Acting for a consortium of foreign cargo underwriters in successfully arresting a motor vessel laden with cargo that had run aground north of Mombasa and which was thereafter salvaged by the port authorities. Thereafter successfully obtaining inspection and preservation orders, following the failure of the Master and crew to provide critical information concerning the Vessel’s logs and the integrity of its records, to protect the underwriters’ policy interests in New York arbitration proceedings arising from the provisions of the policy.
· Successfully defended an ENT surgeon, on the instructions of indemnity insurers, in proceedings brought by parents of a young boy who was heavily brain damaged when undergoing a minor surgical procedure in a hospital by reason of an inadequate supply of oxygen being administered during general anaesthesia. The surgeon was fully exonerated by the court from any liability for the incident. The award made in this case against the anaesthetist and the hospital was in the region of KES 50 million and ranks as one of the highest personal injury awards made in Kenya.
· Successfully upholding a High Court judgment in the Court of Appeal in a major insurance dispute turning on the legal principles applicable to non-disclosure and misrepresentation by an insured at the time of issuance of an insurance policy by an insurer. This landmark decision also set out the circumstances amounting to acts of waiver and estoppel by an insurer when seeking to rely on, and enforce, the terms of the policy.
· Acting for one of the largest insurers in East Africa in seeking recovery of KES 280 million owed to it by an English reinsurance brokerage firm under a reinsurance contract. We succeeded in resisting the reinsurance brokers application to set aside the proceedings brought against them in Kenya by persuading the Kenyan High Court that it had the requisite jurisdictional power, both under the terms of the reinsurance policy and under Kenyan Civil Procedure, to determine the dispute notwithstanding the fact that the defending reinsurance broker was based in England.
· Advising a major insurance company, by way of a written opinion, on its potential liability to its insured in respect of a claim made under a Building Contractor’s All Risk policy arising out of the collapse, of the central and south-eastern spans of the Sigiri Bridge in Western Kenya which was under construction. The claim remains to be formulated but, if made, is likely to run to several million dollars.
· Successfully defending and resolving a dispute involving the attachment of a power supply barge by way of a Mareva injunction issued by the High Court of Mombasa.
· Successfully overturning a High Court judgment striking out a Winding Up Petition in the Court of Appeal and establishing principles involved in serving documents in winding up causes.
· Successfully overturning a High Court judgment in the Court of Appeal concerning the constitutional right of a professional to be prosecuted by a disciplinary tribunal without undue delay.
· Successfully defending a derivative action and settling a substantial shareholder dispute concerning the sale of their company’s stake in an internationally established paint manufacturing group.
· Successfully dismissing arbitration proceedings brought against a major cement manufacturer claiming substantial damages arising out of the award of a tender.
· Currently engaged in the High Court in a landmark case turning on the jurisdiction of a Water Board to levy charges for the use of seawater by the salt manufacturing industry in making salt for domestic consumption.
· Currently engaged in the Court of Appeal in seeking to establish the statutory immunity available to a major regional bank concerning liability in the exercise of its lending powers.
· Currently engaged in the High Court in a substantial claim against the Kenya Airports Authority and its appointed contractor for unpaid amounts due to a sub-contractor for construction works undertaken at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
· Currently engaged in defending members of the mining industry against a complaint made over their alleged failure to comply with licensing provisions of the Mining Act.
· Currently engaged in defending several high-profile disciplinary and court actions brought against leading members of the medical profession for alleged negligence in their treatment and management of patients.
