurance broker in a US$500 million Commercial Court claim relating to the alleged loss of gold bullion in Turkey and Dubai in 2008.
• American Reliable Insurance Company and Bankers Insurance Company Ltd v. Willis Limited: Tim acted for the Claimants in a US$230 million Commercial Court claim against the defendant reinsurance brokers arising out of the PA LMX reinsurance market in the 1990s.
• Aon (Suisse) v RL Davison: Tim is acting for the Claimants in a dispute between two insurance brokers relating to the placement of an insurance programme for a system of customs guarantees operated by the Union International Des Transports Routiers.
• William Jackson & Son Ltd v. Oughtred & Harrison (Insurance) Ltd [2002] Lloyd’s Rep IR 230): Tim acted for the Claimants in a claim against their insurance brokers relating to the under-insurance of the Claimants’ factory, which was damaged in a fire.

• The “skilful and  determined” Tim Kenefick “stands out as someone you want on your side in a fight.”  Legal 500 2010

• “exceptionally bright.” Legal 500 2009

Professional Liability: Law and Practice (Lloyd’s of London Press): between 2000 and 2005, Tim was co-author, together with Julian Flaux QC and Christopher Butcher QC, of the auditors’ negligence section of this practitioner text on professional negligence.

Tim has also written articles for Insurance Day and other insurance and reinsurance publications.