Akhil Shah
Call Date
1990
Practice Areas
- Aviation
- Insurance and Reinsurance
- Arbitration
- Commercial litigation
- Administrative and public law
- Private International Law
- Energy and natural resources
- Banking
- Professional negligence
Recommendations (Practitioners' Guides)
Chambers & Partners
Legal 500, in which he is described as “arguably the strongest junior at the aviation bar” and as being “very impressive.”
Legal Experts
Guide to the World’s Leading Aviation Lawyers
Education
Haberdashers Aske's School Elstree
St John's College Cambridge (MA)
Prizes & Scholarships
Forster Boulton Prize (Inner Temple)
Mary Euphrasia Mosley Exhibition (Cambridge University)
Appointments
Admitted to the British Virgin Islands Bar
Professional Experience
Commercial and civil law with an emphasis on aviation, insurance and reinsurance, arbitration, commercial litigation and private international law.
Recent Practice
Aviation
Regularly represents manufacturers, airlines, insurers and others in a wide range of aviation related matters – recent examples include:
- Aircraft leasing and financing;
- Montreal / Warsaw Convention disputes;
- Product liability claims;
- Ground handling disputes; and
- Regulatory matters such as airspace design and air transport licensing.
Insurance & Reinsurance
Experience in both litigation and arbitration. Represents corporate insurers, Lloyds underwriters and others on a wide range of policy coverage and avoidance issues, contractual problems and errors and omissions claims. Recently acted for:
- Insured in dispute about financiers and lessors interest in aircraft insurance policy.
- Insurers and reinsurers in disputes about war-risk coverage of aircraft.
- Insurers in disputes concerning pollution of ground water.
- Insurers in disputes concerning trade credit insurance / reinsurance.
- Insurers in disputes concerning coverage under professional indemnity insurance
- Insured in disputes concerning contingent cost insurance.
- Insured in a dispute concerning business interruption insurance.
Arbitration
Experience in numerous commercial arbitrations. Notable examples include:-
- Adhoc arbitration concerning misappropriation of a fleet of commercial aircraft, in which issues were governed by Mexican law.
- ARIAS arbitration concerning contingent cost insurance / reinsurance.
- Adhoc arbitration concerning pollution claims in California.
- Adhoc arbitration concerning an airline dispute raising questions of English and Afgham law.
- ICC arbitration concerning a joint venture in the Indian cellular telecoms industry.
- LCIA arbitration dealing with contractual rights in respect of oil exploration in Kuwait.
- ICC arbitration dealing with a dispute between an airline and its maintenance organisation.
- IATA arbitration between an airline and its ground handling agent.
- Arbitrations concerning disputes in respect of the insurance and reinsurance coverage of aircraft losses.
Administrative & Public Law
Experience in judicial review. Notable examples include:
- acting for the Republic of Cyprus in a dispute concerning an attempt to operate direct flight from England to the North of Cyprus;
- acting for the CAA in a challenge of airspace design over South West England;
- acting for the CAA in a review of permissions given permitting the carriage of munitions of war from the United States to Israel during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon;
- acting for the CAA in a review of airspace design over South East England;
- judicial review of CAA decisions relating to licensing of air operators;
- judicial review of decisions for consent to grant pharmaceutical licences;
- and judicial review of NHS employment procedures.
Private International Law
Experience in anti suit injunctions, forum shopping, Brussels Regulation, Brussels/Lugano Convention issues including applicability of Regulation to insolvency proceedings, state immunity, interim relief in support of foreign proceedings, and application of foreign law in English court and arbitration proceedings.
Energy & Natural Resources
Acted in disputes concerning:
- contractual rights for oil exploration in Kuwait;
- and contamination of water table in California caused by additive to petroleum.
Banking & Finance
Acted in disputes concerning sovereign and central bank debt, letters of credit, bills of exchange, demand guarantees, performance bonds and repossession work for High Street banks. Recently acted in a dispute concerning enforcement of documentary credits, and a dispute between two banks in a civil fraud claim.
Professional Negligence
Experience in claims against solicitors, accountants, underwriters, brokers, surveyors and estate agents.
Commercial Litigation
Experience in large scale litigation arising out of significant commercial disputes.
Product Liability
Acted for manufacturers in disputes concerning the design, production and maintenance of civil aircraft and other related engineering projects.
