Owen Rees
Senior Associate
Owen specialises in complex litigation and arbitration, acting for both claimants and defendants in commercial disputes and in regulatory investigations across a wide range of jurisdictions, sectors, and practice areas.
Prior to joining Seladore Legal, Owen practised for over seven years at an international law firm in London.
Owen has experience in financial services litigation, group litigation, professional negligence, regulatory investigations, insolvency and fraud, sanctions, property and construction litigation, insurance and reinsurance disputes, discrimination and defamation.
- Acting for Sir Alan Bates and 554 postmasters in their successful group action against Post Office Limited in respect of the defective accountancy software, Horizon, uncovering what has been described as the “worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history” and resulting in unprecedented legislation to overturn nearly 1,000 unsafe convictions, a statutory inquiry into the scandal, and over 20 live SRA investigations into solicitors and law firms that worked for Post Office Limited.
- Acting for City law firms defending negligence claims from clients, including:
- EcoQuest v Hamlins and anor (QBD, 2021), a claim alleging failure of a law firm and barrister to advise their client on bringing a civil fraud claim, resulting in the dismissal of a worldwide freezing injunction;
- Timothy Saunders and anor v Fieldfisher (Commercial Court, 2021), a claim alleging failure of a law firm to obtain security for costs or costs recovery for their clients having successfully defended the clients in a claim for MTIC fraud brought by a liquidator on behalf of the allegedly de-frauded insolvent company;
- Virgo Marine and anor v Reed Smith (Commercial Court, 2023), a claim against a law firm acting as an escrow agent in which a party to the escrow agreement became sanctioned by OFAC, resulting in its funds being frozen by the bank operating the law firm’s client account.
- Acting for civil and criminal barristers in “lost litigation” claims, including Hannah Evans v Betesh Partnership and anor [2021] EWCA Civ 1194 and Aboutboul v Colville (QBD, 2021).
- Acting for a mining company seeking restitution of advance payments under a contract to provide engineering services under HKIAC arbitral rules subject to German law.
- Acting for an insurer defending arbitral proceedings commenced under the Insurance Act 2010 by a construction company concerning the allegedly defective specification and installation of combustible cladding on the façade of a hospital.
- Advising on insurance policy coverage, contractual interpretation, exclusions and aggregation under insurance and reinsurance programmes including treaties covering Ukraine war-related losses, asbestosis claims, business interruption, claims against directors and officers, and advising on insurance policy wording and insurance regulatory obligations across jurisdictions.
- Advising the captive reinsurers of one of the Big Four accountancy firms on a portfolio of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory investigations in multiple jurisdictions.
- Acting for insurers and reinsurers in bringing and defending multiple arbitrated reinsurance disputes based on reinsurers’ liability to indemnify insurers under follow-the-settlements clauses.
- Acting for de-frauded pensioners bringing claims against pension companies under FSMA s27, resulting in the Court of Appeal authority, Adams v Options SIPP [2021] EWCA Civ 474 establishing that pension companies are liable to compensate pensioners that have transferred schemes into their pension products where the pensioners had been advised to do so by unregulated third parties in contravention of FSMA s19 (the general prohibition).
- Advising higher education institutions on claims made by students, including for allegedly negligent teaching, breaches of safeguarding duties, discrimination, harassment, and copyright infringement, including Yu-Ting Cleeves v St Anthony’s College Oxford [2021] BCSC 686.
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