Employment
Experience in High Court and tribunal cases: particularly in respect of NHS contracts, restrictive covenants, and discrimination claims.
Sport
Acted for a national cricket board in a dispute with the ICC, and for a national boxing federation.
Notable Cases
International Arbitration: (2008) acting for financiers and lessors of commercial aircraft in insurance dispute arising out of misappropriation of aircraft by a Mexican airline.
Sunrock Aircraft Corporation v SAS [2007] 2 Lloyds Rep 612 (2006) (Commercial Court: Morison LJ) Aircraft lease dispute relating to redelivery of two Boeing 767 aircraft.
Islamic Human Rights Commission v Civil Aviation Authority and others (2007) ACD 5, (2006) (Ouseley J. Administrative Court); permission for judicial review of decision to allow carriage of munitions of war from the United States to Israel via British Airspace during conflict between Israel and Lebanon.
Euler Hermes v Apple Computers BV (2006) (Court of Appeal) Expert credit insurance dispute.
Hill and the Dedham Vale Society v Civil Aviation Authority and others (2005) (Newman J. Administrative Court); judicial review of airspace design over South East England.
Deutsche Bank and others v Volare SpA (2005) (Commercial court: Cooke J.) recovery of aircraft following insolvency of airline.
Cullen v Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club (2004) (Holland J.) liability of pilots for mid-air collision.
Amiri Flight Authority v BAE Systems Plc and Crossair [2003] 2 Lloyds 767 (CA); [2003] 1 Lloyds Rep 50 and [2003] 1 All ER (Comm) 1 (Commercial Court);
Fuel tank corrosion of BAE 146 aircraft, exclusion clause, UCTA.
Protea Leasing Ltd v Royal Air Cambodge Co Ltd and Malaysian Airline System Berhad (19.12.02) [2002] All ER (D) 224 (Moore-Bick J ); Aircraft lease dispute, penalty clauses applicable law under Private International Law (miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995; third party interference with contractual rights.
Knauf v British Gypsum and Welkisten und Papierfabriken Fritz Peters & Co KG (No2) [2002] 2 Lloyds Rep 416; Jurisdiction, Brussels Convention, admissibility of contribution claim when main action dismissed on grounds of jurisdiction.
Cardinal Financial Investments Corp v Central Bank of Yemen [2001] Lloyds Rep Banking 1 (CA); State immunity and validity of promissory notes.
Western Digital v British Airways [2001] QB 733, (CA) :Title to sue under the Warsaw Convention
Lambson Aviation t/a Knight Air v Embraer and others (2001) (Tomlinson J)
Aircraft product liability dispute.
Messier Dowty and others v Sabena and others [2000] 1 All ER (Comm) 101
Stay of proceedings; aircraft product liability
R v Isle of Wight NHS Trust (Exp Reddy) 4.12.2000 (Longmore J)
Employment, Judicial Review of disciplinary procedure
Airbus Industrie GIE v Patel [1999] 1 AC 119, House of Lords: anti-suit injunction.
First Security National Bank v Air Gabon [1999] 2 Lloyds 450
Aircraft lease dispute, injunctive relief, anti-suit injunction.
Harrold v Wiltshire NHS Trust (1999)
Employment, time limit to bring race discrimination claim
Antwerp Diamonds v Air Europe [1995] 2 Lloyds 225 (CA)
Financial limit of liability under the Warsaw Convention
Publications
- Co-author of “Carriage by Air” (2000) (Butterworths)
- Author of chapter on “Carriage by Air” in “Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Precedent of Pleading” (15th edition) (Sweet & Maxwell)
- Joint editor of “Commercial Court Procedure” (Sweet & Maxwell)
- “Retention of Title Clauses and the Companies Act 1985” (article published in Tolly’s Pay Roll Managers Review and in Tolly’s Company Secretary Review, 1991)
- “Employee in Peace, Soldier at War- Employer’s obligations to a reservist employee soldier” (article published in Tolly’s Pay Roll Managers Review and in Tolly’s Company Secretary Review, 1991)
The “Aviation” section in Bullen Leake & Jacob’s Precedents of Pleadings
Other Experience
COMBAR association
Member of ICC Transport and Logistics Committee
Member of British Institute of Advance Legal Studies
Languages
Good French and working German